Teachers of Kindergarten
through Second Grade have
an excellent resource in the
PARCC Formative
Assessment Tasks.
Excellent Resources can be
found on our Illinois
Classrooms in Action links:
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Also consider visiting the
Illinois Teach and Talk for
Mathematics ideas for
Kindergarten through
Second Grade:
Teach and Talk
Social Emotional Charts for
Performance Descriptors/
Stages by Grade are available
HERE for K –1
HERE for Grade 2
Assessment Resources
PARCC Fully Meets Federal Guidelines
Another update from D.C.
that’s important to share is
that the U.S. Department of
Education recently
completed its peer review of
PARCC. PARCC is now the
first and only large-scale
summative accountability
assessment to fully meet
federal assessment
guidelines. This is an
extraordinary moment for
Illinois, as our state remains
committed to using the
highest-quality assessment
design. Illinois educators
were instrumental in
establishing PARCC as the
highest-quality assessment
and they are critical in
leading the future assessment
development.
Excerpt from:
Weekly Message - State
Superintendent Tony Smith,
Ph.D. - Jan. 16, 2018
February 2018 Volume 6 Issue V
The Teachers’ Newsletter
from Illinois Classrooms in Action Grade band lessons, ideas and information
February Focus: Assessment
Inside this issue:
ELA 2
Math 3
Science 4
Social Studies 5
Learning Support 6
Published monthly by
ISBE
Content Specialists
Kin
derg
arten
Th
rou
gh
Seco
nd
Gra
de
It was time for an update!
Capture the Core is now The
Teacher’s Newsletter from
Illinois Classrooms in Action.
The content will continue to
focus on grade band specific
information to support
classroom teachers.
In addition, we will have a specific
focus in each issue, to target your
grade band level concerns and
make it easier to search back
issues for specific topics.
Thank you for all your dedication
to our students.
-ISBE Content Specialists
New Name, Same
Great Content
Assessing student progress in
an early elementary
classrooms can be a challenge
because students have limited
ways to show what they know.
Formative assessment refers to
all the ways teachers check the
students for progress as they
learn new concepts and skills.
Formative assessments allow
teachers to adjust lessons or
reteach concepts based on
how the students are doing.
Teachers must employ a
variety of strategies to
monitor progress to ensure
all students are meeting the
grade-level standards and
benchmarks.
Formative assessment
information can help you
decide:
• How to plan future
instruction so that
student needs are met.
• How students should be
grouped for instruction
so that each student
receives instruction at the
right level of difficulty.
• If instruction is being
delivered at the right
pace.
• Which students need
individual support.
Allow students to use a
checklist to retell the events
of a story to a partner, a
volunteer, a parent, book
buddy or other individual and
use the checklist to
personally reflect on their
work. (Hoyt, 1999)
Retelling Yardstick/Rope:
Using a yardstick/rope,
teachers can note the
beginning and the end of a
story at each end of the
yardstick. Place Velcro along
the yardstick so students can
Storytelling Glove: Using a
gloves write storytelling
elements on each finger of the
glove: characters, setting,
problem, events or plot, and
solution. In the palm of the
glove, place a heart titled the
author’s message or lesson.
Students wear the glove when
retelling the story they have
read.
(Hoyt, 1999)
Retell
Checklist:
take cut outs of the story and
“stick them” in the correct
order in which the event
occurred in the story onto the
yardstick. These cut outs
should reflect the main events
of the story. The students can
retell a story by placing the cut
outs along the yardstick, or the
teacher can provide the
yardstick with cut outs already
placed on it so students who
need that support can have it.
Assessing K-2 Student Progress
Assessing Comprehension: Retelling Strategies
Page 2 ELA
Grades K - 2
Assessing Writing in the K-2 Classroom
Writing is a process. Writing
with young students can be
incredibly rewarding. It can
also be frustrating, for the
writer and for the teacher.
Reading Rockets has compiled
some of the best resources to
help the early elementary
student with writing. This
interactive tool is designed to
help teachers learn more
about writing. Included are
the following:
• Writing samples from
real kids
• Advice about instruction
based on samples
• Guidance on writing
assessment
• Classroom strategies
• Writing resources
• Video about writing
Click here to access Writing
for Kindergarten.
Click here to access Writing
for 1st Grade
Click here to access Writing
for 2nd Grade.
“The first
fundamental
principle of
effective
classroom
feedback is that
feedback should be
more work for the
recipient than the
donor.”
Dr. Dylan Wiliam
PARCC released a set of
formative performance tasks
in October, 2015 that are
aligned, engaging, and ready
for use in K-2 classrooms.
These items have been
around for a while, but we
wanted to remind you of
their value and their
location. This material used
to be accessed through the
PRC but is now posted on
Classrooms in Action here:
www.ilclassroomsinaction.o
rg/k-2tasks.html
The FAQ document that
accompanies the materials
includes the following
information regarding the
features of these tasks:
“The Standards for
Mathematical Practice play
an important role as each
task embeds one or more of
the mathematical practices
that can be developed as
students engage in the tasks.
Each task also discusses
how to support students
that may be struggling as
well as ideas and resources
to extend the learning
experiences of more
advanced performing
students that are ready. In
addition, tasks contain a Get
Ready, Get Set, Go! feature
which includes research-
based information regarding
how students learn the
mathematics involved in the
task as well as common
student misconceptions and
errors. This feature also
includes a step-by-step chart
describing the steps of the
task and things for teachers
to keep in mind while they
facilitate the task. To
accompany the step-by-step
charts, each task includes
observation checklists that
teachers can use to record
how students are doing with
the mathematics involved in
the task. The checklists
were carefully designed so
that teachers can quickly
capture where students are
at in a learning trajectory.
Finally, each task contains
ready-made printable
materials and templates for
teachers to use which
reduces the amount of
preparation time and helps
guide the facilitation of the
task.“
K-2 Mathematics Formative Tasks from PARCC
Pairs that Make 10—A Kindergarten Task (follow the link to the complete task)
The only way to
learn
mathematics is
to do
mathematics.
~Paul Halmos
Mathematics Page 3 Volume 6 Issue V
Grades K-2
The Concord Consortium
has partnered with Michigan
State University and The
University of Illinois at
Chicago to create Next Gen
Science Assessment, an online
interactive NGSS assessment
exemplar. Sign up for a free
account to review task items
at https://ngss-
assessment.portal.concord.org/
assessment into classroom
activities. For a free
download, visit the
National Academies site at
https://www.nap.edu/
catalog/23548/seeing-
students-learn-science-
integrating-assessment-and-
instruction-in-the
Alexandra Beatty and Heidi
Schweingruber, writing for
the National Academies of
Science, provide an easily
readable, example-laden book
on creating three dimensional
assessments. Get tips on how
to design NGSS aligned
assessments, what data to
pull from students and how
to use it, and how you can
integrate more formative
Interactive, Aligned NGSS Assessments at Concord.org
Seeing Students Learn Science: Three Dimensional Assessment
Stanford NGSS Assessment Project
The team at SNAP provides
an excellent resource for
educators looking for aligned,
three-dimensional NGSS
assessment examples. In
addition to grade banded
examples, they provide
research papers and
professional development
materials. Via https://
snapgse.stanford.edu/
"Equipped with his
five senses, man
explores the
universe around
him and calls the
adventure
Science."
Edwin Powell
Hubble
Page 4 Science
Grades K-2
A great way to get students
out of their desks and moving
is the four corners strategy.
Some students learn better
when they are moving so this
strategy appeals to their
learning preference. In
each corner of the room,
provide a label. Label one
corner, “Strongly Agree,” one
corner, “Agree,” the third
corner, “Disagree,” and the
final corner, “Strongly
Disagree.” (Instead of words
pictures could be used such
as thumbs up, thumbs down,
thumb in the middle). Call
out a fact or statement about
a social science text. Students
should go and stand in the
corner that matches their
response. Encourage students
to share their reasons for
choosing the response. Have
one or two students from
each corner share their
answers with the rest of the
class. While listening to the
students as they discuss their
reasons and share them with
the class, the teacher is
provided with information
that can guide future lessons
response. Then have a
discussion about the correct
response and why it is the
correct response. The
teacher will then model
reading directly the part of
the passage to prove the
answer. After multiple
experiences with teacher
modeling students could
independently find the
support in the text. Students
Red/Green Signal Cards:
Students have two signal
cards. One is red and one is
green. The teacher asks a
question from the Social
Science text and calls on a
student for a response.
Students will raise the green
card if they agree with the
response or the red card if
they disagree with the
can be in a whole group,
small group, in pairs or
assessed independently with
this strategy.
Assessment of Student Understanding
Formative Assessment Strategy: Red/Green Signal Cards
Formative Assessment Strategy: Agree/Disagree
the main idea. As ideas are
pulled out of the bag, have
students agree or disagree.
Students can agree or
disagree by raising their hands
or by walking to one side of
the room or another that has
“agree” and “disagree” signs
posted. Students must be able
to support their decision with
a reason. Student can make
their own bag with a main
idea and details (Harvey &
Goudvis, 2000).
Agree/Disagree:
Tell students what the main
idea is of an informational
text about a topic such as
community me. Have that
main idea written on a lunch
size bag. Provide strips of
paper with details on them
inside the bag. Ensure that
some details are provided
that do not belong or support
The more you teach
without finding out
who understands
the concepts and
who doesn’t, the
greater the
likelihood that only
already-proficient
students will
succeed.
Grant Wiggins, 2006
Social Science Page 5 Volume 6 Issue V
Grades K-2
Community
members
include...
Comprehensive System
Of Learning Supports
Check us out on the web:
Illinois Classrooms in Action
Student Voice in Assessment
How can we develop partnerships in assessment that lead to empowered autonomous learners?
Choosing the assessment method could be negotiated and broadened beyond the traditional written
account to include methods that give educators confidence in the abilities of their students. The
main concept of Student Voice is the communication of student feedback to educators. Feedback can
assume a great variety of forms, and effectiveness of different feedback methods may vary. Findings
suggest that the use of digital technologies in Student Voice context is likely to be highly effective
due to the overwhelming positive attitude of students towards these tools.
The dialogue between students and educators should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to explore understanding and conducted so that all learners have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas.
Assessment feedback should be about particular qualities of work, with advice on what students can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other students.
For formative assessment to be productive, students should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve.
Zou, D. and Lambert, J. (2017), Feedback methods for student voice in the digital age. British Journal of Educational Technology,
48: 1081–1091. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12522
Strategies for Student Voice in Assessment
Prediction—When students predict, they
connect what they already know with
text or visual information. This is a
form of activating themselves as
learners and taking more
ownership of their learning. They
also have the opportunity, after
learning, to check their
predictions and verify those that
were correct and those that were
off, as well as the whys for each
position. As a formative assessment
strategy, the teacher could use “check
in” to note what students know and
identify potential misconceptions before
getting started, and then again at the end.
•Anticipation Guides (k-5)- http://bit.ly/2DZcT7a
•Anticipation-Literacy(6-12)http://bit.ly/2E06XuF
Admit Slips—Admit Slips are similar to Exit Slips,
but are done prior to or at the beginning of
instruction. Students may be asked to reflect on their
understanding of their previous night's homework,
reflect on the previous day's lesson, make comments
about the material being studied or answers
questions. Admit slip responses can be presented in a
variety of formats depending on personal preferences
and/or class needs. If admit slips are used as part of
cooperative or collaborative learning, students develop
some motivation for completing the slips.
•My Favorite No—http://bit.ly/2DWK5fr
Collaborative—Formative assessment in a
collaborative activity can be both teacher
observational data and student/peer self
assessment of skills. The skills assessed
in a collaborative activity can not only
be the content area standards, but also
social and emotional standards that
students need to be successful in
college and careers. Rubrics and other
forms can be used for teacher
observations and student self
assessments of their skills and abilities.
•Peer Assessment Rubric- http://
bit.ly/2DXXQdS
•Collaborative Rubric—http://bit.ly/2DXyzQW
Invent the Quiz- Students get excited when they
help you with test questions because they feel like they
have inside information! Instructions: Teachers ask
students to prepare problems to create a summative
assessment of the content being taught. Students
model problems after their homework or class work.
The students must solve peer’s problems and return
them to their teachers for evaluation.
Based on the quality of responses from the students,
teachers may choose to use the problems for a quiz, an
in-class game or contest, or to create a summative
assessment. Regardless of how the student-generated
problems are used, teachers can integrate them into
the curriculum so students get a chance to see their
work!
I think a lot of
teachers feel
like they're
teaching to a
test. Our response is you
teach to a
student, you
really teach to
the kid.
Erin Gruwell American Writer