Hi everyone! ^0^
The website that I’ve found online has a rather creative way
of assessing students for learning so as to enable them to better formulate and
express their ideas about a text. It also allows the teacher to gain insights
into the difficulties students are facing in their formulation of ideas and
their comprehension of the text so as to enable modification of lessons to aid
their learning process. This is done through the use of ‘brown bags,’
essentially bags filled with items (objects and pictures) related to the text
being studied by students.
The activity will be carried out in five steps and can be
conducted individually and in groups, and involves lively discussions, great
engagement and fun in the learning process. In the execution of the activity, students
will, firstly, study the items in the bag and brainstorm ideas connecting the
item to the text they are studying. Following which, they will form groups and
discuss their ideas. Thirdly, the students will then have to look for two passages
from their text that is connected to the items. The penultimate step requires
students to “single out a specific aspect of the entire Brown Bag Exam and
describe that aspect’s impact on personal learning.” Finally, the groups will
then have to share their ideas to the class.
I think this method of assessing students is really fun as
it really stimulates their thinking and makes them apply their creativity as
well as analytical and referencing skills. Moreover, collaborative learning ensures
that no one student is put in the spotlight, and students can come together to
generate and bounce their ideas off each other. More importantly, in assessing
students for learning, the Brown Bag Exam can help teachers figure out which
areas their students are weaker in. For instance, should students have
difficulties finding passages to support their ideas, it could indicate that
students may find it hard to support their ideas with evidence from the text;
hence, the teacher should place more emphasis in teaching students how to find
useful evidence from the text to support their ideas in their essays. This approach,
in my opinion, is quite a targeted way of assessing students and the fun
element of the Brown Bag Exam makes for a great classroom activity that does
not intimidate students.
In addition to the Brown Bag Exam, while looking at various
websites for this post, I’ve also stumbled upon a website with a rubric for
this activity! Speaking of rubrics, I’ve also chanced upon an Edutopia (this is
an interesting website which Ashley had shared with me. Thanks again,
Ashley! ^_^ It has lots of useful tips
and resources) article about Interactive Rubrics, and I think it’s a great way
to use ICT as a tool to facilitate assessment! :D
Hey Mae, this is really an interesting way to assess students on their understanding of a text. I like it that it also helps students access their prior knowledge in response to the objects they found in the bag and draw out evidence from the text.There is also an element of surprise when the students receive the bag and the challenge it provides when unravel the connections between the object(s) and the text. Thanks for sharing Mae!
ReplyDeleteHi Ying Kai!
DeleteYou're welcome! Thanks for pointing out the prior knowledge bit as well as the element of surprise! I'll keep them in mind should I use this assessment strategy in future! :D
Hi Mae, thank you for sharing these wonderful sites. I really like the element of surprise as noted by Ying Kai too, and it certainly helps to push the novelty factor of learning a couple of notches up. This interesting activity will certainly gain students' attention and increase their motivation towards learning Literature. Not only does it provide a less intimidating avenue for students to construct their thoughts, it also provides teachers with a valuable platform to assess students' level of understanding and ability. Thanks, Mae!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! ^^
DeleteI'm a big fan of this idea - much like how Suzanne seems to always have a little clip of random items for our Session 1 classes. One of my favourite approaches to art is to have such interesting things around to bolster the sensory experience of the subject. I'm pretty sure it aids the students memories too.
ReplyDeleteI think another way of approaching it - if you're teaching a poem/story for more than 1 lesson, is that perhaps you could give students a bag each and ask them to fill it with 5 things that they can find that is relevant to their interpretation or understanding of the poem. It would be a less scaffolded assignment than picking out items from a selection, but maybe one to consider as a 'fun' project for the kids.
Ooo...your suggestion sounds really useful as well! Thanks a lot! :)
DeleteI will love try this method in class! It is very tactile and creates an anticipation in the students as to which object they are going to get.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try it out too, Ismath! ^0^
DeleteThis is so fun !! This can certainly create a lot of conversation and discussion between students. This will probably be very helpful to get the quiet ones talking as well. It would certainly so interesting to hear their ideas. I think it'll be quite fun for the teachers to choose what items to put into the brown bags too. Thanks for sharing Mae!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Lynette! ^3^
DeleteHi Mae, thanks so much for sharing this idea! I think it's very interesting, and definitely adds an element of surprise to the lesson. Plus, I like that it's very interactive and requires discussion and thinking on both the parts of the students and the teachers.
ReplyDeleteI think it would also be really cool if the activity could be modified, such that for a class of high-ability leaners, students can fill up the their own brown bags (in groups perhaps) with items that they believe relate to the text they are studying, and exchange the bags with other groups. This will definitely test how well they are able to draw links and understand concepts!
Hi Gayle! Yes, I agree with your modification! Thanks for pointing out how this assessment method can be tweaked to suit the diverse learning needs of students in the class! Also, exchanging the bags sounds like an uber fun idea! :D
DeleteHi Mae, great discovery here, and it's good to have these little "surprises" that up the fun value of the class while challenging the students to make connections between unexpected objects, and deepen their understanding.
ReplyDeleteHi Chin Ee! I think the 'suprise' factor plus the fact that it's a fun activity will really help in engaging students while at the same time stimulate their thoughts and developing their ability to make connections between these thoughts and the text! :) I think I might really use this strategy in class! I'm really looking forward to it! Teehee! ^_^
DeleteI have to admit that I checked out your post because of the number of posts it garnered, but I'm really glad for it - this brown bag exam idea sounds like it'll be really fun (and rewarding!) for both the teacher and the student (:
ReplyDeleteI'm also pretty intrigued as to how this idea might be developed for the teaching of GP, which also requires students to be able to actively form connections between ideas/concepts and real world events.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea and the accompanying resources!