Vanessa Theel
Dr. Kornelis
EDUC 237
Assessment Project
Step 1: Context and Purpose
Educational Setting
This assessment is designed for an English Language Arts class at a large inner city school. At our high school, there is abundant diversity. Our school is 10% African American, 15%
Hispanic, 4% Asian American, 70% Caucasian, and 1% other ethnicities. There are a handful of
ESL students that I see throughout my day. In this class, there are two ESL students who are proficient in the language; their academic writing is the only place that they have real trouble.
Therefore, I proofread their papers with them, in order to best understand their writing, and to give them experience with how to make their written language sound more natural.
This unit, “Discovering Through Short Story”, is part of an 11 th /12 th grade course entitled
“Studying Literature through Genre”. There are 19 students in this particular class. The course likely could be considered an “advanced” course because of the depth of content that it covers; however, it is important to me, as a teacher, to keep my classes open to any level of learner. I encourage any student to take the class, and aim to make it reachable and challenging to all students. A majority of class time is spent on discussion and individual work. There will also be some guided research and whole-class reading and analyzing, as well as small group or pair editing. The amount of time that the students are sitting in rows and listening to me is minimal; the students are involved in the instruction in some way more than 90 percent of the time. I should also mention that this is a writing heavy course. Much of the time, the students will write reflections and responses to what we read, what we discuss, and their own learning process. I am aware that I may have to differentiate this for some students (perhaps offering an oral response option, or offering some kind of visual version of the assignments).
The Unit Plan
This unit will open up the world of short story so that the students can explore genre and discover their world and themselves through it. It will take twelve class periods to complete. As a class, we will look at a few short stories (reading them together), write a short story, and discuss the purpose of short story, as well as how we use the genre in our own lives. We will also study how short stories have develop: how they have been used in the past and how they are viewed today.

The unit begins by reading some short stories, drawing the students in and giving them the chance to engage in discussion about short story and explore their past experiences with short story. They will write short (one to two paragraph) reflections on the short stories themselves
(and their authors).
The students will also keep journal entries throughout the unit to reflect on class discussions, as well as their learning. Their final journal entry will be a self-assessment tool to summarize and evaluate what they have learned and discovered about (and through) the genre of short story.
Early on in the unit, we will also spend some time researching the history and development of the short story, as well as how prevalent it is today. This will be completed through guided research (much like a web quest). Rather than simply lecture the information to them, I will lead them to reliable and easy to access sources where they can discover the information on their own. They will also be given guiding questions that they need to be able to answer.
The students will write an original short story (we will work on this throughout the unit) and keep a portfolio of their writing process (any drafts, journals, quick writes, etc. They should keep it organized to show the development of their story).
There will also be peer-editing toward the end of the unit in order to help the students proofread through their stories and to reflect on their peer’s work. This peer-editing will also give them the chance to practice their editing skills and to analyze for short story elements.
At the end of the unit, the students will give a short presentation that will explicate what they have learned in the class as a whole. The final presentation may be completed with a partner.
List of Goals
1.
The students will have knowledge of the short story genre: its structure, purpose and characteristics—knowing what things are unique to it. Students will also work with and become familiar with short story as a genre: then and now—how it started, its place in today’s world. (knowledge/knowledge)
2.
Students will explore their personal experience with short story: what part it has played in their lives. They will also work on writing short story—and make the genre their own.
(understanding/skill)
3.
Students will come to appreciate the genre of short story and see the benefits it can bring.
(disposition)
4.
Students will come to better understand themselves and their world through short story.
(understanding)

Step 2: Traditional Assessment
10 Multiple Choice
Mechanics of short story; Facts about short story; history
10 Matching
Themes, lessons, and applications
10 True/False
Characteristics and structure of short story; history
*List matching learning targets to test item numbers
True/false #s 21-29 and multiple choice #s 1-10
Goal 1
True/false # 30
Goal 2
Matching #s 11-20
Goal 3
Matching #s 11-20
Goal 4

Unit Test
Name:_____________________
Multiple Choice
Date:____________
For the following ten questions, read each question carefully. After you have read the question, read all four of the choices and decide which one best answers the question, then circle the letter
next to that answer.
1. At what time did the first true collections of short stories appear?
A. Between 1720 and 1740
B.
Between 1750 and 1770
C.
D.
Between 1810 and 1830
Between 1890 and 1910
2. What is the most common contemporary range of length used to describe a short story?
A. 500 to 5,000 words
B.
5,000 to 15,000 words
C. 15,000 to 20,000 words
D. 1,000 to 20,000 words
3. Which of the following best describes the structure of short story?
A. An action-filled plot that keeps
you wondering
C. Characters that interact, seemingly
without a plot
B. A situation that comes quickly to its point D. A well-described setting
4.
Which of the following authors wrote “The Most Dangerous Game”?
A.
B.
Isaac Asimov
Joyce Carol Oates
C. Richard Connell
D. Flannery O’Connor

5.
Which of the following authors wrote “Revelation”?
A. Isaac Asimov
B. Joyce Carol Oates
C. Shirley Jackson
D.
Flannery O’Connor
6. What is a good way to help develop and give depth to a character?
A. Dialogue
B. Character choices
C. Nonverbal interaction with others
D. All of the above
7. Which of the following would be the weak way to open a short story?
A.
In the middle of a conversation C. With a startling quote
D. Within the thoughts of a character B.
With a long description of the setting
8.
Which statement best describes how one should write the climactic moment of a short story?
A. Short and to the point
B. Fleshed out and with dialogue
C.
D.
Without a lot of character thoughts
Riddled with moralistic lessons
9.
What does “show, don’t tell” mean?
A. Giving lots of description C. Using actions instead of dialogue
D. Using description to reveal an idea B. Having the characters describe things
10. Which of the following characteristics are truly unique to the short story?
A.
It can be summarized into a moral lesson C. It has more to it than meets the eye
D. Its plot is limited B. The characters are vital

Matching
For the following ten questions, read the numbered items carefully. Match each item to one of the short stories that we have looked at throughout this unit by writing the initials (in parenthesis) on the line next to the number. The short story titles may be used any number of times. Some numbered items may be answered by more than one short story (you should write all that you think best meet the item).
(MDG) “The Most Dangerous Game”
(TL) “The Lottery”
(NF) “Nightfall” (RV) “Revelation”
(WGWB) “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?”
11. ______________ The characters in this story realize that traditions do not always make sense.
12.
______________The character in this story reveals to us that one should have an understanding of one’s own circumstances.
13.
______________This story reveals to us the importance of refusing to blindly follow ideas.
14.
______________The character in this story experiences what happens when a person believes they are self-justified.
15.
______________This story reveals to us that we should stand up for what is right, even when society may oppose us.
16.
______________The character in this story realizes that he/she has been too self-righteous to live the life he/she had been claiming to live.
17.
______________The character in this story teaches us that having a purposeful direction in one’s life will prevent one from getting lost in deceitful circumstances.
18.
______________This story shows us the dangers of being resistant to change solely for the sake of tradition.
19.
______________This story reveals to us that humans’ biggest danger could likely be human beings themselves.
20.
______________This story reveals to us what humans are capable of when they allow fear to consume them.

True/False
For the following ten questions, read the statement carefully. Decide whether the statement is true or if it is false. Clearly circle the “T” if you believe the statement is true, or clearly circle the “F” if you believe the statement is false.
21. Because short stories are so short, they cannot convey as much meaning. T F
22.
An author can use character actions and words to help communicate the setting. T F
23. The history of the short story is easy to separate from the history of story in general. T F
24.
It is a bad idea for short stories to be used to communicate a moral lesson.
25.
It is a bad idea to read short stories in order to better understand yourself.
T F
T F
26. Short story is a difficult format to write in.
27.
In the short story genre, the characters are what make or break the story.
T F
T F
28. The structure of a short story can help you further understand its meaning.
29. When writing short story, developing plot is your top priority.
T F
T F
30. I was surprised to find that short story can play a role in my life. T F
*Please write a couple of sentences or a bulleted list further explaining your answer to # 30.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Alternative Assessment
Logistics
The projects included in the portfolio are being worked on throughout the unit; they should also be working on their portfolio as well—getting things into a logical order. The portfolio itself can be fine-tuned as they create their presentation board on day ten. The board may be worked on with a partner; however, each student will put together his or her own portfolio. Discussion of overall reflections is encouraged, but each student should write his or her own reflection paragraphs.
There are three days within the unit plan that are devoted to writing or editing workshops. There are also a number of other days that give students any remaining time to work on brainstorming or furthering ideas. There will be computers and large work spaces available to students. Some days, we may rearrange the desks in order to promote writing and editing; some days, I will have the library reserved so that we can have larger desks to work on.
*List matching learning targets to aspects of the short story
Author/story reflections
Goal 1
Original short story; journal entries; self-assessment Reflection Statement
Goal 2
Author/story reflections; self-assessment Reflection Statement
Goal 3
Goal 4
Original short story; journal entries; Author/story reflections; self-assessment Reflection
Statement

Final Portfolio
As a final project, you will be creating a portfolio. This portfolio will contain a number of different things that you have worked on throughout the unit. The point of the portfolio is to organize everything that you have completed and to see your progress, to see your understanding of and understanding through short story growing.
Here’s what you need to include:

The final draft of your short story

All important rough drafts (initial and edited—I want to see your process)

Quick writes completed in class

Your journal entries (about class discussions, as well as your experience and learning with short story)

Your author/story reflections

Your self-assessment Reflection Statement

Your short reflection statement on putting your portfolio together
As you put your portfolio together, I want you to see in what ways all of our discussions and your research has helped you build your new understanding of the genre of short story.
Therefore, to help you explicate this understanding for yourself, you are to write a short (halfpage, or longer) reflection on the process. Some questions to think about answering in this reflection: What improvement do I see in my short story each time I proofread or edited it? How did some of my early ideas become realized (or perhaps forgotten or replaced) in my final story?
How did my research on short story in general impact how I wrote my own short story?
GRADING RUBRIC
Organization
All items included
Reflection statement
Developing 1 Satisfactory 2 Outstanding 3 Total points
Your portfolio is disorganized
It is organized, but it does not reflect your growing process
I can clearly see your progress by how you organized your portfolio x 10 = /30
You only had one or two items
Is not clear, shows a lack in understanding of growth
You had some items, but only one or two examples of them
It is expansive, demonstrates some thoughtfulness
You included all the requirements, and ample examples of everything
It is thorough and explicates deep and reflective thinking x 2 = /6 x 5 = /15