Assessment Plan

Before the lesson begins, students will be given a pretest. This assessment is used to test prior knowledge of vertical addition of sums to ten. For students who may have had previous experience with vertical addition to ten, there is also a question where students can show any knowledge they have of double-digit vertical addition.

Throughout the learning experience, students are assessed both formally and informally. The formal assessment is the pretest as well as the written vertical addition sentences
(2 per student) that are accompanied by dot cards. A teacher-made rubric was used to evaluate the formal assessment. Informal assessment takes place during the lesson in the form of questions and answers as well as when students write vertical addition sentences on their chalkboards to match the dot cards I held up.

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Student Friendly Vertical Dot Card Rubric
Format of Addition Sentence	I wrote the vertical addition sentence the right way.	I wrote the + or line for the = sign in the wrong place.	I did not write the addition sentence vertically and/or I wrote the + and the line for the = in the wrong place.
The Sum	Both sums are right.	1 sum is right and 1 sum is wrong.	Both sums are wrong.
Dots/Numbers	All dots are colored and match the numbers I used in my addition sentence.	Some dots are missing colors and/or 1 to 3 numbers do not match the dots next to them.	4 or more dots are missing color and/or 4 numbers do not match the dots next to them.
Number Formation	There are no numbers that are backwards.	1 to 3 numbers are backwards.	4 or more numbers are backwards.

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**Because it is only the beginning of the school year, I will need to go over the rubric with the students because otherwise they may have a difficult time with some words.Depending on the class' ability level, I may need to wait til all have completed the assessment and read each section aloud, waiting for the students to complete each individual section of the rubric.

Scoring Rubric Explanation

The rubric above was designed specifically for the vertical dot addition assessment.
First, the rubric assesses the students’ ability to actually put the numbers correctly into a vertical addition sentence. Beyond this, the rubric also assesses the students on their ability to find sums correctly. Some students are still having a difficult time with the understanding of the one-to-one correspondence. Because of this, the students will also be evaluated on their ability to recognize that there is a specific number for the number of dots on the card. Finally, being in first grade several students reverse some numbers. They will be asked to make sure that all numbers are written correctly and to check to make sure they have not made any reversals.

Students are given one grade in Mathematics each week. The grades derived from the assessment will count towards the weekly math grade. These grades will then be used to calculate a student average in Mathematics for the first trimester. Each grade given in Mathematics is weighted equally.

Students are also given a rubric, however their version is student friendly. They are required to turn in the rubric with their assessment paper.

Common errors made by first grade students include…
1. leaving out the line representing the equals sign.
2. number reversals.
3. placing the plus sign directly under the first number.

Blank Assessment Tool
Please note that each student is given 2 different dot cards (each student’s assessment looks different although it still tests the same skill).