Check out this AWESOME demonstration of how to use TPR in your classroom to make your teaching more comprehensible to your ESL students!
Author: labirm2
Project-Based Learning and Assessment 101
Project-Based Learning gives our students the opportunity to engage in authentic assessment processes, but in today’s high-stakes, standardized test driven education system, teachers often find themselves skeptical about incorporating PBL. If you have found yourself in this position before, check out the article PBL and Standardized Testing? It Can Work!
This hyperlink takes you to all kinds of resources from Edutopia for assessment in Project-Based Learning.
SE2R Can Revolutionize How We Assess Learning
Do you want to learn more about the SE2R (summarize, explain, redirect, resubmit) approach to assessment? In this article, Mark Barnes, explains how he uses this method of evaluation and reporting in his student-centered classroom that he calls a Results Only Learning Environment (ROLE).
https://www.advanc-ed.org/source/se2r-can-revolutionize-how-we-assess-learning
Going Gradeless-Student Self-Assessment in PBL
“By replacing student grades with an end-of-quarter conference, you can change that persistent question of “Will I be graded on this?” to “What can I do better?”
“Is this going to be a grade?” It is a question that teachers hear all the time. Grades have a lot of stigma attached to them, and are often subjective and assigned inconsistently from teacher to teacher and student to student. Seminal research on formative assessment by Black and Williams (1998) concludes that “grades are not as effective as feedback and, in some cases, may even be counterproductive”. The following article discusses an approach called SE2R (summarize, explain, redirect, resubmit), which utilizes narrative feedback loops between teachers and students to come up with end of quarter grades.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/going-gradeless-student-self-assessment-matt-weyers
Fair and Square Assessment for ELLs
“Research has clearly demonstrated that assessments designed mainly for native English speakers may not be as reliable and valid for ELLs (Abedi, 2006).”
As teachers, sometimes we feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to high-stakes standardized testing. We know that these tests aren’t always fair for our ELL students and that they don’t give us a true picture of their abilities. So what can we do to advocate for equity in assessment for our English language learners? The following article discusses three strategies that can help make assessment more equitable for our ELL students.
Math Talk 101
This Scholastic article is an excellent resource to help you get your students actively engaged in academic conversations in math. The article has printable resources for the classroom, as well as videos showing math talks in action.
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/math-talk-101/
Number Talks-Help Children Communicate Their Math Thinking
Giving students opportunities to communicate their thinking about mathematics helps to build academic vocabulary, builds oral language skills, listening skills, and promotes metacognition. Number talks are a WONDERFUL way to engage in accountable mathematical talk, while informally assessing your students’ understanding of math concepts. The links below are an entire year’s worth of 4th grade number talks that I purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers and printable number talks posters.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11JhQ56XpBdann9qrezZkcAYZIGt-PGMD/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wcf0uBXrrjliyxxWfu-S59nZAZc1jea2/view?usp=sharing
21st Century Skills-Keys to Success
There are many skills, mindsets, and dispositions that our students need to be successful in a global society where technological advances are changing the way we learn, interact, and communicate. Sometimes it is hard to know where to start when teaching our students 21st century skills. The following links provide mini-lessons and a power point to teach various 21st century concepts such as global awareness, innovation, initiative, problem solving, creativity, empathy, collaboration, and adaptability.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y01-z3QXlYBiDTbMdQjUsPK9p4JTc4t_/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vMUf6Wco1ZBLzY1Fk0U19CzQJ47OSZWh/view?usp=sharing
Self-Assessment Handouts
Self-assessment has numerous benefits and helps students take responsibility for their own learning. ELLs should have opportunities to reflect, in their home language and in English, on the processes and products of learning content within language and language within content. The link below, from the book Seven Strategies for Assessment for Learning, has a few of my favorite, kid friendly, self assessment tools.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IpYLtjb_Z9eHtaETMvuX7dxswx6GFdMI/view?usp=sharing
Quick and Easy ELL Diagnostic Tools
This ESL diagnostic tool and teacher observation form is one way to informally assess your new ELL students to get a better understanding of their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in English. Click the link below to view:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wFf3UrAl76L4Oxmfz69LoDM_FgkM-faf/view?usp=sharing
Buchanan's Blog-Tips for Teachers of ESL Students 