Page 230 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

202 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
tools previously described. Other times you will use more informal measures such as anecdotal records, open/closed windows, or “I learned” statements.
Anecdotal records enable you to record specific incidents of student behavior over a period of time. Interpersonal relations, the development of language, geographic, or problem-solving skills, contributions to class discussions, and changes in interest or atti- tudinal patterns are among the many types of information about students that can be described in anecdotal records. Such records should portray the specifics of student behavior at a given time and place. Your interpretations and suggestions for improve- ment should be recorded separately.
Open-closed windows is another useful tool to gauge where students are in their learning. Provide students with a piece of lined paper. Have them fold the paper in half (vertically), write “Open” at the top of the left-hand side, and write “Closed” at the top of the right-hand side. Then ask them to think about what they have learned and list those things under the open category. Most students will probably have a long list. Then ask them to think about what things from the lesson (or series of lessons) they still are unclear or confused about. Ask them to list these questions on the closed side. Then ask them to share in pairs. This tool is particularly useful when you want to encourage students to discuss what they have been learning among themselves. Closed windows can be opened by peer conversations, and those that remain closed can be addressed during subsequent instruction.
9.3
“I learned” statements are simple but they can reveal a lot over time. At the end of an activity or lesson, ask students to write down or share verbally what they learned. This provides each student with an opportunity to reflect on the experience. The responses will give you a measure of what students thought was important.
[Example of anecdotal record, 5/1/11: Jamie asked three higher-order thinking questions during our discussion about world hunger; she also contributed two key ideas regarding how our class could help. She brought in an informational text on the topic from the library.]
Open Closed
• Governments are classified as democracies or dictatorships.
• Customs and beliefs are reflected in governments.
• Why do some countries have kings and queens yet they have freedoms similar to ours?
•
•
•
I learned that voting is
I learned that a democracy is
I learned that people must have certain qualifications to vote including
Think about a future lesson you will teach. How will you informally assess student learning? What are indicators that students are grasping the content?
.
.
.
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.