How Do I Know That My

Students Learned

By Gabrielle Riggins
Background

Rosa Taylor, 5th Grade, Science Classroom, 2nd Period

Class Size ____16____; Girls __7____ Boys ___9____

Standard: S5E1. Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by
constructive and destructive processes.
Pre-Assessment Constructive & Destructive Forces

K W L
For my pre-assessment I had the
students do a KWL on Earth’s
constructive and destructive forces.
The focus at this point was on the K &
the W portions of the chart.

*My initial goal was to use this as both my pre

and post assessment and to use it throughout
the week to keep track of what the students
were learning.
KWL

I first asked the students to write down what they knew about constructive and/or
destructive forces. Then I asked them to write down any questions that they had or
things that they wanted to know.

Things that I was looking for:

● Definitions of constructive and destructive forces

● Examples of constructive and destructive forces
● References to Earthquakes or Volcanoes
K (What they already knew)

9 students gave the definition of either constructive force, destructive force or both,
12 students gave an example of a constructive or destructive force, 8 students
referenced earthquakes or volcanoes in some way

● This showed me that they had an idea of what constructive and destructive
forces are some of them were able to give examples, but they were unable to go
into detail
W (What they wanted to learn or Questions)

12 students mentioned examples of constructive or destructive forces that they

wanted to know more about, 8 students referenced earthquakes or volcanoes in
some way.

● This told me again that they had an idea what constructive and destructive
forces were and that they could name examples, but that they were not able to
give much detail otherwise. This also gave me some ideas for ways to help the
students make meaningful connections with the content.
Post-Assessment

For my post assessment I gave the students who chose to do the earthquake
Stem-Design Brief an assessment on Earthquakes and the students who chose to do
the volcano eruption activity an assessment on Volcanoes. I chose to assess this way
because it gave the students some choice and if they had a good understanding of
one then they would at least have a basic understanding of the other.

Earthquake Assessment: 9 students

Volcano Assessment: 7
Earthquakes

These students were asked to identify on a piece of paper how earthquakes

occur.

Things that I wanted to see:

● Use of the vocabulary -atleast two words (fault, crust, hypocenter,

epicenter, plates, plate boundary, convergent)
● They could tell me what is going on with the plates
● Identification as either constructive or destructive
Post-Assessment: Earthquakes

8 students used the vocabulary, 5 students made reference to the plates

movements, 2 students identified earthquakes as being either constructive,
destructive or both.

● That half of the class used the vocabulary correctly showed that they grasped
the content, Other students used words that were not what I was looking for
but explained the content just as well as those who used the correct terms. The
students that made reference to the plates movements did so effectively,
others attempted to identify the plates movements, but did not use the correct
terms.
Volcanoes

These students were asked to identify on a piece of paper how Volcanoes occur.

Things that I wanted to see:

● Use of the vocabulary - at least two (Plates, Subduction, Lava, Magma, Mantle)
● They could tell me what happens with the plates
● Identification as either constructive or destructive
Post-Assessment: Volcanoes

6 students used the vocabulary, 2 students referenced plate movement, 5 students

identified volcanoes as either constructive, destructive or both

● That a little under half of the class used the vocabulary correctly showed that
they grasped the content, The students that made reference to the plates
movements did so effectively using specific terms from the powerpoint, The
students that identified constructive/ destructive were very thorough in doing
so, again giving specific examples
Post Assessment - Summary

Between the two assessments:

● 2 students had all three components

● 9 students had two of the three components
● 4 students had one of the three components
● 1 student had none of the three components
Conclusion

Given the data present and the files collected I believe that my students have shown
a respectable modicum of growth. Where as during the pre-assessment the students
were only able to give the bare bones of an answer, in the post-assessment the
students are able to give a clear and concise answer.