I suppose I'll make a comment on each of my major units. One unit is Our Town. The challenge I am having in this unit right now relates to the fact that we have a classroom set of the script. In each of my Advanced English 8 classes, we are reading this play in class. The students don't (and can't) take the books home. And yet I've assigned a unit project. I've had to think about how the students can do their projects without a book in front of them. I also need to think about how they will prepare for their unit test. We'll need to do some good review work in class this week.
My other major unit is a memoir unit, which involves reading and writing memoirs. I've been thinking about how to assess creative writing. With my students, I've been stressing the idea that, with creative writing, reader response is critical--it's the measuring stick against which we evaluate our work. Thus far, here is what I've come up with:
Have you written a one-page memoir (due Monday Apr. 20)? worth 25 points
Have you responded to the writing samples of all your group members? worth 25 points
Have you edited your memoir, based on the comments of your group? 25 points
Have you posted your memoir to the Scholastic website? 25 points
TOTAL 100 points
This is a process, as opposed to a product, rubric. It will count for a test grade. At the moment, I'm happy with this plan, but it will be interesting to see how well it works in practice. My cooperating teacher has asked me whether I'm grading anything critically in this unit, or whether I'm simply giving participation grades. I'm giving her question/concern a lot of thought. I think that, with creative writing, I'm on the right track, but I'm not sure she would agree.
I'll keep you posted, gentle readers, on how this memoir unit turns out.
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That's a good question. You can read include something in the rubric that reads somehing like "The student has put forth enough effort at writing" or something that measures effort. I know it's ambiguous, but if you explain the types of things you're looking for beforehand, you should be okay. I used to assign my students to draw maps and I would use an "Effort" component when I graded them. One parent complained that I only gave her daughter a 3 out of 5 for effort and I showed her other maps which were much more detailed and drawn to scale better. The key was that when I took away the 2 points, it didn't drop her grade below an "A"...all sorts of fun stuff to think about. I'll check on you today to see how this is coming along.
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