Diversifying Assessments-Round 1

Currently, the seniors are working on poetry--which many do not like (although they like it more than the looming Shakespeare--for some odd reason). Students have been practicing explication with a variety of poems. Not to put English on a pedestal, by explication is key to the discipline and it is also a really, really hard skill. Students sit down to a poem, for which they have no context and they attempt to find meaning. This requires that students use context clues, implication skills and critical thinking so that they can develop a conclusion about the poem. I started the unit by telling my students about how difficult this is, and how I even struggle with it. We did a "competition" in the class, where each group was given the same poem and they had to explicate it and justify their views. The poem was "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath (one of my favorites--and one that I had to explicate for a senior final in high school). Students grappled for 30 minutes with the poem as I walked around and asked them follow up questions to ensure their analysis worked for the entire poem. It seemed pretty effective, groups that were able to get the meaning were so excited, and even those who didn't catch the meaning were moving in the right track. Perhaps counter-intuative to this PTP group, the best thing about this task was that students couldn't use ANY technology. They put away phones and laptops and their only resource was a dictionary (which is evidently something they thought was extinct...). It was glorious! There was full participation and really close reading.

Part of my goal  this year is to reach my students more effectively through differentiated instruction and assessment. I've always had it engrained that assessment is key for backwards (and efficient/effective) planning, so I am starting with differentiated assessments. My first attempt will be next Monday with my Honors English IV class. I am hoping to offer them choice in their assessment and as a result see more investment and higher scores.

To continue building this skill, students were again divided into groups (this time it was their choice). Students were given different poems based on skill-level, with my two highest achieving groups getting two very difficult poems. Students are creating a presentation based on their explication of the poem and they will share with the class. They have a clear rubric and I've been assisting them. I'm excited to see what they come up with, though a little nervous with my small group that believes no explication can be wrong because it is their "opinion."

Anywho, these two tasks are building to an assessment. The assessment will be on Monday. Students will once again have no access to technology. I have defined some of the more difficult language and mythological/cultural references made in the poem to assist their reading. They will still be able to use a dictionary if they so choose. As I was observing their work, I noticed that some students are still struggling with this really difficult skill, so I wanted to modify the assessment. They still need the same skill, they still need to be able to demonstrate close reading, but I needed a way to scaffold their thinking. I have tweeked the assessment to give students choice. Students can write a traditional explication (mini-essay) or they can answer 5 questions, which forces students to look at very specific aspects of the text and figure out how they contribute to a larger meaning. I am hoping this will build student confidence because our next unit is Shakespeare.