Before the lesson begins, students write what they think are differences and similarities between Japanese and American schools. Ask the students to take out a piece of tablet paper and write what they think might be two similarities and two differences between schools in the two countries. Instruct the students to make two headings, “similarities” and “differences,” and tell the students to either number or mark each fact with an appropriate symbol, such as a dash. The purpose of this assessment is to simply see if the students have any prior knowledge on the subject.
The students are assessed, both informally and formally in various ways during the lesson. This assessment is based upon responses students give to questions asked based on the reading during the input/modeling portion of the lesson. The students are also informally assessed during guided practice on their ability to correctly sort the given facts into the Venn diagram, as well as on their ability to fill in their Venn diagrams at their seats. Finally, the students are assessed based upon their completion of the “Letter From Japan” worksheet. The students are not graded on the number of correct answers, but receive credit for completing the worksheet.
The students are formally assessed at the conclusion of the lesson. The summative assessment is a direct reflection of the diagnostic assessment. The students are again asked to write two similarities and two differences between Japanese and American schools. The students are prompted to make two headings, “similarities” and “differences,” and to number or label each fact. The difference this time, however, is that the students are to use the information they learned during the lesson, and are not guessing, as they are in the pre-assessment. The students’ responses for the summative assessment are collected for a grade, and are scored using the School Cultures Comparison Rubric. The students are given this rubric when the assessment is given, to ensure that the students know exactly what is expected of them. This rubric directly aligns to the New York State Social Studies standards for third grade, specifically Standard 3, Key Idea 1, Performance Indicator 4, which focuses on comparing cultural characteristics between different regions. The students are formally assessed on their ability to state similarities and differences between schools in Japan and the United States (part of the culture of both countries). The School Cultures Comparison Rubric is a direct reflection of that assessment, and therefore, the social studies standard, as it scores students on their ability to make a cultural comparison. The grade the students receive on this assessment is combined with grades from other assessments given during the Japan unit, as well as other social studies assessments given during quarter, to create one quarterly Social Studies grade for the report card..
| Attribute | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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Comparison of Japanese and American Schools (Similarities and Differences) (Weight: 2) ___/8 pts. |
Two accurate similarities and two accurate differences of Japanese and American schools are given. | Only three accurate similarities and differences of Japanese and American schools are given. | Only two accurate similarities and differences of Japanese and American schools are given. |
Only one accurate similarity or difference of Japanese and American schools is given |
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Mechanics (Name, capitalization, and punctuation) (Weight: 0.25) |
Name is written on paper, all words are capitalized when necessary, and correct punctuation is used. | Name is written on paper, some words are capitalized when necessary, and/or correct punctuation is sometimes used. | Name may or may not be written on paper, few words are capitalized when necessary, and/or correct punctuation is rarely used. | Name may or may not be written on paper, and there is little or no evidence of attempts at using proper capitalization and punctuation. |
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Page Layout (Weight: 0.25) |
Similarities and differences are clearly labeled with appropriate headings, and each fact is numbered or marked with an appropriate symbol (such as a dash). | Similarities and differences are clearly labeled with appropriate headings, but all or some facts are not numbered or marked with an appropriate symbol (such as a dash). | Similarities and differences are not labeled with headings, but all or some facts are numbered or marked with an appropriate symbol (such as a dash). | Similarities and differences are not labeled with headings, and all facts are not numbered or marked with an appropriate symbol (such as a dash). |
Total: ___/10 pts. Comments: