Language Arts Assessment Examples
Introduction
Each of the examples below will first present a sample objective, and then illustrate what
a potential assignment could look like for that type of assessment. Since there are a
wide range of possibilities for each type of assessment given the specific objective(s)
involved, only use these examples to give you an idea of how they can work within a
course to meet an objective.
Discussions & Journals
Objective: Reading/Literary Response: Compare reviews of literature, film and
performance with his/her own responses.
Potential discussion question:
You have watched both the classical and modern versions of Romeo and Juliette and
have read a variety of reviews of both. In your discussion, choose one of the film
versions and briefly critique it. Then, justify your critique with examples and well thought
out reasoning. Compare your critique to that of one of the reviews you studied. What do
you believe is the reason for the differences or similarities of your opinion with the
reviewers? Read at least two of your classmates’ reviews and respond thoughtfully to
their postings.
Projects
Objective: Writing/purposes: Organize ideas in writing to ensure coherence, logical
progression and support for ideas.
Potential project description:
Complete the Fairy Tales Across Cultures WebQuest. Analyze the components of a
Fairy Tale, and then compose your own Fairy Tale by adapting one of the versions of
“Cinderella” to create a different perspective on the story. Think about how you will
organize your ideas and change or modify the plot. What alternate perspective will you
use? What is the outcome or ending to your version of the story? Can you elaborate
on the reason for this outcome?
WebQuests
Objective: Viewing/representing/interpretation: Distinguish the purposes of various
media forms such as informative texts, entertaining texts, and advertisements.
Potential Webquest question:
Task: You are the editor of a popular political magazine for teens. It is the 2008 election
year, and you are charged with putting together a special election guide insert for your
readers. You are to give equal space to each of the front runners: John McCain and
Barack O’Bama. You should provide a guide to each candidate for your readers to help
them become informed citizens. In addition, you are required to include politically driven
advertisements from sponsors to help pay for the insert, and politically-themed
entertainment pieces. To help you gather information for your insert, complete the
following webquest.
Process: Print the graphic organizer and go to (provide website) to find out the key
issues of this election. Visit (other websites) to determine each candidate’s stance on at
least three of the key issues. Now, visit this website (other websites with election guide
for previous elections) and read the election guides. Pay careful attention to the
characteristics of the guides. Use the information you have gathered to compare and
contrast each candidate in a non-bias piece.
Now, go to the following websites (provide link) to review political advertisements.
Based on your review, compile a list of the characteristics of the political ads. Based on
the characteristics, design your own political ads to include in your insert.
The final step of the webquest is to visit the following sites to evaluate the political
cartoons. This is your entertainment piece. Review the cartoons, paying careful
attention to the underlying meaning of each cartoon. What are some of the similar
characteristics of the cartoons? Design your own cartoon (don’t worry, you don’t have to
be an artist) with the theme of the 2008 election.
Put your insert together in one document.
Evaluation: Click here to see how your assignment will be graded (assignment rubric).
Conclusion: Congratulations! You have completed this webquest and have produced a
professional and entertaining election guide. In a brief journal entry, reflect upon your
guide. What did you notice about the characteristics of election guide article, the political
advertisement and the political cartoon? What was the purpose of each piece? What
did you learn about each candidate? If you would like to publish your guide, you may
visit one of the following websites (provide links to sites that publish teen work).
Writing Assignments
Objective: Demonstrate an understanding of writing for different purposes.
Demonstrate an understanding of writing for different audiences. Generate writing to
meet the specific needs of differing audiences and purposes.
Potential writing assignment topic:
Pretend that you are in the following situation. Then complete the assignment that
follows.
Situation: A month ago, you were out with some friends and got into a little bit of
trouble. Your parents grounded you for a month. You have never been in trouble in any
way before that. Now that it is over, they have told you that you can go out again with
friends on Friday and Saturday evenings only, and you must be home by 9:00. You
would like more lenient rules. Several of your friends have plans for the coming
Saturday, plans that would require you to get home after 11:00 PM at the earliest. You
are going to write a note to your friends to explain the situation, and you are going to
write a message to your parents in which you ask for a different set of rules.
Assignment: do each part of this assignment on the same document and hand it in as
directed.
Part I: Consider Audience and Purpose
For each message that you will write, describe your audience and purpose. What
attitudes and beliefs do each have? What kind of message are they most likely to
accept? What are they most likely to reject? What are you trying to accomplish with each
message
Part II: Note to your friends
Write a note to your friends explaining the situation. Write it in a way that will appeal to
that audience, and write it so that it achieves the purpose of the communication.
Part III: Letter to Parents
Write a letter to your parents in which you ask for a different set of rules. Write it in a way
that will appeal to that audience, and write it so that it achieves the purpose of the
communication.
Please follow the 6+1 rubric for grading.
Research Papers
Objectives: Organize ideas in writing to ensure coherence, logical progression, and
support for ideas. Use writing to formulate questions, refine topics, and clarify ideas.
Compile information from primary and secondary sources in systematic ways using
available technology. Compile written ideas and representations into reports,
summaries, or other formats and draw conclusions. Use elements of text to defend
his/her own responses and interpretations. Produce reports and research projects in
varying forms for audiences. Evaluate the credibility of information and their
appropriateness for various needs. Present and advance a clear thesis and support the
major thesis with logical points or arguments.
Potential research paper topic:
Topic Choices:
You will need to choose one topic from the following:
1. In recent years, there have been initiatives to include aspects of Sharia Law into
the legal systems of non-Islamic countries. Is this an important way of including
the legal standards of all cultures into a pluralistic society OR should Sharia Law
be banned from non-Islamic legal systems?
2. In 1953, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed as a result of a guilty verdict
on the charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. Was justice served in this
specific case?
3. In Chapter 22 of The Kite Runner, a stunning event occurs in which one
character puts out another character’s eye with a slingshot. Consider this event
in terms of justice and injustice using what you can research regarding Islamic
Law and Western Law. If this case had gone to trial in both an Islamic and an
American court, what would a just verdict be?
Stop now.
Your assignment is to stop and send your teacher your assignment choice. You must
choose from one of the topics above. When you send in your assignment choice, please
indicate what you think your conclusion will be, having done little or no research on the
topic.
Research: Your Works Cited Page
Now, it’s your turn! Work on creating your works cited page. This will be a required part
of your research report. Remember, without a Works Cited page, your research paper
will receive a zero.
Your assignment for this section is to submit a Works Cited Page with a minimum of five
sources from your research. It must be in MLA format.
The Writing Process: Organizing Your Thoughts
Now that you have done a considerable amount of research, you
can start organizing your thoughts. An outline will help you do this
easily.
If you are uncomfortable with an outline, you may try using a web or
another visual organizer. Whatever you use, make sure it is
effective for you.
It does not really matter how you organize your writing. It does
matter that you take the time to do that.
Assignment: Develop a tentative outline or other graphic organizer for your research
paper. You should make sure that whatever your plan is, you have spent a considerable
amount of time researching and thinking through your conclusions and the organization.
This is not an easy assignment. It should reflect thoughtful consideration throughout the
research process.
Submit this assignment to your teacher when you have finished.
The Writing Process: The Initial Draft
As you begin to write, consider the writing structures you have been taught. This paper
will be significantly longer than a five paragraph essay. This is a comprehensive
research paper. This is not a linear process. You should be developing a thesis which
in this case, is the answer to your researchable question. In the process of doing your
research you may find that your research supports a different response than you
originally thought it would.
You will need to provide your reader with background information in order for your points
to be clear. You may need to define key terms. You may need to provide a historical
overview.
Approach your writing as if your reader knows nothing about your topic. If you write from
this point of view, it will quickly become obvious that you will need to write much more
than you may have initially thought about writing.
Once you have completed your rough draft, STOP!
This is the time to look at what you have written with a critical eye. Print out your rough
draft and set it aside for a day or two. Put some space between you and your writing.
There is a reason for this. If you give your rough draft a few days to rest, when you come
back to it, you will see it with fresh eyes. Errors will jump off of the page. You will read it
a little like a stranger would. This is helpful.
It is always a bad idea to write a rough draft and a final draft in the same day.
Writing: The Final Paper
When you have carefully gone through your paper, revised it, and then edited it, you are
ready to submit.
At any time during the revision process when you have a question, please ask your
teacher for assistance. The goal of this assignment is to produce a well-written, wellresearched paper. Your teacher is available to assist you at every step of the way.
Prior to turning in your paper, read it and score it using the Research Paper Rubric. You
must turn in TWO files for this project.
 Your Final Draft (200 Points)
 Your Self Scored Rubric (50 Points)
Both files must be submitted in order to receive a score for your final paper.
Labs
Objective: Use technology for aspects of creating, revising, editing and publishing.
Potential lab topic:
Upload the first draft of your Fairy Tale to the discussion board. Then, use the 6+1
rubric to review and make constructive comments to two of your class mates’ first drafts.
Please review drafts for students who do not have peer reviews completed on their
stories first. After you have gone over the reviews from your peers, revise your story
before submitting the final assignment. You will have the opportunity to publish your
story when it is finalized.
In teacher notes, you might give options for the discussion activity such as:
Conducting peer reviews in a synchronous live office setting with teacher monitored
break out sessions in small group, or as whole group allowing each student to share in
the writer’s chair; conducting reviews in class if students are participating in a blended
model; or partnering students and having them do audio recorded or PowerPoint reviews
of each other’s work.
Quiz/Exam Questions
Use lower level thinking objectives to create basic auto-graded assessments for quizzes
and exams. These objectives typically start with verbs such as: identify, list, define, etc.
For example, using the following objective you could create a basic multiple choice
question.
Objective: Word Identification/Vocabulary Development—Rely on context to determine
meanings of words and phrases such as figurative language, idioms, multiple meaning
words and technical vocabulary..
Quiz question (T/F):
In the following sentence: She decided to follow the crowd and went to the park after
school. The term, “follow the crowd” is an idiom meaning she walked along behind the
crowd.
a. True
b. False
Use mid level objectives to create short answer essay questions for quizzes and exams.
These objectives typically start with verbs such as: explain, outline, demonstrate, etc.
Objective: Use reference material such as glossary, dictionary, thesaurus and available
technology to determine precise meanings and usage.
Quiz question:
Utilize the resources you have available to determine the meanings of the terms “ethical
axioms” and “axioms of science” in the quotation below. Then, use what you know to
explain the meaning of the quotation.
Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science.
Truth is what stands the test of experience. Albert Einstein