Explanation of Pre- and Post-Assessment Instrument  

Students will be asked:

• How they can tell where each mask is from?

• What building techniques were used to make it?

• What is the masks purpose?

• How could these masks be used (Examples in PPT)? (ceremonial dances, home decor, in an art exhibit, or religious sacrament?

• Can both men and women wear masks?

• Do we wear masks at all? (think baseball, spa masks, halloween masks.)

• How are these masks different from the one we looked at before?

• Pre-assessment with clay sculpture will include a beginning exploration of the material. The students will be given clay to play with as teacher introduces the next section after ideation phase. Students prior knowledge of clay building will be assessed with questions:

• Who knows what a pinch pot is?

• Who can show me how to make one?

• How do you make a coil?

• How do you attach 2 pieces of clay together?

 

Polaris Expeditionary Learning School Rubric:

PSD Elementary Assessment Rubric   

    This is a rubric that outlines the grading scale containing 5 section, planning and ideation, creation and exploration, reflection and connection, pre and post assessment scores. These sections relate directly to the Colorado State Art Standards for fourth and fifth grade students in the Poudre School District. Each of these sections is broken down into four grading scales, ranging from in progress (1) to  advanced (4). Each student’s work work is graded on this same scale and with feedback on their whole artistic performance. This allows us to show learning, comprehension, and understanding. With the use of a pre and post assessment we can assemble data and show students growth.

 

Assessment Instruments  

Sketchbooks: The students used their sketchbooks this semester for their planning and ideation of their projects. The sketchbooks were also used a daily warm-up/ formative assessment from the class before. I asked students to reflect on the previous class with questions like: What parts of clay building worked for you? What part of mask building did you have difficulty with? What is one thing you learned?

Blog: The online blog was used as another pertinent resource for assessment. A blog is a great way to reflect weekly on student progress. Three areas to highlight are, what worked with the lesson? What didn't work with the lesson? What will you do differently next time?

 

Formative Assessments

Checking for Understanding:

We used formative assessments daily in class to check for understanding our our students. Asking the class to respond to a question with a thumbs up or thumbs down was a beneficial way to assess where the majority of students were. For example, during the first building day of lesson two, I had one student ask me “how do I make a horn on my mask? I began to show him a building strategy then stopped assuming other students had the same question. I asked the class “who is planning on adding a horn or appendage to their mask?” Six students raised their hands and we proceeded with a mini demo for those who wanted to add horns with plaster gauze.

Exit Tickets:

Exit tickets were used as a formative assessment throughout the semester. These were a great way check for understanding as well as reiterate objectives and learning targets with the students. The information gained on student comprehension and misinformation is invaluable. It helped asking students what they had trouble with directly, then I was able to take the information and adjust the instruction for the next class. This method of assessment adds literacy to the lesson.

Group Critique:

The group critique was a method in building comprehension and reflection skills. Not only does this work directly with the standards, it begins building transferable skills like group collaboration skills. We first laid down the ground rules and expectations of the critique. This was the majority of my students first time discussing artwork in a formal critique environment. Students were counted off in fours to separate from normal groupings to get them working with different people. Students placed their sculptures as well as their ideation sketches together on the table. When discussing student artwork we focused on formal qualities, things they notice or wonder about, likes, and things they might have done differently.

Exhibition Reflection Sheet:

The end of semester art exhibition was a culmination of 9 days of studio work. I asked my students to look at all the artwork in the show and jot some ideas down. They were asked to find two works they like and explain why.  They had to illustrate the chosen art works. Along with the two liked pieces, I asked them to identify one work that they would change, what they would change, and why. In the descriptions students are expected to use proper art language and discuss the formal qualities of the works. This type of assessment adds literacy, strengthens reflection and comprehension, and allows me as an educator to chart student growth from first critique.

                                                                                                                 

Pre- and Post-Assessment Results

Graded on:  PSD Elementary Assessment Rubric                                                                                                               

* Numerator represents Pre Score, Denominator represents Post Score.

Alicias 4th and 5th Grade assessment tools

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Discussion of Pre- and Post-Assessment Results                                                                                         

For the pre and post assessment results, students showed an increase in results mostly. This could be for a multitude of reasons. Students seem to retain more information the further in the semester perhaps due to increased management skills learned by CSU teachers.  Students also developed their articulation and planning skills because they had many opportunities to practice these skills during our class sessions.  We had students plan every project they were going to make in 2D before transferring them to 3D.  Most students demonstrated an increase also in the planning process as they learned how to hone this skill. After the conclusion of each project, we participated in class discussions and interviews.  It is demonstrated that skills in articulating the intent in their works is due to practice and guidance as well.  This speaks to the growth demonstrated from pre and post assessment for Polaris 4th/5th students.

From the Subgroup of listening students vs distracted results show that students that followed the directions in its entirety yielded a better score than students who chose to do a variation of the topic. Students that followed directions likely were able to engage in more efficient work time without as much problem solving necessary.  Most students still grew in their pre and post assessment scores, regardless of their listening skills, due to practice and guidance in fostering the habits to be an effective studio citizen. It is clear that following directions maximizes growth in each student however.

 

Strengths and Weaknesses of Assessments                                                                                              

Discuss strengths and weaknesses (unit topic not clearly defined when assessment developed, objectives are vague or to broad, assessment doesn’t adequately measure the quality of learning, achievement is clearly defined through the assessment, etc.) and possible modifications to assessment and instruction plans and teaching.

Weaknesses:  Generally, thumbs up/down assessment is not the most accurate way of checking for understanding.  Students may be inclined to give a thumbs up just because they don’t want their peers to see they’re confused.  It does not truly test if the student knows the information or not like a more formal assessment strategy  such as a quiz would.  Additionally, critique normally lends itself better to students who are at a higher cognitive level than 4th and 5th grade.  Students did not always know how to make engaging conversation during the group critiques.  

Strengths:  Something that stood out to me as a successful assessment strategy was an exit ticket.  We used this assessment as a way to reiterate objectives for the day, and as a pre assessment for the following class.  An exit ticket is a very effective instrument when trying to determine what to plan.  Also, students can’t rely on their classmates for answers since it is on paper.  Another strong attribute of this unit was the Exhibition Interview which seemed to help students reflect deeply on their past art assignments.  Reflection of the projects and why they created the work was very clear to teachers and students by having them articulate their thoughts in an exhibition interview.      

Possible Modifications:  

As always with a new lesson, possible modifications need to be taken into consideration for future teaching.  Students should be thoroughly prepared for critique talks and how to talk about others art at the 4th/5th grade.  Perhaps we could have had students do a practice critique on famous art works so they can practice comparing and contrasting works separate from their own.  Additionally, I would have modified our assessment plans to include more Kahoot.  The kids were super engaged and excited for this electronic quiz that also helps build community within the classroom by having students participate in teams.