The following learning targets have been defined for a unit of literature circles during which English 3 Regents (primarily eleventh grade) students will study different pieces of American literature within small cooperative groups of 4-6 students. The pieces include The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have decided to focus on this unit throughout the semester because it is the one my students are working on currently and it is one of my very favorites because it provides the opportunity to continue building upon the skills we’ve practiced in previous literature units while, I hope, offering students the chance to get more creative with their final projects while dealing with interpersonal skills and individual habits of mind that have real world applications.
1. Students effectively manage individual roles and limited class time to prepare a final portfolio and presentation on the unit.
- Developmental learning target
- Alter, ask, choose, complete, comply, contribute, follow, help, influence, lead, order, organize, plan, work, revise, solve (Krathwohl)
- Developmental learning target
- Criticize, define, identify, infer, predict (Bloom)
- Defend, discuss, respond, question (Krathwohl)
3. Students can summarize the main events, ideas and themes of their respective works.
- Mastery learning target
- Compile, describe, explain, give examples, paraphrase, recall, summarize (Bloom)
4. Students can use a table to organize textual information that supports analysis of major characters.
- Mastery learning target
- Describe, discriminate, categorize, compare/contrast, criticize, identify, infer, justify, relate, select, support (Bloom)
5. Students can identify literary devices and explain how they are used by the author to convey the theme of the work.
- Mastery (Identification)/ Developmental (Explanation) learning target
- Define, give examples, identify, predict (Bloom)
- Defend, discuss, question (Krathwohl)
6. Students work cooperatively with peers to plan and submit a final portfolio that showcases their knowledge and skills.
- Developmental learning target
- Answer, ask, assist, complete, comply, discuss, invite, prepare, present, respect, share (Krathwohl)
7. Students clearly and effectively present a critical review of their literary works to their peers without relying upon summary.
- Developmental learning target
- Criticize, describe, explain, give examples, influence, justify, perform, prepare, select (Bloom)
- Answer, discuss, give, help, present, recognize, relate, share (Krathwohl)
Dawn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback on my posting. It was helpful, and I think that I am getting a better grasp of the mastery/developmental concept. I would also love to share ideas on _The Crucible_ as it is one of my favorite units as well!
Your post looks great. I like how you have a balance between the content/cognitive targets (literary elements) and the affective targets (effective group work). I also thought it was interesting the way you listed LT #5 as mastery and developmental for different reasons. It is true that a target may require the mastery of specific content while still working on developing certain skills.
The one question I had was the way LT #6 is written. I wonder if it is written more as an assessment of the target rather than the target itself. Maybe this LT should focus on the types of "knowledge and skills" that you are seeking to get across rather than the form of assessment that will demonstrate this--the portfolio. Just an idea...hope it helps!
Nice job Dawn! It seems like you have a really great unit. I like how LT 5 is listed as Mastery and Developmental for different reasons. I understand your reasoning. I also liked that you listed more than just 5 verbs. It gave me a better understanding of how you could assess the LTs. At such a high level, you have the ability to assess differently than I can with first graders. I can just imagine a first grade discussion! haha Nice job!
ReplyDeleteDawn,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really great job integrating Krathwohl's affective domain verbs. On your first standard, it seems like you went past the general knowledge (of Blooms) and went deeper into the subject matter.
Your learning targets are also very specific. Some even include time frames (learning target one.) I think this will be important when you create assessments for these targets.
Just a thought: I think learning target seven could include another verb, "interpret." When I looked at target seven and compared your verbs with the list on page 33, I felt it could be added.
You did a great job! I am definitely going to take your precision of language and apply it to my own standards!
~Adrienne Loftus
Megan is right: Try not to describe the actual assessment task in your target. You and I might develop different tasks to assess your targets, and they both should work.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I think you got good feedback in our activity in class last week.
I do want to nit-pick #5 though: I think you should want students to "question" authors' use of literary devices, *but* I don't see that in the target. I see "explain." Can you think of a verb that better describes your intentions?