Ancient China Unit Assessment Sarah E. George College …segeorge.wmwikis.net/file/view/Assessment...
Transcript of Ancient China Unit Assessment Sarah E. George College …segeorge.wmwikis.net/file/view/Assessment...
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Ancient China Unit Assessment
Sarah E. George
College of William and Mary
CRIN 550/EDUC 340, Dr. Jennifer Hindman
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Overview and Description
Through a course of a year students are given many opportunities to learn about cultures,
places, landforms, important figures, inventions, and events through vast topics that are covered
through different social studies units. Social studies is an important time for students in order for
them to learn and develop an appreciation for the things, people and places around them. In
second grade the students learn a wide variety of historical events, people, and places. It is
during this time that the students are able to learn about their country, the United States, by
studying the Lakota, Powhatan, and Pueblo, and also have the opportunity to discover other
countries and their importance to the Western culture such as Egypt and China. The major goal
for the course of a year is to have the students have a better understanding of how history has
molded and shaped the world as it is today.
The specific unit that is being assessed by the teacher for the subject of social studies is
Ancient China. The assessment that the teacher has created for the unit on Ancient China is to
help students have a better understanding for other ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and how
they have influenced much of the western world as it is today. The students will learn about
Ancient China and how its contributions have influenced the present world through inventions,
architecture, written language and even our calendar. The students are shown through many
different pictures, artifacts, documents, and videos just how important the history of Ancient
China has been and the influences that it has had on America.
Through the social studies curriculum framework, which is given by the Virginia
Department of Education, there are certain intended learning outcomes (ILO) that are addressed
and assessed for students in second grade on Ancient China. It is important to know what these
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are in order to understand why and how the students will be tested on the information. The ILOs
that are being assessed are:
2.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China have
influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the calendar, and
written language. 2.4 The student will develop map skills by a) locating China, on world
maps; b) understanding the relationship between the environment and the culture of
ancient China. Gather, classify, and interpret information (Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4),
Locate and use information from print and non-print sources (Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4),
Collect, classify, and interpret information (Essential Skills 2.1 & 2.4). Locate regions on
maps and globes (Essential Skill 2.4).
The above listed ILOs that are going to be assessed during this unit are not all going to be
assessed through the end of the unit test. Some of the essential skills that are intended for the
students to learn throughout the course are unable to be assessed through strictly paper and
pencil. So the students will be assessed through other means throughout the unit through
formative assessment such as thumbs up, thumbs down, white boards, worksheets, and the
teacher observing the students through guided practice. Through the formative and summative
assessments (unit test) given throughout the unit on Ancient China the teacher will be able to get
a complete idea on what the students have learned about the importance of Ancient China and its
contributions to the present world. All of the assessments that occur during the unit are essential
in providing the teacher with the whole picture of how the students are able to learn and what
information they retain.
The characteristics of the classroom and school that the assessment is going to be given
played a huge role in how the information and assessment where created. The school is in James
City County, Virginia, and was established about five years ago; because of this the school is
relatively young and has a lot to offer in terms of technology, space, and resources. This effected
how some of the lessons were created and presented to the class that were able to enhance the
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learning and types of learning that there able to be accommodated throughout the unit process.
The students in the classroom have a narrow range when it comes to diversity of economic
status. Only a handle of students are on free or reduced lunch, the rest come from moderate
middle class families. All of the students in the class are also at or above grade level for reading,
which was helpful when creating the test and the kind of vocabulary that was able to be used.
Also the students in the classroom all have personalities that demonstrate positive behavior
towards different cultures. There are two students in the class that come from an Asian family;
three that are African-American and the rest are Caucasian. One of the students is an ESL
student, how the student does read on grade level. All of these characteristics of the school and
students had an effect on how the assessment was created and presented to the group. The
teacher made sure that the directions, pictures, vocabulary on the assessment were appropriate
for all of the students in the class.
The assessments purpose is to make sure that the students understand where China is in
relation to the United States, how the inventions from Ancient China have influenced the present
world they live in, and the importance of China as a culture and community. The test was
designed to assess the students based on material that covers all of the above ILOs as well as
give the students a chance to learn about a community of people who have developed and
influenced the present world.
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Design Elements
Unpacking the Curriculum (ILOs)
Intended Learning Outcome
Grade: 2nd
Content Area: History
SOL: 2.1 & 2.4
Content
Cognitive Level on
Blooms’ Taxonomy
STANDARD 2.1 The student will explain
how the contributions of ancient China
have influenced the present world in terms
of architecture, inventions, the calendar,
and written language.
Explicit – contributions of
ancient China have
influenced the present
world in terms of
architecture, inventions, the
calendar, and written
language
Implied – what is ancient
China, how is architecture,
inventions, calendar, and
written language defined,
what is the time frame of
ancient China?
Conditional – None
Comprehension
STANDARD 2.4 The student will develop
map skills by
a) locating the United States, China, and
Egypt on world maps;
b) understanding the relationship between
the environment and the culture of ancient
China and Egypt
Explicit – China on world
maps and the relationship
between the environment
and the culture of ancient
China.
Implied – map skills,
knowing what China is,
what an environment and
culture is, how to create or
understand a relationship
between culture and
environment,
Conditional – None
Synthesis (Develop)
Knowledge (Locate)
Comprehension
(Understand)
Locate and use information from print and
non-print sources. (Essential Skill 2.1 &
2.4)
Explicit – information from
print and non-print sources
Implied – How is the
information found and used
Knowledge (Locate)
Application (Use)
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connected to China? How
do we find information,
what is the definition of
information, what are
examples of print and non-
print sources
Conditional – None
Gather, classify, and interpret information.
(Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4)
Explicit – information from
numerous sources
Implied – Students know
what is meant by
information and what
information is deemed
reliable, how do you gather
information, what are ways
to classify information, how
does interpreting
information effect the way
you view the material
Conditional – None
Application (Gather
and Classify)
Analysis (Interpret)
Use resource materials. (Essential Skill 2.1
& 2.4)
Explicit – Resource
materials
Implied – What is a
resource, what are different
types of resources, how do
you find resources, what is
the validity and the
reliability of a resource.
Conditional – None
Application
Collect, organize, and record information.
(Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4)
Explicit – information from
different sources
Implied – how to collect,
organize, and record
information in a reliable
and proper manner, what
are different ways to
collect, organize and record
information
Knowledge (Collect
and Organize)
Application
(Record and
Comprehension)
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Conditional – None
Locate regions on maps and globes.
(Essential Skill 2.4)
Explicit – regions on maps
and globes
Implied – what are a map
and globe, how to locate a
region, what is a region
Conditional – None
Knowledge
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Table of Specifications
Content Bloom’s Taxonomy
Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation
STANDARD 2.1 The student will explain how
the contributions of ancient China have
influenced the present world in terms of
architecture, inventions, the calendar, and written
language.
X
S
1, 10, 11, 12, 16
STANDARD 2.4 The student will develop map
skills by
a) locating the United States, China, and Egypt
on world maps;
b) understanding the relationship between the
environment and the culture of ancient China and
Egypt
X
M
13,9
X
S
8, 7, 5
X
M
4,15
Locate and use information from print and non-
print sources. (Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4)
X L
3
X L
17
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Gather, classify, and interpret information.
(Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4)
X
M
6,18
X L
19
Locate regions on maps and globes. (Essential
Skill 2.4)
X
S
2, 14
Collect, organize, and record information.
(Essential Skill 2.1 & 2.4) (Will not assess
formally, will assess the students through a series
of maps, data, and information collected by the
teacher and students together during the unit).
X
X
X
Use resource materials. (Essential Skill 2.1 &
2.4) (Will not assess formally, will assess the
students through a series of maps, data, and
information collected by the teacher and students
together during the unit).
X
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Construct Validity
When it comes to construct validity of the assessment that has been created on Ancient
China the teacher thought about each and every questions and how it pretended to the ILOs that
were chosen at the beginning of the unit. All of the questions that were developed for the
creation of the assessment where chosen in order to test the student on knowledge acquired
throughout the unit. The questions cover most of the essential skills listed from the ILOs. The
essential skills that were not covered during the assessment portion of the unit where addressed
throughout the course of the unit through formative assessment.
Content Validity
The assessment has a moderate content validity. The reason that the assessment is
moderate instead of strong is because the ILOs that are being assessed were difficult to develop
test questions for because so many of the essential skills were skills that could not be done
through summative assessment. This cause the teacher to have to develop many questions that
revolved around the actual SOL stated for 2.1 and 2.4 and not as much for the essential skills that
were listed with each SOL. However, the questions that were asked and used during the
assessment where used to cover a wide range of abilities and knowledge based ideas. For this
reason the content that was chosen for the assessment has a strong validity. The questions are
straight forward and leave little questioning or confusion to the reader.
Rationale for Assessment
The rationale that the teacher had for the selection of choices that were made when
creating this assessment were based upon the personality and learning styles of the students. The
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students in the class that the assignment was developed for are all excellent readers; because of
this the teacher was able to create a test that had more words, definitions, and longer directions.
The test has a wide variety of questions and the way they are presented. It consists of multiple
choice, fill in the blank, true/false, short answer, matching, and listing. The rationale behind this
was to create a test that assessed all different types of learning styles. Some students like
multiple choice questions while others do better with supply response questions. Some of the
questions were taken from a previous test given by the student teachers cooperating teacher. The
questions that were selected from a previous assessment were questions 1-4 and 9-12, all of the
other questions are original to the student teacher.
Potential Threats of Reliability
When it comes to the reliability of the assessment there are a lot of positives. One area of
strength occurs within the eighteenth question. It is a strong question in the sense of its reliability
because SOL 2.1 states that the students should explain the importance and influence that inventions from
Ancient China have in terms of inventions. By having the students first list the five most important
inventions from Ancient China the teacher will assess their knowledge on whether or not they
remembered the important inventions from China. Then by asking them to choose one of the items from
their list and explain why it is important and the influence that it had it allows the teacher to assess their
comprehension of the knowledge. However there are some potential threats of reliability as well. The
question about the major rivers found in China has potential for being unreliable because of the answers
that are listed. It was hard for the teacher to come up with rivers that sounded like they could be correct.
This question does have weakness in the reliability of the answers that they students have to choose from
and could use some help. Also the assessment does have some potential threats of the reliability because
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the material that is being covered on the unit test is very board and does not focus just on one main
concept. It is about an entire culture and region.
Potential for Cautions of Validity
The teacher tried to make sure that the assessment did not have many potential threats of validity
by giving the students the opportunity to study the material that was going to be covered on the test
through a study guide. An example of a question that is moderate when it comes to validity it the
eighteenth question. This is because there is a wide range of answers that the students could produce that
would be a valid answer. For the rest of the test there are areas of potential cautions of validity because of
the material that is being covered by the test. The students are not used to taking tests in this manner.
Most of the tests that they have taken in the past are strictly matching or multiple choice. They have done
little with writing a short answer question to a prompt. Also a caution for this assessment is the fact that
there are only 19 questions on the test. The test is graded out of 31 points because each answer given in
all of the sections is worth one point but the length of the test is shorter than most unit tests. This could
cause the students to have an unfair advantage with the grading because they can only miss a few
questions in order to receive an A.
Scoring and Grading Procedures
Rubric for Short Answer Part of the Question:
Exceeds
Expectations
Meets Expectations
Below Expectations
Total
Complete Sentences
Have more than two complete sentences (capital letter, correct punctuation mark) that are detailed and make sense. (3pts.)
Have two complete sentences (capital letter, correct punctuation mark) that are detailed and make sense. (2pts.)
Has one complete sentence and/or has sentence construction errors. (max. 1pt.)
Invention Picks a correct important invention from China not
Picks a correct important invention
Does not pick an important invention
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discussed fully in class (i.e. paper or gunpowder) (1pt.)
from China discussed in class (i.e., Kite, Fireworks, Silk, Compass, or Bronze). (1pt.)
from China. (anything other than the five important inventions, excluding paper and gunpowder) (0pts.)
Importance/ Influence
Describes the importance/influence of the invention from China in great detail. (2pts.)
Describes the importance/influence of the invention from China in detail (1pt.)
Describes the importance/influence of the invention from China in little detail 0pts.
*Note: Student’s will not be graded on previous work, neatness, or handwriting capabilities, but
solely on the criteria listed above.
The teacher will apply the rubric (shown above) to reduce threats to inter-rater-reliability
and intro-rater-reliability when grading the short answer part of the assessment. In doing so the
teacher will stick to the guidelines set and outlined by the rubric. The teacher believes that the
rubric is very straight forward to what she as the teacher will be looking for in the short answers.
If two different scorers where to use this rubric and grade the same set of papers she believes that
the scores would be very close if not the same. The rubric gives specific guidelines such as two
complete sentences, which are sentences that make sense, have a capital letter and a correct
punctuation at the end. Also the rubric indicates specific details that the student must have in
order to receive exceeds or meets expectations such as a list of possible inventions and others
that fit the requirement for the student to receive extra points. This way the scorer will know
what they should be looking for and are able to indicate whether or not the student wrote details
about the indicated invention appropriately. All of these are important in order to make sure that
the scorer is able to be consistent with the grades given to the individuals.
The teacher will apply the rubric to guard against bias by making sure that she looks for
the specific things stated on the rubric when going through the tests. The teacher will place a
check next to each item that she feel meets the expectations within the rubric as she reads the
short answer statements. After she has read the short answer and made the marks necessary she
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will then justify what she has marked and compare it to the rubric. By doing this will make sure
that it fits the criteria in order to receive the check, which indicates a point should be received.
The teacher will make sure that she checks each students work with an unbiased opinion by
checking their short answer based solely on the criteria identified on the rubric. She will not base
the student’s grade on neatness of handwriting or the name written on the paper. She will be
checking for complete sentences and details discussing the inventions and not the grammar or
spelling provided by the student. The teacher believes that the rubric that has been chosen to use
for this short answer will help her complete the task successfully.
When grading the rest of the unit test (shown below), the teacher will use the answer key
that is created ahead of time as a way to check the answers that the students provide. The test
consists of multiple choice, fill in the blank, true and false, matching, and listing. In order to
ensure that all of the students are at an equal advantage the teacher will read the directions with
the class as a whole and go through each section to make sure that the class understands what
they are being asked to do. The teacher will then allow the students to ask questions if they have
any before they begin the assessment. This way all of the students have an equal advantage of
hearing what the other students ask and the answers that the teacher provides. The assessment
will be scored out of 31 total points, one point for each correct answer given on the test. The
teacher will make sure to go through all of the tests carefully when making corrections and
grading to ensure that she does not accidently mark the wrong answer. Hopefully by doing all of
these steps the scores that the students receive will be reliable.
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Test and Answer Key
Name ____________________________________ Date_______________________
Ancient China Test (SOL 2.1 and 2.4)
Multiple Choice
Circle the letter of the BEST answer for each of the following questions
1. The word ancient means:
a. Few years ago
b. Billions of years ago
c. A long, long time ago (thousands of years)
d. A few weeks ago
2. China is located on the continent of?
a. Africa
b. Asia
c. Europe
d. North America
3. People of Ancient China adapted to living in their environment by ALL of the following
things, except
a. Digging ditches to bring water to their crops
b. Cutting terraces in the land to help with farming
c. Fishing in the rivers
d. Cutting down the mountain tops
4. All of the following are examples of landforms found in China except one. Choose the
one that is NOT found in China.
a. Tropical land with palm trees
b. Mountains
c. Deserts
d. Forests
5. China boarders what ocean?
a. Atlantic
b. Artic
c. Indian
d. Pacific
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6. Which monument was built to keep invaders out of China?
a. Pyramids
b. Sphinx
c. Great Wall of China
d. Eiffel Tower
Fill in the Blank Multiple Choice
Directions: Fill in the blanks using the word(s) that BEST complete the sentence by using the
multiple choice answers given under to sentence. Circle the letter to your answer.
7. The ________________________ and _______________________ are two important
and major rivers in China.
A.) Red River and Ying-Yang River
B.) Nile River and Jordan River
C.) Yellow River and Yangtze River
D.) Amazon River and Pearl River
8. The largest desert in China is called the ______________________.
a. Gobi Desert
b. Yellow Desert
c. Sahara Desert
d. Mojave Desert
9. China is similar to Virginia because it ______________________.
a. is hot and dry all year long
b. has four seasons
c. is cold and snowy all year long
d. is mostly desert
10. The design of buildings of a place is called ______________________.
a. contributions
b. irrigation
c. hieroglyphics
d. architecture
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11. The sloping roof tops of Chinese buildings are called ___________________.
a. Lakota
b. Pagodas
c. Shingles
d. Pyramids
12. The rulers of Ancient China were called ____________________.
a. Kings
b. Pharaohs
c. Emperors
d. Lords
Matching
13. Directions: Match the word to the definition that fits best with each and write the letter that
corresponds next to the word. NOT all definitions will be used.
1. Climate _________ A.) The solid surface of the Earth
2. Land _________ B.) Places that have common (the same) characteristics
3. Environment ________ C.) The beliefs, customs, and way of life of a group of people
4. Culture _________ D.) The design of a building
5. Region _________ E.) Surroundings
F.) The kind of weather an area has over a long period of time
Answers: 1. F 2. A 3. E 4. C 5. B (D is not used)
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Map Skills
14. Directions: Using the map below, color the area that is the country of China. Then with a
black marker label it China.
15. Directions: Using the map with The Great Wall of China shown answer the following question:
The Great Wall of China is located ________________ of
the capital city of Beijing.
a. North
b. South
c. East
d. West
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Directions: Circle “T” for True if you think the statement is correct and “F” for False if you think
the statement is incorrect
16. T/F Contributions are the act of giving or doing something that is helpful in the world.
Directions: Fill in the blanks with the BEST word that completes the sentence.
17. The written language of Ancient China was made up of ___________________ and
__________________ that allowed them to communicate with one another.
Answer: characters and symbols
Listing
Directions: For the section below write on the lines provided
18. List the five most important inventions that came from Ancient China (1 pt. each)
1. ________________________________ 2. ________________________________
3. ________________________________ 4._________________________________
5.________________________________
Answers: Compass, Fireworks, Kites, Bronze, Silk Cloth
Short Answer
19. Directions: Pick one of the important inventions that came from Ancient China (1 pt.)
from your list and explain in your own words its influence to the modern world (1 pt.) in
at least two complete sentences (2 pts.).
An Acceptable Answer: The compass was an important invention that came from China. It was
important because it influenced how people traveled and navigated.