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Transformative Assessment Blueprint Plan

Name Subject Area Grade Level

April Harrison English 12
Estimated Time for Assessment Plan
Class Title Unit Title
Expository Reading & Writing
Poetry Unit: Voices of Protest 3 Weeks
Course (ERWC)

Part I: Planning for Enduring Understanding

What enduring understanding do you want students to learn through your content area?
Firstly, students will be further developing the skills that they have already been exposed to throughout the
semester, which are: reading/comprehension of three different texts that address social justice movements
(“Speech on the Vietnam War, 1967”, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women”, and “Imagine the Angels of
Bread”); analytical skills of these texts through formative assessment in class; speaking/listening skills
through class discussion, interview(s), and a presentation; the use of digital resources; and writing skills by
taking notes while interviewing participants and writing their own poem based off these interviewing
experiences. One of the main focuses of this unit will be to examine the Contemporary Era of writing, better
known as the “living memory” period, in which it focuses on how topics in writing still live on with
generations today. I hope that by examining social justice movements that are still relevant today, but in the
perspective of others, will have a lasting impression on both students’ content skills and their understanding
of current trends and how it affected/continues to affect lives today. I don’t just want my students to be
empathetic readers, but I want them to develop into empathetic community members through deepening their
understanding of such issues and trends covered in the texts. Also, I want students to see and practice the
value of communication, and the lasting effect it can have on them individually and community members,
specifically members of the elderly community.

List content-specific standards that your assessment plan will address:

 CCSS.ELA.RI.12.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is
particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or
beauty of the text.
 CCSS.ELA.RI.12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different
media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or
solve a problem.
 CCSS.ELA.W.12.3.d: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid
picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
 CCSS.ELA.SL.12.4.a: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence (e.g., reflective,
historical investigation, response to literature presentations), conveying a clear and distinct
perspective and a logical argument, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or
opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks. Use appropriate eye
contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. CA
a. Plan and deliver a reflective narrative that: explores the significance of a personal
experience, event, or concern; uses sensory language to convey a vivid picture; includes appropriate
narrative techniques (e.g., dialogue, pacing, description); and draws comparisons between the specific
incident and broader themes. (11th or 12th grade) CA

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Rationale: What criteria are implied in the standards and understandings regardless of the task specifics?
What content and skills must student work demonstrate to signify the standards were met?

In order for students to become more empathetic readers, they will develop reading skills that emphasize the
importance of evaluating an author’s point of view. Also, they will develop reading skills that analyze the
persuasive style of the texts in order to properly comprehend the social justice movement that the text is
representing. Before partaking in their own project, in which they will create their own poem or piece of art,
they will need to develop these skills first, in which it will be demonstrated through their classwork (guided
reading questions, guided notes, reading quizzes, etc.) and class discussions. These texts are very powerful,
and so I anticipate the responses from student classwork and discussions to demonstrate how the readings
moved them and heightened their understanding of the themes that the texts cover, such as oppression and
neglect. Then, following the reading of the poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread”, students will be assigned a
project in which they will gather three separate voices from a past generation and creatively write a poem or
piece of art that demonstrates what these voices/people have fought for or overcome in their time. Through
their evaluation of technique (figurative language, concrete language, etc.), well-chosen details (word choice,
etc.),and well-structured sequence of events in the readings from the past two weeks of instruction, students
will be motivated and exposed to the development of their own storytelling through the form of a poem or
piece of art. Students will be required to interview at least one other person from a generation that is 15 years
or older than their own and transcribe their notes from this interview (students can interview up to three
people if they have three in mind). For students that do not have three people available to interview, they will
need to do research and find two digital resources that share two separate peoples’ stories from past
generations. Using these voices and the structure/craft from the texts, students will have the content to create
their own poems/art, in which they will read out their poems or display their art to the whole class as the end
assessment of the unit. For students that prefer to partake in more visual work, there will be an alternative
option where students will be expected to create a piece of art that represents the voices acquired for the
assessment plan. If students choose to do this option, they will still be expected to share their piece of art to
the class, in which they will concisely explain how their work represents the voices/experiences.

Part II: Designing Performance Task (examples available in Week 13 Powerpoint & guest speaker)

Describe the authentic performance task that students will engage in to demonstrate understanding?
open-ended, authentic context, multi-faceted and multiple steps, & interdisciplinary/21st century skills (e.g.
research, technology, presentation)
Once students have read the three texts for the unit, students will be expected to find and identify three voices
from past generations that must be a minimum of 15 years older than their own generation. Students are
required to interview at least one person from a differing generation and transcribe their notes taken in the
interview (students will be given a set of interview questions to use on their interview(s)). Understanding that
not every student will have three separate voices available to them, students will have the option of digitally
researching a maximum of two voices that share their experiences through a social/personal justice
movement. If students are going to locate two digital voices, then they will have to be from separate digital
resources/sites, such as YouTube and StoryCorps. They will also be expected to transcribe sections of these
interviews (section requirements will be given to them on a directions handout). Then, using their skills of
writing technique (figurative language, concrete language, etc.), well-chosen details from the interviews
(word choice such as interviewee’s facial expressions, etc.), and structuring of events told in the stories,
students will be expected to create a poem that follows the format of the poem “Imagine the Angels of
Bread”. Other than using the skills that were developed throughout the assessment plan, students will be
expected to be empathetic listeners, in which they will respectfully engage with their participant(s). Then,
from these experiences, students will let these voices be heard in the form of a poem or piece of art that will

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be read/displayed to the whole class at the end of the unit. Throughout this assessment plan, students will be
partaking in critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, and technology
literacy.

Essential Question:
Based on your understanding of Martin Espada’s poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread” and the other reading
from this unit, what are the causes and consequences of injustice and how does individual responses to it
reveal his/her experiences and values? What do their responses reveal about society?

Rationale: Explain how your task exemplifies culturally sustaining assessment and advances UDL principle
of expression.
I believe there is a lot to be learned and heard from past generational experiences, in which every community
has stories that are waiting to be listened to and shared. When conducting interviews/digital research, there is
no specific requirement for the culture that the participants celebrate, thus giving students the free choice to
acknowledge whatever culture that most appeals to them. However, past generations are from a different
social culture, and so learning from these stories/voices supports linguistic and cultural pluralism. Also, by
using the stories of those from differing generations, it celebrates their lived experiences through the form of
a poem or work of art. This assessment also encourages the use of the UDL principle Expression, in which
students are offered varied methods for navigation through the options of interviewing multiple people or
using multiple digital resources to access storytelling. Also, their final assessment offers a varied response, in
which students have the option of writing a poem that mocks the structure of the poem “Imagine the Angels
of Bread” or creating their own work of art. Through these options, students are offered multiple media for
communication and are encouraged to facilitate information and resources.

Mark any of the principle(s) of Au’s (2009) restorative and transformative assessments that your
performance task addresses.

 Emphasis on healing, cultural self-knowledge, and/or decolonization

 Identifying and challenging institutional racism in their schools, districts, and communities
 Assess students’ understanding of, and capacities for, institutional and community transformation
 Nuanced, human, and complex expression of student learning, growth, and development

Rationale: Explain how your performance task is an example of transformative assessment.

Students will not only be expected to develop their reading, writing, and speaking/listening skills based on the
content standards, but they will be taking what they learn and go out into their community to listen to the
voices of those that have gone through the themes exposed in the unit’s texts. A major piece of transformative
assessments is that it is culturally responsive, and although there is not a requirement for the type of people
being interviews/researched other than being from an older generation, students will be able to respond to
whatever culture appeals to them and their own identity. Also, although it is not racism, the elderly
community is considered a minority in America, in which they face injustices such as ageism throughout their
experiences. Hearing from their voices and learning from them not only fosters community collaboration, but
it also encourages the idea of healing for people from a different generation whose voice may not be heard. I
hope that through this assessment, students will gain a new understanding of what community means and the
members that inhabit it. With this idea, I will encourage students to go out to their local senior centers to
speak with people from different generations that have a lot of experiences that will be academically
beneficial to hear. In doing this, students will be exposed to experiences and newfound human relationships
that they would not have been introduced to prior, and through their poems/work of arts, they will be able to

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not just represent their own human development, but will be able to represent others’ development as well
through the use of storytelling.

Part III: Formative & Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment: What student products and performances will provide evidence of desired
understandings?
Other than the classwork that students will be participating in throughout the unit (guided notes, reading
responses, and quizzes), students will be expected to creatively write or create their own piece of art based on
the interviews/research. The poem will be required to mock the poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread” that was
analyzed in class. The piece of art will have to represent all three voices, in which a brief and concise
summary must be pasted on the back. Then all students will present their assessments to the whole class, by
either reading their poems out-loud with a brief explanation of how they crafted them or by displaying their
piece of art to the class in which they will also give a brief explanation of the choices made and how it
represents the voices heard.

Rationale: Explain how your summative assessment addresses content-specific standards.

Students will be expected to have a firm understanding of the materials read in class, in which they will take
note on point of view, technique, details, and structure. Then, with the content retrieved from interview(s)
and/or digital research conducted, students will take these reading skills and apply it to their own creation,
whether it be writing their own poem or creating their own piece of art. Then, students will not only present
their final assessment to the class, but they will be expected to give a reflective narrative that addresses the
essential question: Based on your understanding of Martin Espada’s poem “Imagine the Angels of Bread”
and the other reading from this unit, what are the causes and consequences of injustice and how does
individual responses to it reveal his/her experiences and values? What do their responses reveal about
society?

Formative Assessment: What strategies will you use to monitor student learning prior to and during
performance task and summative assessment? Name at least 2.

 One strategy that will be used to monitor student learning prior to performance task/summative
assessment will be to assign and collect transcriptions of the interviews/research done to acquire the
voices of those from past generations. This will give me a concrete piece of evidence that they have
conducted/learned from differing perspectives based on the content.
 One strategy that will be used to monitor student learning during performance task/summative
assessment will be to give them a presentation rubric prior to their performance/summative
assessment, in which they will be expected to share their creations and give a thoughtful reflection of
their process and response to the essential question.

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