We talked in class the other day about the differences between assessment, evaluation and grading. Ben and I are collaborating on a reading/writing unit plan centered around the coming of age theme. I am focusing more on the writing component.
Students will be assessed on their writing every day. Some assignments will simply be checked to make sure they are completed it while other times I will walk around the classroom while they are working to discuss their writing with them one on one. Writing activities are a great way for students to assess their own writing and can be taken into account when I begin to evaluate how much they have learned.
The culminating project will be a written narrative about the student's own "coming of age" story. Students will complete self-evaluation based on a rubric. The students will exposed to this rubric throughout the entire writing process, and will therefore have a guide for quality work. Following this self-evaluation, I will perform my own evaluation, and one-on-one conferences will be scheduled to talk about the student's work.
This looks like a solid plan for writing instruction, Olivia. it builds well on the best practices we have been exploring. To clarify, are you implying that Ben is working on the reading portion of the unit, and you are focused on the writing? Make sure that as you work, you are thinking very carefully about how these two sides compliment each other. Students' writing will benefit from including an array of professional and student writing models for them.
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