Here are some examples of language arts assessments in a variety of classes.
Up, Up, and Away
Poetry
Senior Lit
Black Studies
The following is the assessment used for the writing portfolio and class in the Up, Up, and Away class:
Up, Up, and Away Portfolio and Class Assessment
READ THIS: Please complete this assessment of
your portfolio and the class and give it back to me along with your portfolio. Please answer ALL of the
questions. Do not just answer as
quickly as you can. If you do not give
quality answers (answers that show that you have given thought and effort to
addressing the question), you will have to do this assessment over and will not
receive your credit until you complete it at a satisfactory level. Also, you must complete this assessment
of your portfolio to receive any credit at all in this class.
You should type or write your answers on a separate piece of
paper. Please make sure to number
your answers. It can be single or
double spaced but please, if you type, use 12 point font. Thank you.
Portfolio Assessment
- How many of the 14 assignments do you
have in your portfolio? If
you do not have all 14 please explain which ones you are missing and why.
- Which one of the 14 assignments was
your favorite to write? Why?
- Which piece would you choose as the
best piece you wrote – contains your best writing? Now please finish and add onto the
following sentences regarding this piece:
- What I believe I did really well on
regarding this piece is…
- It shows, as a writer, I can…
- If I could do another draft I would…
- Which piece of writing would you
choose as your least favorite?
Now please finish and add onto the following sentences regarding
this piece:
- I like this piece the least because…
- If I could do another draft of it I would…
- Now, look back over the whole of your
portfolio. Start from the
beginning and read each piece in order. Now, please answer the following questions:
- Do you believe your writing got better, worse,
or stayed the same? Why do you
think this? Give at least 3
reasons AND 3 examples.
- What do you feel are your writing
strengths? Why do you think
this? Give at least 3 reasons AND
3 examples.
- What aspects of your creative writing do
you think you still need to work on?
Why do you think this? Give
at least 3 reasons AND 3 examples.
- Which piece are you submitting to the
class anthology? Why did you
pick this particular piece?
Did you proof read it before you turned it into me?
Class Assessment
- What would you improve or do different
if you had the chance to teach this class next semester? Explain your answer.
- What aspects (please be specific) of
the class worked for you?
3. What do you feel
and/or think you learned in this class?
Please be specific.
Poetry
Student in poetry class will create a portfolio that demonstrates the following competencies:
1) Student demonstrated knowledge of and ability to use the following poetry tools:
hyperbole, paradox, oxymoron, villanelle, metaphor, simile, meter, feet, rhyme, imperfect rhyme, end rhyme
rhyme scheme, line break, end-stopped line, enjambed line, allusion, alliteration, assonance, internal rhyme
stanza, tercet, quatrain, couplet, terza rima, haiku, cinquain, onomatopoeia, synethesia, personification
2) Student participated in community building.
3) Student demonstrated ability to respond constructively to others' work.
4) Student demonstrated ability to accept others' suggestions.
5) Student wrote in several poetry forms.
6) Student read at least one poem aloud in class
7) Student wrote at least 16 original poems
When you talk about your poems, talk about how you have changed as a poet,
reference at least one poem in your discussion.
Senior Literature
In order to get credit in Senior Literature, you must
complete the following self-assessment. Please type or write your answers on a
separate sheet of paper; take some time and be complete with your answers; if
you do not answer all the questions completely, I will return the assessment to
you for more work. Please attach
your self-assessment writing to your reflections and essay and give the packet
to Barbara one week before the end of the class.
Please name the books, essays and
plays that you read, films that you saw, and stories that you heard, then
answer the following using books that you read in this class or dialogue that occurred
in class discussions.
1) Write a paragraph that shows you understand character development
2) Write a paragraph that shows
you understand plot
3) Write a paragraph that
identifies theme
4) Write a paragraph that
identifies the use of inference
5) Identify a citation you made in
a piece of writing
6) Please write a page (150 words)
that describes how you participated in this class. Explain what went on with
your listening and talking. Cite at least one thing you said and one thing you
heard, something that made you change your mind or that reinforced what you
already thought
7) Write a paragraph that
demonstrates the synthesis of your own life experiences
and what you have read
8) Write a paragraph that
identifies an ethical dilemma
9) Write a paragraph that compares
two or more assigned works
10) Write a paragraph that answers
the following questions: what was the topic of your essay? What did you like
about your essay? What could you have done better in your essay?
11) Look over your reflection
writing and choose the one you like best and the one you like the least. Write at least four sentences about
your favorite piece starting the first sentence with: what I did well in this
piece was . . . and write at least four sentences about the one you like least
starting the first sentence with:
What I learned writing this piece was/is . . .
12) Please evaluate the class and
facilitator; comment on what worked, what didn’t, what you learned.
PORTFOLIO/ SELF ASSESSMENT FOR BLACK STUDIES
In order to get credit in Black Studies, you must complete
the following self-assessment
Please type or write your answers on a separate sheet of
paper; take some time and be complete in your answers; if you do not answer all
the questions completely, I will return the assessment to you for more work.
Please attach your self-assessment writing to your portfolio of work and give
the packet to Barbara by June 10 (June 5 for graduating seniors)
1) Please
name the books you read and describe your book project. You will receive .1 credit if you read
2 books and did one book project, and answer or complete the following:
What did you like about one of your
books?
What did you learn from one of your books?
Write a statement of at least 100
words directed to either the writer of, or a character in, one of your
books.
2) Please
make sure you have at least 5 pieces of reflection writing in your
portfolio. Look over the
reflection writing and choose the one you like the best and the one you like
the least. Write at least 4 sentences about your favorite piece starting the
first sentence with: What I did
well in this piece was . . .
And write at least 4 sentences
about the one you like the least starting the first sentence with: What I learned writing this piece
is/was . . . If you completed 5 pieces of reflection writing, took 2 group tests,
turned in a map of Africa, and complete this question, you will receive .1 credit
3) Please
explain what you did relating to the creative assignments about Africa (Mansa
Musa. Sundiata Keita, Egypt) and/or in relation to the African-American
Writer’s Alliance visits, then write a paragraph (at least 4 connected
sentences) about one or more of those activities that tells what you learned or
what you would have like to learn but didn’t. Completion of these assignments
and this question equal .1 credit.
4) What
was the topic for your research paper? Please write a paragraph that tells in
detail what your sources were and how you found them. What is one thing you found out that you didn’t know before
your research. Completion of a
research paper with in-text citations and a bibliography and this assessment
paragraph will equal .1 credit.
5) Please
write a paragraph that answers the following questions: What was the topic of
your essay? What did you like
about your essay? What could you have done better in your essay? If you completed an essay through the
draft process (at least 2 drafts and Barbara says you are done) and answer
these questions, you will receive .1 credit. Some people chose to write 2
research papers; if you did that omit this question and complete question #4
once for each paper.
6) Please
write at least a page (150 words) that describe how you participated in this
class. Participation doesn’t just mean that you talked in discussions. Explain
what was going on with your listening, talking, writing, and/or reading. Cite things you said, read, saw, heard
or thought about. Mention things
that someone else said that stuck with you, helped you understand something,
made you angry or happy. 80%
attendance (excused absences don’t count against you) and completion of this
page equals .1 credit.
7) 72
hours of independent projects.
There have been many opportunities to amass these hours: extra reading,
attendance at various events, musical and cultural projects, watching films and
writing about them, historical research, etc. Please fill out a log sheet that
catalogues your hours, then write a page that explains in detail what you did
and what you learned from at least 2 of your activities. Completion of 72 hours
and this page will equal .4 credit; fewer hours and this page will equal credit
based on how many hours you completed.
Class Assessment
Please consider and answer the
following questions as completely as you can.
What would you like to have had
included in this class that wasn’t?
Which piece or pieces worked the
best for you? Why?
Which piece or pieces didn’t work
for you? Why?
What did you learn from this
class?