Post-Assessment

Prompt:
TYPED- 5 or more paragraphs
What is your dream? How can you accomplish it? How does your who you are
(identity) relate to how you develop (character)? Talk about how your role in
society affects the way you grow up (your gender, race, age, social class).
Make connections to what is happening in the text. Which character are you
most like? Why? Pull from the text to support your thoughts on character
development and gender roles.

Post-Assessment Chart
Hook/Introduction
Connection to themes

Area of Concern

Developing

Connection to the text

Sentence Structure
Conclusion

Grades Overall

90s; 6%
60s and below; 19%

80s; 38%

70s; 38%

90s
70s

80s
60s and below

Strong

Students were graded on criteria focusing on the information in the bar graph. Before this
post-assessment was assigned, students began reading the play A Raisin in the Sun and as a class
we discussed the different themes that were presented and how we could make personal
connections to them. When students wrote their pre-assessment essays, it was on a much smaller
scale and I asked them to strictly talk about what their dream is and how they will accomplish it,
especially with any sort of obstacle in their way. The post-assessment asked them to take it a
couple steps further; I asked students to now make connections to the book as well as the themes
we have been discussing and reading about throughout the play. I altered the rubric from the
grading of the pre-assessment to show this. I have found that students will be able to interpret
text and work with it better if they can make some kind of personal connection to it. This is why
I structured a lot of class discussions around themes and how it can relate to anyone in the
classroom.
The biggest area of concern turned out to be connection to the text and developing a great
and captivating hook. On most of the class papers, my first comment was More hook here! or
Interest the reader a little more here! The hook is meant to capture the reader and make them
want to read on and find out what you have to say. Instead, many students gave me the same
introduction: My dream is to be... Students were given a PowerPoint on how to write a good 5paragraph essay with one main point being how to captivate a reader. I gave them some of the
top examples/techniques including, ask a question, state an interest fact, or use a quote from
someone famous or of good-standing. A few students used the question starter, one in particular I
found interesting; Has your gender role, race, age, or social class ever affected you from
accomplishing your goal? Well, from my perspective, I think that no one should stop you from
achieving your dream. Her introduction was very uplifting that when she finally came to
expressing her dream, I wanted to read all about it. Asking the question gave me as the reader, a
chance to really think about what my answer would be. The more I read, the more I wanted to
know. Students then had a difficult time making a connection to the text. Most of the students
responded to this section of the prompt with, I do not relate to any character in the story.
However, students went on to talk about one of the characters was brave like them because she
tried for her dream just like they will. I think this section of the prompt posed a confusion when
they first tried to answer it, which in turn made it difficult for them to answer it completely.
Student 1 excelled in her connection to the play and to the themes presented. I found that
this student even took the time to research her profession and the setting of the play in order to
form her statements and opinions throughout her essay. In attempt to make a connection to the
text, this student goes on to say, His sister Beneatha wants to become a doctor. Walter thinks
that is not an acceptable job for women. He thinks she should be a nurse or get married instead. I
want to be a doctor too and some people think that women should not be a doctor. I appreciated
that this student tried to make the connection to one of the characters that seemed to be in her
same situation. From this students pre-assessment, she has developed her writing and
explaining. She really took the time to make her writing matter.
In the case of student 2, his connection to the text was missing, but his love for his dream
jetted off of the page. I could tell as I was reading, that he really believed in what good could
come from accomplishing his dream. I feel like if I can become a cop, I would be able to help
out people and the community. His grade reflected a lot off of making connections to themes,
where most students were in the developing and area of concern stages. His progression from the
pre-assessment to post-assessment showed that the student really took in what the class was

learning and applied it to his writing. Having the student make connections to the text is key to
understanding and interpreting.
Student 3 represents the students who scored on the lower scale of grading. Though the
student was able to make connections to some of the themes in the play like gender and social
class, she lacked in the explanation and connecting herself to the text. What was also prominent
was the lack of conclusion. The majority of students showed a area of concern for this category
because it consisted of one or two sentences and simply stated that this was their essay and now
their done. Student 3 began her conclusion with This is my dream. Ive told you some reasons
why I want to become a pathologist. In my comments I stated to her, Take the time to restate
everything and make the reader recognize your purpose. I wanted her and the rest of the
students with this issue to realize that conclusion are a time to restate, reconfirm, and show
importance to the reader. It is a chance to wrap up your entire essay in one paragraph. A reader
should remain intrigued and understand the importance of why the writer decided to write about
what they did. Helping students with comments and/or suggestions such as these are not used as
a bad thing or critique, but to assist them in their future writing endeavors.