Theoretical Novel-Based Assessment Plan for a 9-week English Course

9 (1-page) reading logs (one per week) (3% of total grade , collectively)

In order to make sure students are keeping up with the reading and for the teacher to informally assess where students are having difficulties or successes, students will be required to keep a reading log where they can write any concept they don’t understand as well vocabulary words and definitions they’ve looked up.

*I weighted this as 3% because it is not necessarily focused on the novel, but rather the students. It is important for the students to express opinions about the lessons and to show growth in their reading, but students should feel that the logs are a helpful tool to help them keep track of what they need to spend more time understanding. It is my hope that these logs will not be seen as a major assessment to worry over, which is why it’s weighted lighter than the other assessments on the list.

18 homework assignments (7% collectively)

These will include reading the novel and answering a list of plot questions. Homework assignments are important and should be left in-tact in order for students to keep up with and be responsible for the readings. These also help the students get a better understanding of what they are reading by causing them to search for and pay attention to key facts that correlate to questions asked on the homework.

*As said above, the homework assignments will consist of “plot questions” or questions easily found within the reading and which require no analysis or opinion in case the students are struggling or are confused about the novel. These are weighted as 7% because I feel that along with the logs, 10% of the students grade should be represented by at-home work done to make sure they are prepared for the class and keeping up with the reading. Since each class depends on their familiarity with the novel, I feel that these two assessments are an important part of the students’ grades.

4 quizzes on the novel (5% each)

Quizzes are important in order to assess the student’s comprehension of the novel thus far. They will also serve as a culminating check of understanding, and will hopefully prevent “dump truck learning”, or the phenomenon where students forget what they’ve read as soon as we’re done covering it in class. I plan to take several questions from previous tests and put them on the current (second, third, and fourth) quiz to make sure students do not forget key elements that occurred earlier in the novel. I added one more quiz in order to balance out the percentage relation between these quizzes and the alternative assessments (CD, skit, and scrapbook).

*Because these are not major tests, they are not weighted as heavily as a test or a project, something that takes more preparation time to execute well, would be. However, quizzes are still important as both a tool to check comprehension and an assessment where students that feel most comfortable with traditional means of attaining grades can flourish. Thus, I’ve weighted the quizzes in relation to the alternative assessments, both making up 20% of the student’s grade.

 1 paper discussing the use of symbolism in the text and what it reveals about the protagonist (3-5 pages) (20%)

I feel that papers are an important part of any class and in any subject since students will be required to write every day of their life, regardless of their profession. As a literature teacher, I feel that these two elements, the protagonist and symbolism, are both important to analyze in order to understand the inner workings of a novel. I’ve combined the papers on symbolism and the protagonist from the original list because I feel that very often the two are intertwined, and also because it gives a direction to the paper and a tighter focus.

*Besides the culminating comprehension test at the end of the novel, this assignment is weighted most heavily because it is the most reflective of the students’ understanding of the novel, and also because it is so labor-intensive and time-consuming. Students are to take this and any other paper seriously since writing is such an important skill.

+ 1 short (5-10 minutes) skit performed outside of class (videotape) or during class time depicting a scene from the novel (5%)

Students will be given a list of scenes and an opportunity to break into groups and select a scene to re-create to the best of their ability. This takes place of the oral presentation because it not only requires students to have proficient oral skills and tests their ability to accurately share information about the novel, but also because it is a more creative outlet for students to share this information, thus more fun to execute and to listen to.

*Students will mainly be graded on how accurately their skit represents the scene so as to give students without access to technology or props an equal chance at a good grade.

1 music assignment where students create a soundtrack to the protagonist’s life and explain what event made them choose each song (5%)

This assignment depends on whether or not the majority of students have access to such technology to determine whether it will be kept or thrown out. Students will choose and “burn” songs onto a blank CD (a policy against explicit lyrics will be made clear and enforced) that they feel embodies the protagonist or reflects certain events in the novel. The “album cover” will feature novel-reflective student artwork on the front and inside will have a one or two sentence explanation on why each song was chosen.

*This assignment is weighted the same as the skit because both are non-traditional assessments and may or may not appeal to the student’s learning style. It is important because students can incorporate interests from their own lives and personalize aspects of the novel, which will lead to better understanding and retention.

 1 book report of the in-class novel in the form of a scrapbook displaying setting, characters, and significant items to the characters and novel as a whole (10%)

This assessment is important both because it is a spin-off of a traditional assessment that students are familiar with, and also because it tests students oral proficiency as well as creativity. Students, I hope, will enjoy doing and listening to/seeing these scrapbooks because each one will be unique and creative.

*Because book reports are so central to the English classroom, this alternative assessment is weighted more heavily than the others because it is based on a traditional assessment. As with the skit, students will be graded largely on how well they summarize the novel and less on the “fanciness” of the scrapbook.

 1 student-made test where students write questions for the test that are reviewed and approved by the teacher (30%)

Instead of seeing “major test” on their syllabus and panicking, students will be given the opportunity, as a concluding, wrap-up assessment of the novel, to write their own questions for their “major test.” These questions can be written during class and then reviewed that night by me, where I will replace/edit questions. This gives students the opportunity to express what was important to them in the novel, gives me a way to assess students both informally (see what they learned by their questions) and formally (know what they learned by their answers).

* Because testing is at the core of education in general and measures the overall effectiveness of the class as well as student effort and comprehension, I feel that this assessment should be most heavily weighted. However, because students often have a fearful, negative opinion of tests (and also because they often feel that tests are lacking in validity according to what they’ve retained and valued form the lessons), I think it is important to allow students to have input on such a comprehensive and weighty assessment.

 3 opportunities for bonus throughout the term where students turn in a 1 page question and response about any book of their choosing from a pre-approved list kept in the library (1% each)

I feel that bonus is an important part of any classroom and I know first-hand that it is greatly appreciated by the students. By letting the students choose a title to read and reflect on, this assessment not only encourages more practice in reading and writing, which is extremely important, but also allows students to explore literature that is more interesting to them, more culturally relevant, and at a level better suited to their individual reading ability.

* These are weighted as 1% so students feel that their extra work is fairly rewarded and so that they can easy gauge what an impact it will have on their final grade (each paper turned in will raise their grade one percent).