Inkheart in the classroom

            Our unit plan emphasises multi-modal learning, and our methods of evaluation are not exception.  We have chosen four assignments that make up the evaluation plan for our unit, all of which fall under “assessment of learning” as per the Ministry’s document Growing Success.  Of course, there are numerous occasions of “assessment as learning” and “assessment for learning”, which are explained in detail throughout our collection of lesson plans.  The four assignments for which students will receive a grade include: 2 content quizzes, 1 unit test, 1 live debate, forum participation, and 1 final project.  In terms of the breakdown of grades, the weight distribution is as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please refer to the “Assignments” tab of this website to see a detailed breakdown and explanation of the Debate, Content Quiz, and Final Project.  Rubrics have been included for each of the above assessments in order to further demonstrate our expectations of students as well as what is required for their success.  Detailed explanations of Forum Participation and the Unit Test can be found below.

            Following ministry guidelines, we ensured that our evaluation plan contained an equal distrubution between Knowledge/Understanding, Inquiry/Thinking, Communication, and Application.  Rather than relying solely on tests and essays, we strived to incorporate creative projects that engage all types of learners and multiple demonstrations of knowledge.  Although all evaluated projects contain aspects from all four KICA categories, these categories are expressed more heavily in certain assignments.  The Debate focuses heavily on communication skills and creative thinking.  The Final Project hits all four categories, requiring a basis of knowledge of Inkheart and another text, application of this knowledge to a new context, critical inquiry, and effective written and oral communication.  The Forum Participation portion occupies the critical thinking and inquiry spectrum.  Finally, the Content Quiz and Unit Plan engage Knowledge/Understanding and Communication.

            In terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy, we endeavoured to engage high-level thinking by creating assignments that fall under the upper categories of the pyramid, that is Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.  Of course, Knowledge and Comprehension is not forgotten: these skills are essential for day-to-day activities.  However, we strived to move from these low-level skills to challenge students and develop higher-order thinking skills.  After learning new concepts in class, students are tasked daily with applying this knowledge to new situations and contexts.  The analysis portion is evident in tasks that involve categorisation of plot elements, creating critical literacy questions, and research of new topics.  The synthesis section sees students making predictions for the plot and the characters of Inkheart, imagining new scenarious for the novel’s characters, and thoughtfully answering critical literacy questions.  Finally, evaluation is evident in the oral debate activitity, whereby students are asked to defend opinions and justify these opinions with effective textual evidence when placed under question.
 

Forum Participation: The Inkwell (15%)

            This online forum elicits active involvement and fosters growth of critical literacy skills.  These forums will have been implemented from the beginning of the course, but we will focus on its use for this particular unit.  The idea behind implementing forum participation as a graded assessment was an effort to ensure continued and active engagement from the students, as well as to provide an opportunity for students who are weak with essays and long texts to excel.  The only criteria for excelling in the forums is continued involvement and creation of questions that engage critical thinking answers. The student will complete at least 3 responses per week: 1 is formulating a critical question, 1 is a response to en epigraph, 1 is a song choice.  Students will also be tasked to respond to a classmate’s post three times a week.  At the end of this unit, the teacher will make an online playlist and collect all the songs that students have chosen.  This will act as a “soundtrack” for the novel.  Weeks 1 and 2 will be structured by the teacher, while Weeks 3 and 4 are open to student choice (gradual release of responsibility!).
 

Unit Test (15%)

            This Unit Test, occuring at the end of Week 4 (Lesson 20), is a consolidation of student learning for this unit in it’s entirety and of Inkheart.  This test will consist of short answer, fill-in-the-blank, definitions, and multiple-choice questions as well as an argumentative essay portion using techniques and information learned during the Debate section of the unit.  We have ensured that this test is a balanced assessment: all categories of KICA are equally weighted.  The questions will require knowledge of the novel as well as lesson content throughout the whole unit.  This test will take the full 75 minute period.  We have chosen to include a Unit Test as a method of differentiated instruction for for traditional types of learners.  Because we are wary of using a Unit Test to compromise the largest chunk of evaluation, we have decided to lessen it’s weight to only 15%.  While traditional tests have their place in the curriculum, we believe that they should not be the sum of all (or most) learning.