Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Essential Questions:
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Student self-assessment
- Exit Slips
- Self Evaluation for performance task
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Assessments
Learning
Outcomes
(GLE/SLE/UL
E #s)
Title
Type
(Formative/Summative
)
Weighting
GLE 1
1.1
1.1.1
1.2
1.2.1
1.3
2.1
Guided
Listening
Playing Tests
Listening Test
Pre-Assessment
Formative
Listening
S/F
S/F
S/F
15%
10 %
30%
10%
N/A
N/A
35%
1.3.1
1.3.2
2.1.1
GLE 2
2.2
3.1
GLE 3
Performance
Task
3.2
3.3
2.2.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.2.1
3.3.1
3.3.2
Taxonomic Level
Knowledge/Comprehension
Application/Analysis/Synthesis/Evalu
ation
All Levels
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Pre-Assessment
Survey
Guided Listening
Brief Description
The pre-assessment plan is a form of formative
assessment that will indicate students
knowledge of the subject matter. It will also
gather information that determines students
learning style, interests and readiness. This will
allow me to make educated judgments on what
objectives need to be more extensively covered
or what objectives the students already know.
Students will:
Answer the questions on a survey that I have
created.
Physically hand in survey to the teacher to be
assessed.
This assessment will be used to introduce
students to the structure of the standard
twelve-bar blues form, phrase structure, and
rhyme scheme. The guided listening will be
done closer to the beginning of the unit so that
students better understand the blues. This
assessment will be completed collectively as a
class; thus students may collaborate with one
another. A guided listening worksheet will be
handed out to the students. The teacher will
play two contrasting blues songs that they will
listen to and answer the questions. This activity
will ensure me that every student has been
exposed to the blues and that they understand
basic formal elements.
Students will:
1. Listen to musical selection.
2. Answer guided listening questions.
3. Have an option to collaborate and compare
with peers.
4. Discuss answers as a whole class.
This assessment will allow students to better
understand the blues by notating a blues scale
starting on C, F and G. This will be a summative
test that shows what students know at a
Assessment
FOR Learning
Assessment
AS Learning
Assessment
OF Learning
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Formative Listening
Activities
Listening Test
Playing Tests
Performance Task
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
write a 1 page reflection as a form of selfassessment. The marks for this assignment will
be as follows:
Checklists 10%
Reflection 25%
Rubric 65%
Students will:
1. Research a blues composer of their choice.
2. Create a presentation using PowerPoint,
posters, oral presentations, or any other
creative means.
3. Locate a guitar score by the chosen blues
composer using ultimate guitar.
4. Practice the blues piece during given class
time.
5. Present to the class their research about
the composer and play a piece by the
composer.
6. Complete checklist.
7. Complete reflection and submit it to the
teacher during the next class.
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
student knows at a given point in time. The formative assessments or assessment for learning
happens during the learning, often more than once, rather than at the end. Students understand
exactly what they are to learn, what is expected of them and are given feedback and advice on how
to improve their work. In assessment for learning, teachers use assessment as an investigable tool
to find out as much as they can about what their students know and can do, and what confusions,
preconception or gaps they might have. The wide variety of information that teachers collect
about students learning processes provides the basis for determining what they need to do next
to move student learning forward. It provides the basis for providing descriptive feedback for
students and deciding on groupings, instructional strategies, and resources. Lastly, assessment as
learning allows students to learn about themselves as learners and become aware of how they
learn; become metacognitive (knowledge of ones own thought process). My last step for deciding
which assessment methods to choose from was determined by taxonomic level. I tried to choose
activities that would cover a variety of low, medium, and high taxonomic levels (knowledge,
understanding, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The types of assessments that I
use during this unit include a pre-assessment, scale quiz, formative listening activity, listening test,
playing test, and a performance assessment. This is a balance approach that will give the most
validity and reliability (triangulations) to evidence gathered throughout the unit. (Davies, 46)
Pre-Assessment:
I decided to incorporate a pre-assessment at the beginning of the unit as a form of
formative assessment that will indicate students knowledge of the subject matter. It will also
gather information that determines students learning style, interests and readiness. This will
allow me to make educated judgments on what objectives need to be more extensively covered or
what objectives the students already know. If the students already know the objective, there is no
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
point of teaching them that material. Likewise, if the material is too hard for the students then I
will have to revise the activity to meet the outcome in a different fashion. A pre-assessment will
allow me to gauge student readiness and plan for future lessons within this unit.
Formative Listening Activities:
The formative listening activities consist of two non-graded activities that will better
prepare the students for the listening test. This formative assessment tool will also allow the
teacher to check for student understanding of the listenings. The first activity is a kinesthetic
listening game. A line will be taped in the middle of the room and students will move to the right
side if they think the song playing over the speakers is the blues and they will move to the left side
if they think it is not the blues. The second activity is Classic Blues Jeopardy. This activity will have
students in teams of five where they are answering questions chosen by the teacher in order to get
more points than the other teams; much like jeopardy. These formative assessment techniques
will better prepare the students for the listening quiz that will be performed in the following class.
I can use the information gathered from this assessment to make a judgment if they students are
prepared enough to write the test. This activity can also be classified as assessment as learning
because students can make educated assessments of their own learning through teacher feedback.
This type of formative assessment activity will maximize student success by better preparing
them for the test
Listening/ Playing Test & Scale Quiz:
These three assessments are all forms of summative assessment. I included these tests to
assist in balancing the assessment types within my unit plan. These assessments are designed to
provide evidence of achievement to parents, other educators, the students themselves and
administrators. A rubric will be created to assess each students performance. After each
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
performance, students will complete an exit slip that determines positives and negatives of their
performance and what can be improved for next time. This activity will give me concrete evidence
of each individual students performance capabilities. I chose to use multiple summative
assessments because I believe teachers have the responsibility of reporting student learning
accurately and fairly, based on evidence obtained from a variety of contexts and applications
Performance Assessment:
The performance assessment will be a culminating activity that brings the unit to an
appropriate closure. Jon Mueller defines a performance task as a form of assessment in which
students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of
essential knowledge and skills. Students will be expected to analyze the aesthetic and stylistic
qualities of the blues through the performance of a musical selection. This performance is then a
real-world task that is engaging for students. They will also have to identify a contribution to
blues by one artist or group. These will be accomplished through a presentation of a specific blues
musician or composer, followed by a performance on the guitar of a single blues composition
written by the researched blues musician. This will be assessed using a rubric and a checklist. The
rubric will be complete by the teacher, assessing the overall performance of the piece and the
presentation of the composer. The students will complete the checklists to evaluate themselves
and peers. Using the rubric and checklists, the students will then write a one-page reflection as a
form of self-assessment. Therefore, the rubric, checklist, and reflection result in this activity
encompassing all three types of assessment; for, of, and as.
Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit (days)
Conclusion:
The knowledge that I gained during the participation in Education 3604: Evaluation of
Student Learning, has enabled me to develop a reliable and valid unit assessment plan. This was
made possible through the process of understanding by design. My plan includes a preassessment, formative listening activities, listening, playing, and scale tests, and a performance
assessment. I have balanced my assessment plan by incorporating a variety of summative and
formative assessments as well as activities that cover a variety of taxonomic levels. By creating a
balance unit assessment plan, I have ensured that the students will be fairly and accurately
evaluated and that my assessment will be a true reflection student learning.