Activity Based Assessment

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To prepare for administering this Activity Based Assessment (Curtis & Surabhi, 2015), I

brought my prepared materials to the preschool class, set them up on a table about an hour before

the children arrived, and placed two chairs at the table. The activity included a piece of paper

with a tree drawn on it. The tree was made up of horizontal lines that started off longest at the

bottom and progressively got shorter towards the top, so as to create a conical shape on the

paper. I also cut straws to be the same lengths as the “levels” or lines that made up the tree.

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The Activity Based Assessment is not meant to determine whether a child can complete

the tasks that have been presented. It is also important for us to evaluate if the children are

performing at a level that is typical for their age group. We will take a look at how G. and P.

performed according to developmental milestones. In regard to math skills, children who are four

years old are generally able to compare and contrast sizes, sort by color, size, and purpose, and

count up to at least twenty, accurately pointing to objects as they count (Morin, 2014).

G. did these things correctly within a few minutes, so his performance is consistent with

the developmental milestone expected. P. began each of the tasks successfully, but he did not

follow through in accuracy. He did not participate long enough to match all of the straws with

the correct measurement. He incorrectly placed straws on the tray according to how many black

lines were on them. He did not count the lines on the paper correctly. This does not mean that he

is not developing typically. P. could have been distracted by other activities. A four-year-old

child’s attention span can last for as long as 16 minutes, but this can change depending on their

level of interest (Matheis, 2015). Therefore, it seems that P. is still developing typically.

 References

Curtis, M. J. & Kukké, Surabhi (2015). Activity-Based Assessment integrating evaluation into

prevention curricula [PDF File]. Retrieved from http://taasa.org/wp-

content/uploads/2015/05/Activity-Based-Assessment-Toolkit.pdf

Matheis, Elizabeth (2015). Why does my 4-year-old have such a hard time focusing? Should I be

concerned? Parents. Retrieved from https://www.parents.com/toddlers-

preschoolers/development/why-does-my-4-year-old-have-such-a-hard-time-focusing-

should-i-be-concerned/

Morin, A. (2014). Math skills: What to expect at different ages. Retrieved from

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/signs-symptoms/age-by-age-

learning-skills/math-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages