What's The Matter Plaid Pete? Unit Assessment
Lesson 22 of 22
Objective: SWBAT show what they know about the properties of matter.
Connection to the Next Generation Science Standards:
Students who demonstrate understanding of the Disciplinary Core ideas of Structure & Properties of Matter of the Next Generation Science Standards; and the Crosscutting Concepts of Cause and Effect, Scale, and Proportion, & Quantity, will be able to complete this individual assessment with 75% or better accuracy.
I am also including a scoring guide that is calibrated for a standards based grading system.
Preparation time is minimal for this Lesson. Scoring of the assessment is dependent on the number of students. I estimate it takes approximately 3-4 minutes per student. I score a page at a time, which goes much more quickly.
One copy for each student of the What's The Matter Plaid Pete?- End of Unit Assessment
One copy for each student of What's The Matter Plaid Pete? - Unit Scoring Guide
One copy of the What’s The Matter Plaid Pete? Unit Assessment - Scoring Key
Today is the big day! I hand out the What's The Matter Plaid Pete? - End of Unit Assessment to my students. I assure them that they have studied and are well prepared for this assessment.
I can say that with confidence, because I have had my students write "Study for Science Test" on their planners for the past few days, and required a parent initial so that I know it has been done. Students who did not have an initial received an invitation to stay in at recess and study. I want my students to be successful, but I also know that some students may not have the support in their home environment.
As a teacher, I know I don't have control over what happens when students leave my classroom. Like so many of us, I work hard to promote home to school partnerships, but when that support isn't there, I know I have to step in and assist these students. Providing that extra bit of support can mean the difference between academic success and academic failure.
I can't wait to see how they do!
When students are finished with the assessment, I tell them to return to page #1 of their Science Notebooks, where they have written the Big Idea for this second half of the unit on the bottom half of the page:
Big Idea #2 - Everything in the universe is made of matter, which is constructed of particles that are too small to be seen; the ways in which these particles interact are what give matter its structure and properties.
I read this Big Idea out loud. I ask students to think about all they have learned in this second half of the unit, and to create a pictures or series of pictures on this half of the page that best represents their new learning.
This is another assessment piece that will give me a window into student understanding. It is also a way I can compare my written assessment with the pictorial representations of my English Language Learners. It gives me another way to determine their acquisition of concepts without the interference of language and vocabulary. I allow students time to work and then collect their notebooks. This is a student example of one revision.
This has been an amazing first unit for my students, with a whole lot of Science learning. The hands-on inquiry approach has "hooked" them in - and now Science is one of their favorite times of the day. The investigations into matter will serve as a foundation for the rest of the units we will work on throughout the year. Oh, and it seems that Plaid Pete's Mom, Mrs. Parker, was also pleased with their efforts. She stopped by and dropped off a batch of double chocolate chip brownies. I hope Seth didn't mind :)