Tips for Analyzing and Scoring a Ton of Writing
Time is precious, and your mental energy even more so. Why waste either when others before you have learned through trial and error? Avoid common missteps by reading these simple tips.
Category Archive: authentic assessment
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The Joys, Wonders, and Challenges of On-Demand Writing: Assessment Strengthens Writers Blog Series
I’ll be honest. I actually love on-demand writing assessments.
Go-To Digital Tools for Writing Workshop
Digital tools can transform your teaching by allowing students to have a writing community beyond the classroom walls, be innovative, make meaningful connections to other writers and students, have more resources readily available, and have true, authentic reasons for writing.
Instant Minilesson Follow-Up
A strong active engagement, and a routine for informally assessing student work during the minilesson can give you the tools you need to be sure that no student leaves the meeting area completely confused.
Drilling Down into the Writing
Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.
Using Assessment Tools to Teach Transference
Valuable lessons can be learned when an assessment tool designed for one genre is used to assess another.
Just what are the kids writing in those notebooks?
Mrs. V. left the following comment yesterday: “Thanks for your details. Could you tell me more about their idea notebook nightly assignment? What are the requirements and how do you assess it? Also,… Continue reading
A New Writer’s Notebook Rubric
Sometimes you have to let go of the reigns and allow your students to lead you, right. Well, I’m preparing to do just that tomorrow when I work with my students, during Writing… Continue reading
Students and Standardized Tests
MOteacher’s comment on Ruth’s post last night reminded me of those demoralized kids and the children I used to spend countless hours preparing for City and State Tests. MOteacher wrote: “Once talk of… Continue reading
Mid-Year Self-Evaluation: Want a Copy?
It’s that time again… This-coming week is Mid-Year Self-Evaluation Time in my class’s Writing Workshop. I’ve revamped the Mid-Year Self-Evaluation to reflect the questions from not only Buckner’s Book (as I have done… Continue reading
My Life as a Reader.
The first unit of study is coming to a close. The summative assessment is two part. First, students are to create a multimedia presentation (text + image + audio) of their past, present,… Continue reading
NCTE: Reading Assessment.
While at NCTE, I listened to Patrick Allen, Franki Sibberson, and colleagues discuss reading assessment. Here are some highlights: One assessment isn’t better than another and none can stand alone. We need a… Continue reading
Preview: Reluctant Writers’ Self-Reflections
I’ve been going through some of my former students’ end-of-year self-assessments in writing (adapted from Buckner’s Book Notebook Know-How) that were completed in June 2007. I’m doing this to find just a couple… Continue reading
photos + words.
In response to Ali’s challenge this week, I’ve been thinking of stories which represent finding balance in life. This has stretched me as a writer. I find myself renewed by having a project to… Continue reading
prompt scoring.
First day back . . . and I had the pleasure of working with all of the 4th & 5th grade teachers in our corporation to SCORE WRITING PROMPTS! (Does the emphasis of… Continue reading
Gearing Up for Poetry
Poetry Portfolio Originally uploaded by teachergal It’s May. National Poetry Month is over. However, that means that I’m just three weeks away from the start of our final unit of study: POETRY! 🙂… Continue reading
Narrative Feedback to a Student
Narrative Feedback to a Student Originally uploaded by teachergal When we returned from Winter Recess I had my students complete self-evaluations of their Writer’s Notebooks. (They do this in the middle and at… Continue reading
Persuasive Letter Writing Rubric
A few folks have left comments asking for resources for teaching persuasive letter writing. I promised to post the rubric I created once it was finished. It’s now complete and can be downloaded… Continue reading
Customized Spelling Lists
I’ve been grading my students’ personal narratives this morning using the rubric I created last month. That being said, I decided not to just grade their personal narratives, but also to use them… Continue reading
WN: Weekend Check-Ins
Last year I adopted (and adapted) an idea I got from Davis and Hill’s Book, The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing. For an entire year I gave my students weekend writing assessments. However,… Continue reading