Assessment Plan- Science

 Age Group: Preschool             Theme: Life Cycle Changes   

Duration: 1 week of introduction and 3 weeks of observation and assessments

Purpose:

The purpose of this assessment plan is to assess the student’s knowledge of the life cycle changes in familiar plants and animals over the course of a month.  The students will participate in a performance-based assessment of both group and individualized projects with the goal of mastering two learning outcomes.

Learning Outcome:

1.      The child will be able to draw or talk about observed life cycle changes in a familiar plant.

2.      The child will be able to draw or talk about observed life cycle changes in a familiar animal.

Assessment Context:

            Large Group:   Poem- “Five Daffodils”

                                    Stories- The Tiny Seed and The Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle

                                    Discussions- critical thinking questions- who, what, when, where, how

                                                          and why

            Small Group:   Plant Part poster

                                    Green Thumbs, Green Heads

                                    Search for Butterflies Book

                                    Retell stories through flannel board pieces/ sequencing

           

            Individual:      Sequencing Picture cards of life cycle changes  

                                    Sequencing game on computer program

                                    Recreating life cycle through art media

            Classroom Environment:        

                                    Science area-   Caterpillar observation area

                                                           Seed to plant observation area

                                                            Include scientific tools such as rulers and magnifying glasses                                                                    

                                    Dramatic Play- Create a Garden Shop

                                    Sensory-          Plastic grass with seeds and plastic bugs to hunt

                                                             with tweezers and magnifying glasses

                                    Literacy area-  provide writing tools within every area

                                                            Books related to life cycle changes

                                    Art-                 Materials to recreate, glue, cut and draw and manipulate the

                                                            life cycle changes in familiar animals

Holistic Rubric

Level	Proficient	Basic	Non-performance
Remember	The student shows ability recall information about the life cycle changes in a familiar animal, such as: caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly and using the term metamorphosis	The student shows the ability to recall some information about the parts of the life cycle of a familiar animal, such as: caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly	The student does not respond to prompts or have the ability to recall information about the life cycle changes of a familiar animal
Understand	The student has the ability to express in their own words the life cycle changes of a familiar animal using scientific terms without help	The student has the ability to express with help in their own words the life cycle of a familiar animal	The Student does not respond or does not have the ability to express in their own words the life cycle of a familiar animal
Apply	The student has the ability to recreate a detailed life cycle change of a familiar animal through art media without assistance	The student has the ability to recreate a life cycle of a familiar animal through art media with assistance	The student does not respond or recreate a life cycle of a familiar animal

Testing Constraints:

            Performance test

                        Time- continuous assessing throughout the 4-week process

                        Prior Knowledge- students will be separated into project groups according to prior                                                      

                                  knowledge, those will a lot of knowledge, little knowledge or                                                   

                                  no knowledge                              

                        Scoring Criteria- Students will know the desired learning outcomes throughout                                                           

                                  the duration of the assessment plan with on-going assessing

Process and Rational of Test Items

          The learning outcomes and test items for pre-kindergarten children are much different than those of elementary aged children. Teachers assess pre-kindergarten children through hands on activities, observations and communication.  While the test formats remain the same, multiple choice, true/ false and essay questions are given verbal rather than written.
In the learning outcome 1, it is possible to use multiple choice and true or false, however, the teacher may be looking for a specific goal, such as does the student recognize the shape rather than can the student name the shape.  For example, the child may recognize that the shape is not a triangle, but calls it a square when it is actually a circle.  Most often then not, a pre-kindergarten student will answer a true/ false statement  with a yes or no and then provide the correct name of the shape if they know it.
  Learning outcome 2, states that the child will identify the letters in their name. Providing a multiple choice activity with other names that have the same letters will  allow the teacher to observe multiple goals, such as, identifying their name and if the child can problem-solve and find the name that is actually written correctly, not just having the same letters. For example, the teacher is assessing Jasmine to see if she can identify the letters in her name. The list of names provided as multiple choice answers are Jahneila, Jack, Jason, Jaun, Jamarvion, and Jasmine.  The teacher observes Jasmine and assesses her ability to find her name amongst the list of names.  Although she may not be able to spell her name, the learning outcome states that she will be able to identify her name.
Learning outcome 3 is assesses a children ability through an essay question to logically answer the question.  For a child to have the ability to see the object that does not belong is great, however, the goal in logic and reasoning or is for the child to have the ability to explain his/ her answer.  For example, the teacher provides a group of animals and one car. Then, she asks the child which toy does not belong? The child should answer by saying and pointing to the car and then proceed to explain that the car is not an animal or that the car belongs with the transportation toys.
Children in pre-kindergarten classrooms have the ability to be tested trough hands on activities, discussions and observation.  It is important for teachers to know exactly what the learning outcome is before they begin the process of teaching, observing and assessing.  Once a child at this age learns and “masters” a learning outcome, they will begin to use it in their everyday discussion and play. The observation at that point becomes easy to assess because the child experiences the outcome naturally.  

References

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2010). Educational testing & measurement: Classroom application and practice
                (9th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

Week 3 Assignment updated from assignment 2

Week 3 Assignment

Grade Level Pre-Kindergarten


Unit Study All Shapes and Sizes


Early Math

            Learning Outcome:

               Identifies familiar shapes by name most of the time (circle, square, triangle, diamond)
           Test Item:
               True/ false- using flannel board shapes, show the child a shape and say, “this is a (triangle, square,    

               circle, diamond).” They answer true or false.
               Advanced children may move on to harder shapes such as parallelogram, trapezoid, octagon, etc.

Literacy

          Learning Outcome:
              Identifies all of the letters in his/ her name
          Test Item:
              Multiple choice- show children a list of names and have them choose which name is theirs.

Logic/ Reasoning

            Learning Outcome:
                Identifies which object does not belong in a group
            Test Item
                 Essay question- have children choose from a group of items the one that does not belong. 

                 Then have the child explain why the object does not belong.