Amy Rosno (school address)
Waukesha North High School
2222 Michigan Avenue
Waukesha, WI 53188
(262)970-3656
Course Description:
The following writing assessment is designed for 37 sophomores enrolled in two Honors English classes. Honors English offers a comprehensive study of American literature. Inclusive in the study are critical/analytical skills in literature, writing, and speaking. A chronological and thematic approach is used to introduce students to major American authors, works, and literary periods. This year-long course includes advanced speaking and writing assignments. Students enrolled in this class are expected to complete a summer reading project which is due on the first day of class.
Assessment Introduction:
Prior to beginning the American Travel Journal, students read the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Into the Wild describes the journey of Chris McCandless throughout America. In April 1992 McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do family, hitchedhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mount McKinley. Prior to leaving, he gave his $25,000 savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned what little money he had in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter in the Alaskan interior. Since McCandless took this great adventure around the United States, students are to create and carefully plan their own two week journey of a destination in the United States of their choosing.
Standards:
Wisconsin Performance
Standard(s)
B.12.1
Wisconsin
Performance Standard(s)
C.12.1
Wisconsin Performance Standard(s)
B.12.3
Wisconsin
Performance Standard(s)
E.12.1
Directions For Learners:
Directions: You will embark on a two-week journey of our great country. During the trip, you will have to read and research, so you know enough details about each destination. The final format for this project will be presented in a scrapbook/journal format. Each of these tasks will represent at least a single page/section in the scrapbook.
Name:
Travel Destination:
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
0 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
Total Points: ______/100
Comments:
Why I selected this assessment:
Into The Wild was a novel that was just approved by the school board during the first semester of this year. When I taught it this semester, I had no existing materials for the novel. Everything I did while teaching it was new. Therefore, I thought this assessment would be perfect to consider for this assignment. Since the assessment was in the designing stages all semester, I brought it with me in stages to each SEWAC meeting, and received some very valuable feedback from my peers. Suggestions were made as to ways I could improve the assessment prior to giving it to my students. For example, on the grading criteria for the final American Travel Journal, I originally had “EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS” in order for students to average an 8-10 on the scoring guide. One of my colleagues asked me what a student had to do in order to exceed expectations. Also, this same colleague suggested that I should have students justify how they spend their $800.00. I originally had not considered that, and he said, “Would it be okay if a student spent $20.00 to buy candy?”. It was good to receive that type of feedback while the assessment was still in the drafting stages.
Analysis of Student Performance:
What’s next:
Overall, I am very pleased with the results from this assessment considering this was the first time I have ever used it. To have 71 % of the students receive an A, could not have made me happier. This still is not, however, the perfect assessment. There are things that I would like to change about it prior to using it again. The presentations took much longer than anticipated. I was not prepared for the chunk of time consumed. The students just loved talking to their peers about their projects, and I do not blame them considering the time and effort that they put into these. I thought that perhaps next time, I could allow the projects to be showcased for the class period, and students could look at the scrapbooks that they wanted to.
The students really had a lot of fun with the creative aspects of the assignment. Some of the visual displays were incredible. They looked like actual scrapbooks of vacations already taken. Another teacher did the same assignment with a senior class, and the seniors did not put half as much effort into the assessment as my honors English students did. My concern is that next year, I’ll be giving this assessment to a senior class. I would like them to put forward the same effort my sophomores did, but I am concerned they will not. I would like to be able to share some of the quality students examples from this year, but none of the students are willing to donate them because they wish to keep the project.
Grammar was a problem on many of the projects. Although it was not a separate criteria on the grading sheet, I did take off a point of two in each area I saw a problem. I may add that next year’s rubric, and remove the presentation component.
In speaking with the students about the project, one student raised the concern that the project seemed repetitive. A few other students shared his concern. They said that between he journals, trip itinerary, and expenditure log they felt as though they were writing the same thing over and over. In looking at the projects, some students had no problem avoiding repetition, while other projects did appear to be repetitive. I am not sure how to avoid this, but I have considered making the expenditure include as part of the trip itinerary. I appreciated the feedback from the students, and will use it to make changes.