Assessment Ideas
Key Concepts
In Native American Studies, all of the ELA strands are included when assessing students. Reading is an important to assesing students because In NAS or Social Studies, students learn through reading text and other Educational material. The teacher needs to know if the student can read or not, because if the students is unable to read that means that a lot of the curriculum material will not be learned and possibly other teaching methods need to be used instead. Writing can be used to assess students through long or short answer questions on unit tests, essays, personal reflections, and reports regarding NAS topics or issues. Listening is essetial to learning because in NAS or Social Studies many topics involve group or class discussions. If the student is not listening this will be noticable in class discussions and will reflect on thier involvement and learning. Speaking can be assessed through class or group presentations. In NAS or Social Studies students can be asked indivually or as a group to present on certaing topics such as differnent FNMI communities or different FNMI tradiitons. Through these presentations the teacher will be able to see what the students have learned by the material that is presented. Viewing and Representing can be used to assess students during a variety of activities such as watching a movie or You Tube clip and afterwards reflecting through a journal entry, class discussion using a graphic organizer, or small group activities which record information that the students got out of the material learned (topics are related to FNMI). Using these ELA qualities allows the teacher to assess in a variety of ways and provides students with different styles of learning.
Curriculum Connections
The General Learning Objective within the ELA curriculum that repesents NAS/Social Studies objective is GLO 5.
General Learning Objective 5: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others.
5.1 - Respect others and Stregnthen Community: The main focus is to:
Appreciat DIversity
Link text to culture
Celebrate accomplishments and events
Use language to show respect
5.2 - Work within a Group: The main focus is to:
Evaluate group processes
Work in a group
Cooperate with others
These objectives can be closly realted to the desired outcomes within NAS/Social Studies program. Appreciating diversity, Linking text to culture, celebrating events and accomplishments, and using language to shoe respect is all associated with NAS/Social Studies. If the students walk away learning all of these objectives the teaher will know that they did their job. Cooperation within a group structure is also a great factor in creating community. Community is a major theme in all grade levels in Soclal Studies and commuity is also really important to NAS.
2000, The Program of Studies, English Language Arts K-9, Alberta Education,
Retrieved October 21, 2012, http://www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/english.aspx
General Learning Objective 5: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others.
5.1 - Respect others and Stregnthen Community: The main focus is to:
Appreciat DIversity
Link text to culture
Celebrate accomplishments and events
Use language to show respect
5.2 - Work within a Group: The main focus is to:
Evaluate group processes
Work in a group
Cooperate with others
These objectives can be closly realted to the desired outcomes within NAS/Social Studies program. Appreciating diversity, Linking text to culture, celebrating events and accomplishments, and using language to shoe respect is all associated with NAS/Social Studies. If the students walk away learning all of these objectives the teaher will know that they did their job. Cooperation within a group structure is also a great factor in creating community. Community is a major theme in all grade levels in Soclal Studies and commuity is also really important to NAS.
2000, The Program of Studies, English Language Arts K-9, Alberta Education,
Retrieved October 21, 2012, http://www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/english.aspx
Strategies and Lesson Plan Ideas
Authentic Assignment Ideas:
1. Teacher will introduce the topic of Oral tradition and read a Trickster Tale to them. Class will discuss the meaning behind the Trickster Tales and the importance of them to the FNMI culture. Students will be split up into small groups and each assigned a different Trickster Tale. Each students is assigned a different part in their tale and has to learn their role. Groups read their tale together and discuss the meaning of the tale. Once each group has learned their role, had a chance to rehearse together, and is knowlegable about thier tale the groups will perform infront of the class. After each group performs there is a class discussion about the moral of the tale? What was the importance of the tale? Why do you think that it was created? This activity allows students to reflect on the purpose of Oral tradion in the Native culture in a fun and engaging way. Another option is to have the students create masks or costumes for thier role. This activity will probably take several classes to complete and requires a lot of organization by the teacher.
2. Plan a day for an Elder to come to class to answer questions. Have the students write up several questions each about things that they would like to know about Native culure and traditon. Have the students hand in all of the questions and draw questions out of a bucket for the elder to answer on the day of the visit. This will make it so the students will not get embarassed to ask questions and make the time with the elder productive.
3. Have a Game Day in which the students get to play a variety of different traditonal Native Games. This will be a fun activity so that the children can be exposed to some traditional FNMI culture. This also is an opportunity to discuss the meaning behind each of these games and the purpose behind the games.
4. Have a woman who is familiar with Native beading come in and teach the class how to bead a small item. The method taught would be very basic but would give students exposure to Native tradition. This would create discussion for the use of beading and when it started. This would be better with either a Junior High or High School grade level.
5. Take your class on a fieldtrip out to a reserve and meet with Cheif and Council (if they would agree to do so). This would be a great opportunity for students to be able to learn about how a Native Goverment structure is ran and allow them to ask questions to be answered. The next day the class could use a graphic organizer and discuss the differences between the Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and Native Self Government.
6. Have the class read "Sugar Falls - A Residential School Story" by David Alexander Robertson. Have a discussion about this book (based on a true story) and Residential Schools. DIscuss the following 4 questions:
What type of impact did residential schools have on Native children?
Whar role did Aboriginal culture play in Betsy's life?
In your opinion what was the purpose in Residential Schools?
How would you have reacted if you were in Betsy's position?
Put the students into 4 groups and assign each group one question. After they have time to discuss we will discuss thier responses as a class discussion. When this is finished tell the class that they are going to have a short essay assignment tomorrow in whic they will pick one of these questions to write about. Let them know that you want them to write from thier point of view and express how they feel about this issue. Allow the studetns to take the book home and review tonight if they feel they need to prepare better. The essay is be 1-2 pages long. This is done with a grade 12 class due to the sensitve material that is being discussed within the book.
1. Teacher will introduce the topic of Oral tradition and read a Trickster Tale to them. Class will discuss the meaning behind the Trickster Tales and the importance of them to the FNMI culture. Students will be split up into small groups and each assigned a different Trickster Tale. Each students is assigned a different part in their tale and has to learn their role. Groups read their tale together and discuss the meaning of the tale. Once each group has learned their role, had a chance to rehearse together, and is knowlegable about thier tale the groups will perform infront of the class. After each group performs there is a class discussion about the moral of the tale? What was the importance of the tale? Why do you think that it was created? This activity allows students to reflect on the purpose of Oral tradion in the Native culture in a fun and engaging way. Another option is to have the students create masks or costumes for thier role. This activity will probably take several classes to complete and requires a lot of organization by the teacher.
2. Plan a day for an Elder to come to class to answer questions. Have the students write up several questions each about things that they would like to know about Native culure and traditon. Have the students hand in all of the questions and draw questions out of a bucket for the elder to answer on the day of the visit. This will make it so the students will not get embarassed to ask questions and make the time with the elder productive.
3. Have a Game Day in which the students get to play a variety of different traditonal Native Games. This will be a fun activity so that the children can be exposed to some traditional FNMI culture. This also is an opportunity to discuss the meaning behind each of these games and the purpose behind the games.
4. Have a woman who is familiar with Native beading come in and teach the class how to bead a small item. The method taught would be very basic but would give students exposure to Native tradition. This would create discussion for the use of beading and when it started. This would be better with either a Junior High or High School grade level.
5. Take your class on a fieldtrip out to a reserve and meet with Cheif and Council (if they would agree to do so). This would be a great opportunity for students to be able to learn about how a Native Goverment structure is ran and allow them to ask questions to be answered. The next day the class could use a graphic organizer and discuss the differences between the Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and Native Self Government.
6. Have the class read "Sugar Falls - A Residential School Story" by David Alexander Robertson. Have a discussion about this book (based on a true story) and Residential Schools. DIscuss the following 4 questions:
What type of impact did residential schools have on Native children?
Whar role did Aboriginal culture play in Betsy's life?
In your opinion what was the purpose in Residential Schools?
How would you have reacted if you were in Betsy's position?
Put the students into 4 groups and assign each group one question. After they have time to discuss we will discuss thier responses as a class discussion. When this is finished tell the class that they are going to have a short essay assignment tomorrow in whic they will pick one of these questions to write about. Let them know that you want them to write from thier point of view and express how they feel about this issue. Allow the studetns to take the book home and review tonight if they feel they need to prepare better. The essay is be 1-2 pages long. This is done with a grade 12 class due to the sensitve material that is being discussed within the book.
Resources for Teaching
ELA Assessment Tools
The Reading and Writing Project - A variety of different Assessment resources for a varitey of ages.
http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/assessments/performance-assessments.html
Free ELA/Reading Assessments
http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/free-elareading-assessments/
Elementary Reading Assessment Template
http://www.k12.wa.us/Reading/Assessment/ReadingElementary/ElementaryReadingAssessmentTemplates.pdf
Literacy Assessment Tools In Native American Studies/Social Studies:
Benchmark of Historican Thinking Resource
http://erlc.ca/resources/resources/benchmarksofhistoricalthinking/
Our Word, Our Ways, Webinar
http://erlc.wikispaces.com/Our+Words+Our+Ways
FNMI Collaborative Frameworks - FNMI Student Stuccess
http://erlc.wikispaces.com/FNMI+Collaborative+Frameworks
The Reading and Writing Project - A variety of different Assessment resources for a varitey of ages.
http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/assessments/performance-assessments.html
Free ELA/Reading Assessments
http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/free-elareading-assessments/
Elementary Reading Assessment Template
http://www.k12.wa.us/Reading/Assessment/ReadingElementary/ElementaryReadingAssessmentTemplates.pdf
Literacy Assessment Tools In Native American Studies/Social Studies:
Benchmark of Historican Thinking Resource
http://erlc.ca/resources/resources/benchmarksofhistoricalthinking/
Our Word, Our Ways, Webinar
http://erlc.wikispaces.com/Our+Words+Our+Ways
FNMI Collaborative Frameworks - FNMI Student Stuccess
http://erlc.wikispaces.com/FNMI+Collaborative+Frameworks