Test Items and Essay Item

 

According to the authors Kubiszyn & Borich, "the best way to measure achievement is to ask your students to demonstrate mastery of a skill under the conditions you specify in your instructional objectives" (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2013, pg. 116).  The test items I used are clear and concise, and are measurable to match the learning outcomes.

“A well-constructed essay item will clearly indicate the cognitive skills or process that should be employed to formulate the answer, clarify ambiguous details..” (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2013, pg. 157). The essay item I would choose to assess the way children view the season of fall would be to have them draw a picture of themselves or their families outside in the fall, afterwards I would have them verbally describe to me what’s happening in their picture.  Because young children are just learning to read and write they gather information and express themselves using pictures or through any form of art.  The picture will act as evidence that the student was able to comprehend what the lesson was about and students would be able to share their stories by describing the sequence of events happening in their picture.   The test items and essay item will provide young children with the opportunity to take what they’ve learned about fall and connect it to a real world experience from the nature walk to their home life.

Reference:

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. D.  (2013). Educational Testing Measuring and Evaluation  Classroom Application and Practice.  (10^th ed.).  (Chpt.6,7&8) John Wiley & sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

Unit theme: Fall

Age: Preschool

Learning outcomes:

1. Children will be able to recognize and recall characteristics of the fall season.
2. Children will use language to compare and describe leaves and acorns.
3. Children will count leaves and acorns using one to one correspondence.

Test Items:
Children will be shown pictures of the different seasons, and will have an open discussion about the different things they see in the photos to represent each season. Children will take a nature walk around the school neighborhood and discuss what they see, hear, feel, and can touch.  Children will gather leaves and acorns during the nature walk.  Each child will have the opportunity to share their items with the classroom.  Each child will count how many leaves and acorns they found, describe their items, and compare their findings with the other children.  The children will revisit the pictures shown to them of the different seasons and choose the best pictures they feel matches the fall season.
Essay Item: Have students draw pictures of themselves or their families on a fall day.