Appendix D: Evaluation Example

Sample 3: Grade 9

Topic: Multiculturalism

Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills)

It is expected that students will:

• describe and assess the strategies they use before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening for various purposes
• describe what they already know about, and previous experiences they have had with, specific topics

It is expected that students will:

• organize details and information about material they have read, heard, or viewed using a variety of written or graphic forms
• interpret and report on information from selections they have read, heard, or viewed
• cite specific information from stories, articles, novels, poetry, or mass media to support their inferences and to respond to tasks related to the works

It is expected that students will:

• relate ideas and information in works of communication to universal themes
• use information that they have read, heard, or viewed to develop research questions or creative works or to complete response activities

It is expected that students will:

• develop focussed inquiry questions related to concrete or personal topics for specific audiences and purposes

It is expected that students will:

• adjust form, style, and use of language to suit audiences and purposes

It is expected that students will:

• create a variety of personal, literary, technical, and academic communications, including poems, stories, and personal essays; oral and visual presentations; written explanations, summaries, and arguments; letters; and bibliographies

It is expected that students will:

• analyse their understanding and beliefs to draw conclusions and identify gaps or contradictions in their thinking

Self and Society (Working Together)

It is expected that students will:

• use language to prompt and support others
• evaluate and modify their own roles in group interactions in a variety of contexts

It is expected that students will:

• analyse the influence of language and cultural diversity on themselves and their communities

This unit involved students in a series of activities related to reading the novel The War Between the Classes and reading articles and poetry from an Issues collection anthology entitled Multiculturalism. Evaluation was based on:

• interview questions
• an article based on the interview
• a verbal/visual poster
• self-assessment of reading strategies and approaches

• The unit began with the class discussing the meaning of multiculturalism­what it meant to them and what it meant to their community and country. They then read poems and articles in the Multiculturalism anthology. Before reading the poems and articles, the teacher conducted mini lessons on reading strategies and approaches such as skimming and asking questions. After reading the poems and articles, students wrote in their response journals or discussed what they read in small student-led groups. Following these activities, students came together as a class to further discuss their interpretations and questions.

• The class decided that each student should interview someone who had immigrated to Canada to get first-hand knowledge about multiculturalism. To prepare for their interviews, students analysed other interviewers on radio and TV, and looked at interview-type articles in newspapers and magazines. They also practised generating appropriate questions and role-played interview situations. As students prepared for their interviews, the teacher presented brief lessons on multicultural issues and policies.

• After conducting the interviews, students used their notes to draft articles about each interviewee's experiences and perspectives regarding multiculturalism. They then determined the criteria for a good article and used this criteria to edit and proofread each other's work. The articles, when completed, were published as a classroom anthology.

• While working on their interviews, students brainstormed ideas about the destructiveness of racism and hatred and how it might feel to be the object of prejudice. The class then began reading The War Between the Classes. The teacher presented mini lessons on various reading strategies such as predicting, imaging, and reviewing to facilitate the reading of the novel. Students then wrote in their literature response journals or discussed what they read in small student-led groups before coming together as a class for further discussion. They also wrote and talked about the strategies and approaches they used while reading.

• As a culminating activity, students formed small groups and prepared verbal/visual posters to represent their analyses and responses to The War Between the Classes. The posters also related the theme and purpose of the novel to the topic of multiculturalism. The posters, when completed, were hung around the classroom, and students did a Gallery Walk to view and evaluate the work.

The teacher reviewed with students the learning outcomes for these activities and explained the requirements of each task. Together, the teacher and students decided that the following key criteria should be demonstrated in the assigned tasks.

Interview Questions

• include a variety of question types­open-ended, closed, personal, public
• demonstrate knowledge and awareness of person being interviewed
• probing and insightful, but also reflect empathy and courtesy
• order and flow encourage dialogue
• clear, relatively short, and easy to understand
• demonstrate understanding of immigration and multiculturalism issues

• engaging, clear, and thoughtful
• precise and sophisticated vocabulary; varied patterns and lengths of sentences
• well-organized structure
• chosen form effectively conveys content
• relevant use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed
• few surface feature errors

• message is clear, understandable, and thought-provoking
• uses colour, shape, and mood to convey message
• visually pleasing in terms of arrangement, colour, and images
• attention to detail evident
• slogan insightful and stimulating

• deals with material independently and confidently
• able to draw on previous knowledge of topic
• has different ways of approaching material, depending on purpose
• creates a personal context to cope with unusual material

The teacher and students used criteria lists and rating scales to assess and evaluate student performance.

Criteria	Strong	Competent	Developing	Not Demonstrated
variety of question types­open-ended, closed, personal, public
demonstrate knowledge and awareness of person being interviewed
probing and insightful, but also reflect empathy and courtesy
order and flow encourage dialogue
clear, relatively short, and easy to understand
demonstrate understanding of immigration and multiculturalism issues
Comments

Rating	Criteria
Outstanding	engaging, creative, and thoughtful precise, vivid, and sophisticated vocabulary; varied patterns and lengths of sentences coherent and organized structure chosen form effectively and innovatively conveys content relevant and intriguing use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed few surface feature errors; only noticeable if looking for them
Very Good	clear and thoughtful complex, precise vocabulary and varied sentences logical organization chosen form effectively conveys content relevant and careful use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed few surface feature errors; occasional spelling or punctuation errors
Good	quite well developed and detailed generally precise vocabulary and complex sentence structures containing minimal errors obvious organization chosen form appropriate for content relevant use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed generally few surface feature errors; some punctuation, spelling, or pronoun reference errors
Satisfactory	direct and usually clear straightforward vocabulary and effective sentences that are rarely complex or varied organization evident chosen form generally appropriate for content competent use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed surface feature errors such as comma splice, spelling, or pronoun reference errors
Minimally Acceptable	limited clarity and thought unsophisticated and, at times, inappropriate vocabulary with simple sentences evidence of some organization chosen form rarely conveys content effectively inconsistent use of details to convey personality and experience of person interviewed surface feature errors may at times distract reader message is clear, understandable, and thought-provoking

Key:

3­strong
2­competent
1­developing
0­unsatisfactory/not evident

Rating	Criteria
Strong/Interpretive	Deals with material independently. Able to draw on previous knowledge of topic. Uses different ways of approaching material, depending on purpose. Creates personal context to cope with unusual or decontextualized material.
Confident	Approaches most reading tasks confidently. Has a sense of how to go about the task and the skills and strategies that can solve reading problems. Understands how she or he reads and how meaning is affected by personal knowledge as well as by what an author writes.
Purposeful	Adapts approach to different purposes and materials (e.g., adjusts reading speed, uses context and other cues, recalls strategies). Able to focus on reading for an extended period of time. May also return to the same reading task over several sessions.
Functional	Comfortable with most reading tasks. Aware of how he or she is reading and frequently uses strategies such as previewing. Monitors reading by checking to see if material is making sense. Uses context cues to support or correct reading.
Developing	Usually more concerned with making sense than precise word-for-word accuracy. Tries to self-correct while reading and may ask for specific help. Frequently uses pictures and other cues to confirm meaning.
Reading Goals
Write two things to focus on in order to improve your reading strategies and approaches.

* Based on the "Strategies and Approaches" section of the reference set Evaluating Reading Across Curriculum.

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