Assessment Resources Lesson Plans - National Council of Teachers of English

Elementary, Middle, Secondary, College

Our Community: Creating ABC Books as Assessment

As students study the theme of community, they collect vocabulary words and key concepts. Students first talk about their community and then craft a definition of community. Students then examine several examples of the alphabet book genre, and a variety of print and online texts. (K-2)

Active Reading through Self-Assessment: The Student-Made Quiz

While reading often feels like a solitary activity, teachers can introduce active reading strategies that are social to help students better comprehend their reading. This recurring lesson encourages students to comprehend their reading through inquiry and collaboration. They work independently to choose quotations that exemplify the main idea of the text, come to a consensus about those quotations in collaborative groups, and then formulate “quiz” questions about their reading that other groups will answer. By the end of this lesson, students will have a better understanding of what to focus on in their reading and how to ask good questions. (6-12)

Involving Students and Families in Ongoing Reflection and Assessment

Create a partnership with families by structuring student reflection and family response through daily and weekly student self-assessment. Students begin by writing a sentence or two each week reflecting on what they have learned, what they have done, or what they liked in class that week. Later, they progress to daily reflections and records of their school activity, in which they create and monitor their own learning goals. Families respond to these student reflections, which become the basis for discussion among family, teacher, and students. The reflections are also a key resource in regular student-family-teacher conferences that take place during the term. (K-2)