I am planning the next unit for my 12th grade class – we will begin reading Their Eye Were Watching God and as I combed the 11/12 standards, I found that my options for a final unit assessment were slim – reflective essay or research paper. Now, the research paper seemed tempting, but I went with the reflective essay because I realized that although I have bee teaching these kids (though on the brink of adulthood) I only know surface level information about them. So I thought reflective writing might be a good opportunity to 1) get to know my students better and 2) have them engage with the material on a more personal level since my attempts with the last novel we read (The Stranger) failed.
I thought that I could have the students write reflections inspired by the themes of the novel, something more than just writing about the novel. They would also do other forms of writing and perhaps a visual representation of the novel. Then they could choose 4 – 5 assignments and include them in a portfolio with an introduction. I thought this might be a good idea because I am having trouble getting my 12th graders to turn in assignments. Although each assignment would be worth points (for completion) students would have the opportunity to revise their work or a second chance to complete the work. I’m not sure how this is going to play out, because we are rapidly approaching the end of the semester and these 12th graders are getting anxious … could this be considered an authentic assignments?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Remember that "authentic assessment" is defined as assessment that replicates the work that adults do in the world using the skills that are required in school. What do you think?
I think that reflective writing is definitely less intimidating than an analytical/persuasive. Yes, NRG points out that "authentic" would mimic a real world function, but if you can get kids to talk about their own experiences to draw connections to literary concepts, then I think you've created a successfully relevant assignment.
Post a Comment