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Writer's pictureCamila Mendez

New assessments: new possibilities

As I plan to find more opportunities to produce lessons and help learners succeed in the language acquisition process, I wanted to explore other ways to evaluate their learning in the four areas: reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking. Based on my experience working with Spanish immersion students online, I realized the importance of producing more content that expands their knowledge and critical thinking.

After considering some alternatives, I decided to design an assessment that focuses on each language area and ensure that the learning objectives align with the 5 C’s (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities) from the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) standards.

I am sharing today my new assessment for Spanish Language Arts:

Poema Margarita (assessment for Spanish Language Arts – Spanish Immersion program – Middle School).

The idea of the assessment is to help Spanish immersion students develop their critical thinking skills through poetry appreciation. Spanish poems and rhymes are part of the curriculum since students are in Kindergarten. But I wanted to use a specific poem for this lesson: Poema Margarita, to promote the beauty of the language and encourage students to become writers.

The first two activities are related to the content that they previously learned in class, when reading Poema Margarita. However, students will be able to listen or watch a read-aloud (video) and read the text on the e-learning platform as well.

After reading, learning, and reviewing the vocabulary words, students will demonstrate their reading comprehension skills in the first assessment which is answering specific questions related to the poem and figurative language.

READING & LISTENING

Objective: motivate students to love reading and writing and transform the approach of complex topics such as poetry and literary appreciation into an engaging experience where they become the creators and make a critical judgment of the theme style.

After reading the Poem Margarita please answer the following questions:

What is the setting of the story? Can you name the main characters? Can you summarize the plot or development of the story? Who do you think Margarita is? What figurative language did you find in the story?

The second part of the assessment focuses on developing creativity and improve writing and speaking skills.

WRITING & SPEAKING

RUBRIC

I will use and share a rubric to help students meet the assessment’s criteria. This way, learners will be able to review their work and understand better the evaluation process. Having a rubric will benefit the learning experience and help students become independent learners and stimulate self-correction.

I am sharing here one part of the rubric:

Using technology:

Students will be able to listen or watch Poema Margarita video on the school e-learning platform.

Students will submit their poems using Google Drive or uploading documents in the DropBox.

After receiving feedback, students will record their video reading or saying their poem on Flipgrid and share the poem in their portfolio.

Giving and receiving feedback will support learners as they become part of the process and potentialize their Spanish skills. This assessment will help learners be successful and enjoy the language acquisition experience as I continue to look for more ways to stimulate students learning and enrich the foreign language classroom.

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