Designing A Comprehensive Assessment Plan

This activity is designed for a blended environment and as a culminating end-of-year activity.Professor Layton has created a time machine that will transport people back in time. Being the entrepreneurial scientist that he is, he has decided to charge people for their travels in order to recoup the cost of building his time machine. The only problem is that Americans are not as knowledgeable about different periods of time in world history and have no idea of when and where they should go. They are dying to try out the professor's new traveling machine for their vacation, but don’t want to end up in a time period that they may not enjoy – or could possible die!In your student teams, you will research an Ancient Civilization and then each member of the group will create a multimedia advertisement for your selected Ancient Civilization. Your advertisement must include all of the following pieces of information as it relates to your selected civilization:

The time period in which your civilization was prospering

• • Where you civilization is located in the world

  • What kind of climate to expect

  • Famous artifacts, structures, or other enduring contributions that are “must see”

  • What daily life in a typical family is like – languages spoken, how they dress, what they eat, family relationships, differences social classes

  • Expectations of any social customs that are observed

  • Currency or goods and services that are commonly traded

  • Structures of government

The key to “hooking” travelers on your civilization is to provide factual information in an entertaining and interesting way, making them want to visit.

You will want include at least three of the elements listed below (not 3 from one element). You can include more than one from each element, but you must include at least three different elements.

• • an image

  • a video

  • a map

  • a chart

  • a diagram

Part 1: The Unit

Audience

Sixth Grade Social Studies Students

Objectives

Student will work collaboratively to create a multimedia advertisement that demonstrates their understanding of the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures from one of the following early civilizations:

• • Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush

  • Ancient Greece

  • India

  • China

  • Rome

Standards

California History-Social Science Content Standards:

• • 6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.

  • 6.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Greece.

  • 6.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of India.

  • 6.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

  • 6.7 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures during the development of Rome.

Common Core Standards:

• • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1 - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2 - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1.b - Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1.c - Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1.d - Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.5 - Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

NETS for Students:

• • 2. Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others

  • 3. Research and information fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Activities

In this culminating activity for sixth grade Social Studies, students will work in groups and individually in the following activities:

• 1. Research group’s ancient civilization

  2. Analyze and record information about the ancient civilization on a group wiki

  3. Synthesize information in a Google Doc

  4. Create an individual script for the Voicethread

  5. Create a Voicethread

  6. Review and comment on other Voicethreads

Part 2: The Assessment Plan

Formative Assessment #1: Pinterest and Easybib

Students will use a group board to collect, cite, and annotate resources used to research their group’s ancient civilization. Pinterest will serve as a vehicle for collecting curated information related to the group’s ancient civilization. With each “pin” (bookmarked resource), students will be expected to cite the resource using Easybib MLA format and provide a short annotation of the resource. Peers will be expected to use the commenting feature for each pin with any additional feedback. Progress toward mastery will be measured by the quantity, quality, and range of the pins, the correctness of the citations, and the quality of the annotations and comments.

Feedback:

Student responses with ongoing peer-to-peer feedback to correct and/or add to content. Ongoing monitoring by the teacher covering levels 1-5 of Tuttle’s Stages of Formative Assessment.

Formative Assessment #2: Wikispaces

Students will work collaboratively to create a wiki for their group’s ancient civilization. To coordinate the workflow, students will use a group discussion thread to divide up the content into manageable workloads and to establish how best they will monitor accuracy of information. Progress toward mastery will be measured by the completeness, correctness, and quality of the information provided on the wiki.

Feedback:

Student responses with ongoing peer-to-peer feedback to correct and/or add to content. Ongoing monitoring by the teacher covering levels 1-5 of Tuttle’s Stages of Formative Assessment.

Formative Assessment #3: Google Docs

Students will collaboratively create a factual information sheet that highlights the key aspects of their ancient civilization. This factual information sheet allows groups to synthesize the information, highlighting key aspects of the cultures. Each group member will be responsible for providing factual information in two areas. The commenting feature in Google Docs will be used for the group to self-correct any statements. Progress toward mastery will be measured by the accuracy and level of synthesis of the information.

Feedback:

Student responses with ongoing peer-to-peer feedback to correct and/or add to content. Ongoing monitoring by the teacher covering levels 1-5 of Tuttle’s Stages of Formative Assessment.

Formative Assessment #4: Google Docs

Using the Factual information, each student will create a script for an individual Voicethread using Google Docs. Each script must be approved by other group members before the Voicethread can be created. Progress toward mastery will be measured by the accuracy of the synthesized information and the appropriateness of the visuals used to support the speaking and listening.

Feedback:

Student responses with ongoing peer-to-peer feedback to correct and/or add to content. Ongoing monitoring by the teacher with celebrations for accuracy and synthesis of information. Feedback covers levels 1-6 of Tuttle’s Stages of Formative Assessment.

Part 3: Summative Assessment

Summative Project: Voicethread

Students will create a Voicethread to serve as an advertisement for their Ancient civilization and share with the rest of the class. Each student will visit at least one Voicethread for each civilization and comment on how the different or similar the cultural elements are compared to their civilization.