Test / Essay Item Rationale

Test Item Rationale:

Developing test items for first graders is very important especially when learning verbs. From the beginning the proper ground work needs to be done to ensure understanding for future use throughout the student’s many years of education. It is also important that we “try and keep the total number of objectives to a manageable number,certainly no more than are needed for any one unit” (Kubiszyn, 125).

Keeping a topic manageable for first graders can be a daunting task. First graders can be very rambunctious, get distracted easily and have a hard time sitting still. Furthermore, when choosing my lessons I feel it is important to be creative by involving students with some sort of hands on objective when possible.

Test items that include fill in the blank (completion items) work well with first graders. When using this form of testing try to be clear, precise and avoid using more than one blank per item. Using only one blank will eliminate confusion. Short test (10 or so questions) more frequently, rather than long test (25+ questions) I found to be ideal for younger students.

Essay Item Rationale:

“Well-constructed essay item aims to test complex cognitive skills by requiring the student to organize, integrate, and synthesize knowledge, to use information to solve novel problems, or to be original and innovative in problem solving” (Kubiszyn, 158). Moreover, having my students create characters and a story line using at least 15 supporting verbs is a great way to assess each individual student’s ability/understanding of verbs and how exactly they should be used.

“Essays may be used to measure general or specific outcomes of instruction” (Kubiszyn, 159). The essay question I developed above falls under the restricted response essays. Students
are asked to reach a minimum page requirement, use at least 15 verbs to which they must recall, use in proper context and organize context to fit the story line/ characters properly. End results will provide the specific criteria I asked for to be used in my evaluation process.

References:
Kubiszyn, T., & Borich, G. (2010). Education Testing & Measurement: Classroom Application and Practice
(9th). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes designed for first grade language arts literacy students that will include the process of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation

Outcome: By the end of the unit students will be able to identify verbs throughout their given
readings

Assessment: Students will read, "Skip to My Lou" by Nadine Bernard Wescott. This book is
based on the song that we will then incorporate into a hand-on “active” lesson.

Lesson: After reading students make a circle around their desk and ____ (fill in the blank with a verb) “to my lou” around their desks.

· Have the children ask themselves what they can do around the desk

· Continue with verbs, action words and have them act them out around the desk

(Examples: skip, march, twirl, swim, jump, fly, sing, crawl and dance)

As a follow up for the lesson you can have the children work on a piece of paper with the close of the song, filling in the blank and drawing a picture to match.

Both activities are a creative and fun way for students to learn what and how verbs can and should be used. This also allows the teacher to see the advancement in the students when picking different verbs to use to fit the sentence.

Reference: Verb Activities, Poems, Songs [forum]. (n.d.). In PT. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from ProTeacher website:http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=63091

Test Item: Students will be given a worksheet with 10 sentences. They must circle all of the verbs in every sentence.
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Outcome: By the end of the unit students will be able to identify and write a list of all the identified verbs in any given assignment

Assessment: Students will create a collage of all different verbs correlating with the alphabet “Action Verb Alphabet”

Lesson: Students are assigned groups but each individual is then given a different letter of the alphabet. These groups must brainstorm and help one another (within the group) to list all the verbs they can come up with that begin with the specific letter. At the end we assemble their ideas into one big class chart for use as a reference.

This activity allows students to be creative when collaborating with each other as well as the chance to work in groups to help with socialization skills and team work. The teacher is able to see the progress of each individual student, through individual work as well as collaborative work.

Reference: Verb Activities, Poems, Songs [forum]. (n.d.). In PT. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from ProTeacher website:http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=10980

Test Item: Students will be given two short stories. First they must first circle all of the verbs they identify. Second they will write a list of different verbs that could have been used in place of the ones in the story.
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Outcome: By the end of the fall semester students will be able to understand/recognize verbs and there meaning in order to place them into correct context

Assessment: Students will play a game called “verbs show ACTION”

Lesson: “verbs show ACTION” each child takes a turn drawing an action from the bucket. Then when the student draws a verb from the bucket they must act it out while the other children guess the verb. The winner gets to then draw next.

Teachers can identify students that may not have as good of an understanding by others through “winners” as well as actions played out when pulling cards. Words that students may struggle with will be identified and used later on to go over in more detail.

Reference:Verb Activities, Poems, Songs [forum]. (n.d.). In PT. Retrieved November 18,
2011, from ProTeacher website:http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=63091

Test Item: Students will be given 15 sentences they must fill the correct verb that fits each sentence. A word bank with both verbs and nouns will be provided.
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Outcome: By the end of the fall semester students will be able to create their own story using verbs to support their story line properly

Essay: Students will write a 1 page essay/story with at least 15 verbs, supporting the characters and the story line they have created.