Thu Nguyen
Cohort 01/16
Visual Arts – Grade 3
Aboriginal Art
Pre-Assessment for Differentiation
Pre-Assessment
In Visual Arts, Pre-assessment is often taken place in
the form of artwork interpretation. The class gathers in a circle, focusing
on an artwork projected on the board or a large size print hung on the bulletin
board. The question is written on the board and students are given time to Think
– Pair – Share/Talk their prior knowledge with the whole class. And
that was actually what I already did in this unit.
When I learned about types of
questions and assessments and explored tools using technology, I was thinking
about making one assessment that can be used either for Pre or Post Assessment.
The first type may be simple with multiple-choice or matching questions,
targeting on the learning goals defined. The second type may include some
personal reflection like self-assessment with essay or short answer types.
I guess constraints in terms of
time, pace, and technology concern teachers a lot to design such types of
game-like assessments. With Cahoot free version, I found it friendly and easy
to use and hopefully my students will feel more interesting and stress-free
taking these assessments in Art.
In my own experience, Google Forms
are more developed for assessments than Cahoot free version. However, Cahoot is
more interesting for young learners with its game-like and visual style.
Here
are the Pre-Assessment I did with Cahoot.
Click this link for a clearer review.
Innovative
Differentiation Strategies for Learning Goals
Link to the original chart.
https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/edit/677655b3-96c1-4104-a867-c035f3d0bc60?driveId=0AI8NoojjBBbVUk9PVA#
My differentiation strategies for
four defined learning goals are detailed in the below chart.
Students’ participation and
engagement is my number 1 target in each lesson I teach. Skill and Knowledge
will come along as students are diving into each activity. The below writing
will focus on the two groups who are either advanced/ready to apply or
limited/need instruction.
1. For "Ready to
Apply" group
Learning goal 1: Students are able
to identify the identity of Aboriginal culture, belief, and Art.
They are students who answered most, including the most difficult, of the
pre-assessment questions correctly, which is equivalent 23% of the class, to keep them challenged and minimize abundance
is critical. Know and Share is a good
strategy to tap into their prior knowledge by asking them to share verbally
with the class what they knew. To challenge them, I will ask them to interpret one artwork hung on the
bulletin board and take notes during their explanation for misconception
correction at the later stage. To check their contribution to their group
reflection on a big poster, I will properly assign different colors of markers.
Learning goal 2: Students are able
to understand the meanings of Aboriginal symbols and colors.
In this game-based learning activity, students will make groups of four,
play a guessing game with three levels, record their answers on a sheet, check
the correctness at the end of each round, and calculate their points. Even
though they will play in groups, the points they get somehow similarly with
other members in the group, but this activity requires critical thinking and
problem solving skills. And this is an innovation
in this subject, when students learn through playing.
Learning goal 3: Students are able
to understand and experiment dot painting and X-ray technique with different
media.
In this hands-on practice, I began the lesson by modeling techniques in a circle. Then students come work in small
groups to explore media and practice skills learned. Observation, going-on questions, and Art Critiques are key
strategies during this independent practice stage.
Learning goal 4: Students are able
to create and illustrate stories collaboratively in groups.
Story map handouts and explicit explanation are
important to get students through the expectations. When they sit with their
groups, role activation helps
students to stay on task and be responsible for their group work. Teacher and
students can brainstorm a chart with roles and responsibilities, let students
fill what they know about responsibilities of each role and decide to choose
the roles they feel comfortable. Students in this group can support their peers in this group project following Peer Helping strategy.
2. For "Need
Instruction group" and My
Observation
Learning goal 1: Students are able
to identify the identity of Aboriginal culture, belief, and Art.
They are students who appear to
have limited knowledge about the topic, which is
equivalent 23% of the class, to keep them
engaged and stimulate their interest for the new topic is my focus. The
topic may be new but it must be interesting for them to dive in.
Visual aids are a must. Before the class, I make sure artwork
prints hung around the classroom. Following the Know and Share of advanced
students, I play a video clip that tells briefly the culture, belief, and life
of Australian Aborigines and some authentic artworks. Each new vocabulary or
term is introduced with a word card and its explicit definition on the other
side of the card. To enrich their understanding about Aborigines, Mobile learning is used as a home
exercise. Students will explore more stories on the website http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/
and they will come to the next lesson ready and more confident to participate
in Dreamtime story telling time.
Recording the lesson allows me to review what I did right or
wrong at class, to understand better students in their working places when I
was with the others, and to adjust my lesson with the other class and in the
next lesson.
Learning goal 2: Students are able
to understand the meanings of Aboriginal symbols and colors.
In this game-based learning
activity, students will learn from peers
when sitting with advanced students. Even they are new with the topic but they
enjoy guessing game and can solve simple symbols. The class is very dynamic in
this activity. I can tell students are engaged and enjoy learning through play.
Learning goal 3: Students are able
to understand and experiment dot painting and X-ray technique with different
media.
Some differentiation strategies
are ready but I simply do have to use them because the experiment does not seem
challenged to this group. Students demonstrate their interest, engagement, and
perfectness in creating dot paintings with different media. It proves that hands-on activities and experiments are
appropriate for new skills.
Learning goal 4: Students are able
to create and illustrate stories collaboratively in groups.
Especially for this group of
students, grouping is my strategy to
provide the chance for students to learn
from their peers. Beside story map handouts and explicit explanation, I
spend more time with groups needing more guiding instructions. Observation
must be more often when circulating around the class, and taking note should be
applied instead of intervention only. Role
activation helps students to boost their confidence that they are integral
parts of their group and to make sure they have their voice in group’s
decision.
In brief, the unit has enriched me
in so many ways. I now can be more confident to make assessments with Cahoot or
Google Forms, using assessing data for differentiation planning and adapting my
teaching in the later stage.
RESOURCES
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/priorknowledge
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/dec13/vol71/num04/Differentiation@_It_Starts_with_Pre-Assessment.aspx
http://www.wku.edu/rtwsc/exemplars.php
https://sites.google.com/site/lrtsas/differentiation/5-preassessment-ideas
