EDUC N350

final draft

Informal assessment record

Higher Colleges of Technology Fujairah Womens College Education division

Informal Assessment Record

EDUC N350 Maryam Saeed Abdulla Al Hassani H00153141 Word count: 1,684

2012-2013 Page 1 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350

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Informal assessment record

Content

Introduction ................................................................................................................ p. 3 Assessment ................................................................................................................. p. 3 Uses ............................................................................................................................ p. 3-4 Design ........................................................................................................................ p. 4 Sub-skill 1 ................................................................................................................. p. 4 Sub-skill 2 ................................................................................................................. p. 5 Sub-skill 3 ................................................................................................................. p. 5 Sub-skill 4 ................................................................................................................ p. 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ p. 5 References list ........................................................................................................... p. 6 Appendix 1 (Checklist 1)........................................................................................... p. 7 Appendix 2 (Checklist 2) .......................................................................................... p. 8 Appendix 3 (Checklist 3) .......................................................................................... p. 9 Appendix 4 (Students Report 1) .............................................................................. p. 10 Appendix 5 (Students Report 2) .............................................................................. p. 11 Appendix 6 (Students Report 3) .............................................................................. p. 12 Appendix 7 (Students Report 4) .............................................................................. p. 13-14

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EDUC N350 Introduction

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Informal assessment record

Teachers need to assess their learners progress in many diverse areas. Thus, teachers may use record sheets to see if their learners are improving in some areas that they need to work on. In this assessment, I have been asked to design a record sheet in order to record four learners progress in one skill. I designed my record sheet to assess learners ability in writing informational report for level ten. I had chosen the writing skill to make my record sheet with four main sub-skills. This task will demonstrate some areas such as assessment, uses and design of my record sheet.

Assessment Teachers provide learners with assessments to know what they have problem with and challenges that they encounter (Russell & Airasian, 2012). Berwster and Ellis (2002) claimed two types of assessments; one is summative assessments which take place at the end of a year or course. Another type is formative assessments which are ongoing assessments. According to Kyriacou (2007) formative assessment aimed to encourage effective future learning by learners. Additionally, formative assessments contain formal and informal assessments. Russell and Airasian (2012) mentioned that informal assessments can be focusing on whether learners gained knowledge, learned a skill or understood a notion. Checklists are kind of formative assessments and, to be specific, they are informal assessments.

Uses I had made my checklist to be focused on the writing skill. My checklist was especially designed to assess learners ability in writing informational report because learners that I taught had a theme that required them to write this type of writing. When I designed my checklist, I considered that I can give it to the learners to evaluate themselves. As Wragg mentioned In order to help pupils look for important elements in their work, teachers can sometimes offer a checklist. (2001, p.66). I used this checklist not just to inform parents about their daughters progress, but also to know learners strengths and weaknesses, and to monitor learners progress overtime. Likewise, Genesee and Upshur (1996) claimed that rating scales and checklists are Page 3 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350

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Informal assessment record

helpful to share information with other teachers and even parents. Russell and Airasian (2012) stated that checklists are reusable and diagnostic of charting learners progress.

Design Genesee and Upshur, (1996) stated that checklists contain a list of substances that describe particular aspects of teaching and learning. According to Wragg (2001), because checklists demonstrate the essential features clearly in a particular area, they are useful. Therefore, when I designed my checklist, I focused on four main sub-skills that were required from learners to develop in that particular theme, which are organisation, content, grammar and mechanisms. I attached a table in the bottom of the checklist that contains the description of the four sub-skills to make it easy for learners and parents to know what goes under each sub-skill. As it is known, checklists have only two responses which are Yes or No, but I found it tough to judge learners work with just these two responses. Thus, I read more about checklists and I found that there are two basic forms in rating scales which are: just the ends of the scale are described or each point in the scale is describes (Genesee & Upshur, 1996). In my checklist, I used the second form of the scale which has a descriptive word for each point. In particular, for number 1 I used the word Needs work and for number 4 I used the word Wow! to describe it. Arends (2009) claimed that adding a number notation could provide learners and parents with extra information. In my checklist, I used positive words such as Strong and Some strengths. Additionally, because I think it is better to have learners names in one checklist rather than having a checklist per learners, I wrote the names of the four learners in the same checklist.

Sub-skill 1 The first sub-skill is the organization and it contains four areas which are having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph and giving at least three details and each detail is connecting to the topic sentence because some learners were struggling in writing topic sentences when I asked them to write short paragraphs, so I focused in this subskill.

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EDUC N350 Sub-skill 2

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Informal assessment record

The second sub-skill is the content which has two main areas: important and correct information and reader may learn new information about the topic. I focused on this sub-skill because it is essential to have correct and new information in informational reports. Another reason is to assess learners willingness for future learning.

Sub-skill 3 Because learners were learning about subject-verb agreement and adjectives and how important are they, my third sub-skill was focusing on grammar. Thus, it has three diverse areas which are using adjectives, verb and subject agreement and writing complete sentences. Furthermore, writing complete sentences is crucial in different types of writing not just informational reports.

Sub-skill 4 The forth sub-skill is mechanisms which also has diverse areas like using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation and correct spelling. I focused on this sub-skill since I saw some learners misuse punctuation and begin their sentences with small letter and having capital letters in the middle of their sentences. Also, it is an essential sub-skill in each type of writing.

Conclusion Overall, this task gave me the opportunity to design my own checklist. Moreover, it gave me a clear vision of how important is checklist to record learners progress.

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EDUC N350 References list

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Informal assessment record

Arends, R. (2009). Learning to teach. (8th e.d.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Brewster, J. & Ellis, G. (2002). The primary English teachers guide. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Genesee, F. & Upshur, J. (1996). Classroom-based evaluation in second language education. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kyriacou, C. (2007). Essential teaching skill. (3rd e.d.). Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd. Russell, M. & Airasian, P. (2012). Classroom assessment: concepts and applications. (7th e.d.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Wragg, C. E. (2001). Assessment and learning in the primary school. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

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EDUC N350 Appendix 1

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Informal assessment record

Writing skill checklist (Informational Report) Date: 21st April, 2013 Writing topic: Animals nobody loves Teachers name: Maryam Saeed Grade: Ten Section: One Wow! 4 Strong 3 Some strengths 2 Needs work 1

Sub-skills Organization Students name 1. Mzoon Aloud 2 Content 1 Grammar 2 Mechanisms 2 Areas to focus on new information, subjectverb agreement, spelling 2. Fatimah Ali 2 4 3 3 Spelling, using adjectives, topic sentences 3. Aisha Abdulla 1 1 2 1 Spelling, topic sentences, new information, using commas, S-V agreement 4. Hind Saeed 1 2 1 2 S-V agreement, topic sentences, new information, writing complete sentences Organization Having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling.

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EDUC N350 Appendix 2

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Informal assessment record

Writing skill checklist (Informational Report) Date: 28th April, 2013 Writing topic: Animals nobody loves Teachers name: Maryam Saeed Grade: Ten Section: One Wow! 4 Strong 3 Some strengths 2 Needs work 1

Sub-skills Organization Students name 5. Mzoon Aloud 2 Content 2 Grammar 3 Mechanisms 3 Areas to focus on Punctuations, new inf., topic sentences 6. Fatimah Ali 7. Aisha Abdulla 2 2 2 1 3 4 3 3 Using adj., topic sentences Spelling, using commas, capitalizing first letter in each sentence, S-V agree. 8. Hind Saeed 2 2 2 3 S-V agreement, topic sentences, commas

Organization Having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling.

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EDUC N350 Appendix 3

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Informal assessment record

Writing skill checklist (Informational Report) Date: 7th May, 2013 Writing topic: Animals nobody loves Teachers name: Maryam Saeed Grade: Ten Section: One

Wow! 4

Strong 3

Some strengths 2

Needs work 1

Sub-skills Organization Students name 9. Mzoon Aloud 3 Content 3 Grammar 3 Mechanisms 3 Areas to focus on Writing complete sentences, punctuation 10. Fatimah Ali 11. Aisha Abdulla 3 12. Hind Saeed 2 3 4 2 3 2 3 4 4 3 3 Spelling Spelling, topic sentences, using commas Having beginning, middle & end, spelling, S-V agreement Organization Having beginning, middle and end, having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling.

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EDUC N350 Appendix 4

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Informal assessment record

Students report Students name: Mzoon Aloud Grade: Ten Section: 1

Dear parents, In this semester your daughter had been studying a theme about Animal Nobody loves. So, I asked her to write an informational report about an animal that she does not like in order to assess her writing skill in writing informational report. For this type of report, I had focused on four main sub-skills which are organization, content, grammar and mechanisms. For more details look at table 1. I am glad to tell you that Mzoon is working so hard to improve her writing skill, and she made an improvement in some sub-skills. In particular, in her first draft of the informational report, she did not write a title related to the content of her report. Furthermore, she was not using so many adjectives in her report and she had some subject-verb agreement and some spelling mistakes. But fortunately, she managed to develop these sub-skills, but she needs to work more on using correct punctuations and writing complete sentences. Here are some suggestion to improve her writing, you can bring her some stories or topics that she is interested in to read them. So, through reading her writing skill will improve. For any comments, please contact me. Teachers name: Maryam Saeed E-mail: H00153141@hct.ac.ae Office phone: 09, 2445996 Table 1 Organization Having beginning, middle and end, having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling. Page 10 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350 Appendix 5

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Informal assessment record

Students report Students name: Fatimah Ali Grade: Ten Section: 1

Dear parents, In this semester your daughter had been studying a theme about Animal Nobody loves. So, I asked her to write an informational report about an animal that she does not like in order to assess her writing skill in writing informational report. For this type of report, I had focused in four main sub-skills which are organization, content, grammar and mechanisms. For more details look at table 1. I am proud to tell you that Fatimahs writing skill is very good and I saw that in her informational report. In her first draft, I was pleased with her writing because she managed to cover almost three sub-skills which are content, grammar and mechanisms. But in the organization sub-skill, she got less grade than I expected because she wrote her essay as one paragraph, whereas when I got her second and third draft of her report, I saw a huge improvement in some sub-skills that she straggled with such as mechanisms. Because she still has some spelling mistakes in her final draft, I recommend you to buy some books for her to read them. For any comments, please contact me. Teachers name: Maryam Saeed E-mail: H00153141@hct.ac.ae Office phone: 09, 2445996 Table 1 Organization Having beginning, middle and end, having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling. Page 11 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350 Appendix 6

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Informal assessment record

Students report Students name: Aisha Abdulla Grade: Ten Section: 1

Dear parents, In this semester your daughter had been studying a theme about Animal Nobody loves. So, I asked her to write an informational report about an animal that she does not like in order to assess her writing skill in writing informational report. For this type of report, I had focused in four main sub-skills which are organization, content, grammar and mechanisms. For more details look at table 1. I am glad to inform you that Aisha had made a huge progress in her writing skill. In her first draft of her informational report, I found that she needed to work on some sub-skills such as organization and mechanisms. But, whenever I provide her with a feedback, I noticed that she tries her best to develop those sub-skills because I saw the improvement in her second draft of the report. Unfortunately, she needs to work on some sub-skills like spelling and using commas correctly. So, I am going to send you some stories that show how to use commas correctly. Please make sure that she reads the stories to improve her writing skill. Also, I recommend you this website (http://www.spellingcity.com/) to improve her spelling skill. For any comments, please contact me. Teachers name: Maryam Saeed E-mail: H00153141@hct.ac.ae Office phone: 09, 2445996 Table 1 Organization Having beginning, middle and end, having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling. Page 12 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350 Appendix 7

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Informal assessment record

Students report Students name: Hind Saeed Grade: Ten Section: 1

Dear parents, In this semester your daughter had been studying a theme about Animal Nobody loves. So, I asked her to write an informational report about an animal that she does not like in order to assess her writing skill in writing informational report. For this type of report, I had focused on four main sub-skills which are organization, content, grammar and mechanisms. For more details look at table 1. I am glad to inform you that your daughter had improved her writing skill in writing informational report. Now I can say that, she always takes my advice positively and apply them. She developed some sub-skills such as writing topic sentences, using adjectives and using commas and punctuation correctly. But, she still has spelling mistakes, subject-verb agreement and having beginning, middle and end. So, in order to develop these sub-skills, I am going to send some informational reports, so she can have a clear idea about how should informational reports be written. I am going to give her some time during my classes to read some stories that she is interested in. I also recommend you to provide her with some books or magazines to read and play with her wordsearch game.

For any comments, please contact me. Teachers name: Maryam Saeed E-mail: H00153141@hct.ac.ae Office phone: 09, 2445996 Table 1 Organization Having beginning, middle and end, having a title related to the content, having topic sentences in each paragraph, giving at least three details, each detail is connecting to the topic sentence. Content Important and correct information, reader may learn new information about the topic. Grammar Using adjectives, verb and subject agree, complete sentences. Mechanisms Page 13 of 14 Maryam Saeed H00153141

EDUC N350

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Informal assessment record

Using commas correctly, starting each sentence with capital letter and ending it with the correct punctuation, correct spelling.

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