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Posted by Susan Hyde Oct 7, 2007 |
Alternative assessment allows teachers to evaluate student understanding of subject matter without traditional testing. By providing an assessment rubric to students before the activity, teachers can ensure that students understand the required objectives.
- Cartooning: A literature student can create a cartoon summary to show understanding of a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays, a history student might create a comic book to explain the chronology of a President's life, or a student memorizing vocabulary in any subject might create an absurd cartoon with a mnemonic caption in the style of the Vocabulary Cartoons series.
- Drama Performance: History students could create and perform a skit that documents events leading up to a war or that shows the reasons behind a significant event.
- Create a Game: Students in any subject can create games that show knowledge and that can be used by other students as a review, or students might play a traditional game to show certain skills. For instance, an elementary math student playing pyramid solitaire would exhibit an understanding of break apart numbers.
- Silly Songs: Students can show understanding of definitions or basic concepts by crafting and performing a figurative language song, multiplication rhyme or rap.
- Travel Brochure: Geography, history, or literature students can present research on a significant location, historical figure or author by creating a tri-fold travel brochure.
- Sales Presentation: History or science students might highlight the accomplishments of an inventor by selling his or her product (ex: Wilbur and Orville Wright might sell a Kittyhawk Flyer or Alva J. Thor's electric washing machine)
- Debate or Trial: Students in nearly in any subject might debate a controversial political, ethical, or moral issue.
These strategies may be particularly effective when evaluating students with learning disabilities or a strong visual-spatial learning style.