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At the end of our course, students had a chance to demonstrate what they had learned through a summative assessment in which they wrote a personal narrative. Students had the option to choose one of three prompts to respond to: 1) a talent or interest that is meaningful to you, 2) a time when you faced a challenge, or 3) a time when you questioned a belief or idea. I believe giving students some choice when completing assignments is important because it increases their motivation and contributes to a more student-centered environment. Students were required to reflect on how that experience or interest affected them or any lessons they learned as a result.
This personal narrative demonstrated their understanding of “showing vs. telling” (sensory details), engaging introductions, and guiding themes as essential components in narrative writing – something we repeatedly emphasized throughout our unit. Students learned the critical elements of narrative writing through a mini-lesson in which I taught different forms of “hook” opening statements, first-person points of view, and how to include a reflection. This summative assessment was beneficial for students in my class who were already thinking about college because these prompts were adapted from the Common Application. Each student walked away from my class with a piece of writing they could eventually submit as a college essay.
This rubric, in conjunction with the scaffolded lessons and assignments, is an artifact that represents my instructional planning, specifically my ability to implement backward planning. I planned each lesson carefully to prepare students for this summative assessment and ensure they felt well-prepared to write their personal narratives. I assigned quick writes and entrance tickets that integrated opportunities to practice each skill; examples are the “Hands” stories (Domain 2, Artifact 2) that students later revised to include sensory details, a hook, and a reflective aspect. The structure of this assessment rubric also shows my intentionality in finding opportunities to bring in students’ funds of knowledge. This artifact demonstrates my ability to design instruction based on larger objectives related to the unit plan and my teaching philosophy.
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