Formative Assessment Assignment

Goals/Learner Outcomes?
o My goals for this lesson were for the students to teach
each other on their specific sections via a jigsaw activity.
I had hoped that students would be able to recognize
what they thought were the main ideas of their section
and then teach their peers those main ideas.
What was my Formative Assessment strategy?
o After the expert groups split and students taught each
other on their different sections, I had each student pull
out a sheet of paper and I gave them a 5 question Pop
Quiz.
Did President Lincoln support Ulysses S. Grant after
the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania
Courthouse, and Cold Harbor? Why?
Why was taking Petersburg important to the Union
Army?
What message was sent from the general
population after Lincolns reelection in 1864? (Think
about what causes Lincoln championed)
What was General Shermans battle strategy that he
used at the end of the war called? What did it
entail?
Where did General Lee surrender to General Grant?
Do the student work samples suggest my goals were met? To what
degree and by what percentage?
o For the most part, the student work samples suggest that
my goals were not met. Many of the assignments were
incomplete and many had wrong answers, I would say
that maybe 25% students had a grasp of the material
based on the answers I got on the samples.
What student misconceptions are evident? What might you do in a
future lesson to address those misconceptions?
o Many students had problems with questions 3 and 5
especially. I would make sure to emphasize Lincolns antislavery stance and how the country showed it supported
that stance with his reelection, and also the location of
Lees FINAL surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. I also
might make this activity a review activity rather than an
activity to introduce the material so I can make sure
students receive the points I want to get across.
What strengths are evident in the student work samples?

o Students had a strong understanding of the importance

of Petersburg to the Union Army. Most students
understood that it was one of the last big victories for the
Union before Lees surrender and helped continue the
split of the Confederate States.
Is my formative assessment strategy a clear and accurate picture of
what students know and can do? Or did some students fail to put
forward their best effort? What can be done to improve your formative
assessment strategy in the future?
o I do not think my assessment strategy was a clear and
accurate picture of what students can do, but it may have
been an accurate portrayal of what they knew at that
point. The students in Bens class are all capable of a
much better effort on assignments like this. Many
students left spots blank, which could mean that they did
not know the answer, or that they simply did not care
enough to write an answer, two students left their sheets
completely blank. I think in the future I would tell
students they would be graded on the assignment so they
take it seriously, then inform them after that I will not
actually be grading it (Is this too dishonest?). I also think
that in the future I would make this a review activity so
students have more prior knowledge to rely on if their
peer does not do a good enough job of teaching their
section.
Would you assign a grade to the work you received? Would you return
it with feedback? Would you use it to inform your own teaching?
o I would not grade this assignment as I feel it would be
unfair to expect students to know information based on
another students teaching. I would mostly use this to
assess where the students are as far as knowledge on the
lesson and what I need to teach more of. I would make
sure to come back the next day and show the students
the right answers and have them write them down,
especially if they had a performance on it like they did for
this example.
Was anything surprising about the work you received? What?
o While many of the students I thought would do well on
this assignment did not live up to my expectations, one
student, Frank, far exceeded my expectations for him on
this assignment. Frank is usually very distracted in class
and does not always put in much effort, but on this
assignment he got one of the highest grades, a 4/5. My
thinking on this is that the positive relationship I formed
in class with Frank made him want to work a little harder

for me than he would Mr. Pineda, but it could be possible

that he simply retained a lot of the information he was
taught or had some good guesses.