Unit Assessment Plan 

Several pre-assessments lie within the branches of the government unit. First, I gave the students a multiple choice pre-assessment involving the branches of government. This assessment was based off the the questions that my scholars will be asked on the M-Step. Through the lessons, much of the pre-assessments involved asked them questions in a large group setting. Also, in mt Constitution lesson, I gave the students a quiz about the Articles of Confederation. Finally, I used the three branches of government poster to reflect on what the students have learned in the previous weeks, to get their mind ready to build on what they already know. Pre-assessments are evident within the unit.

 

During instruction, formative assessments are used for learning. Students within the Articles of Confederation lesson, students will be reading their Social Studies Alive! Books (Bower, 2016) to discover what the Articles of Confederation is and why it was not a string form of government. The scholars will also be looking at History.com to uncover how the executive and legislative branches of government responded to major events in the Civil Rights Movement, such as Little Rock Nine (History.com Editors, 2010).  While reviewing the government's power, I will be reading a book by Pinkney (2010) to immerse the students in what it was like for a colored children during the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, exit tickets will be given at the end of lesson to see what they students understood at the end of the lesson, and what should be addressed at the beginning of the next one. Various formative assessments are used for learning.

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In addition to assessment for learning, assessments as learning are also evident in the unit. The students will be applying their knowledge to create a PowerPoint about the Articles of Confederation to create a PowerPoint. In addition, the scholars will be given a power within the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution and they must match it to the correct form of government. This activity cause students to question if the Constitution addressed the fallacies within the Articles of Confederation.  Having the students think-pair-share their understandings about the court case “Brown v. Board of Education” will give a connection to how the government helps to address problems (Brown v. Board of Education, n.d.). Another formative assessment that students will be engaged is a worksheet that goes deeping into how the legislative branch addressed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (History.com Editors, 2010). Assessment as learning is used throughout the unit.

 

After the unit is complete, one summative assessment can be found. Higher cognitive skills, such as evaluating, and creating will be engaged as the students participate in the summative assessment, as is addressed in Woolfolk (2017) Chapter 14. This summative assessment asks the students to think about an issue that they see in society, or in their community. Their task is to research this issue via chromebook and books. After the information is gathered, they are to create a poster that addresses their topic, and how the branches of government could assist them in bringing healing or justice to that situation. For example, a student may notice that the roads are full of potholes near their house. They will ask themselves, “why is that so?” and “what can I do to help?” After they consider these questions, they brainstorm ideas on how they judicial, executive, and legislative branches could use their powers for the better of the students community. Through this summative assessment, students will recognize that they are the government, and that it exists to help its people.

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Through giving the students the pre-assessment, a more details picture was drawn of what the fifth-grade scholars understood about the government, specifically, its branches. The pre-assessment is a six question multiple choice quiz that was given to students before the lessons were given. Looking at the number of correct answers, 0% got all six right, 4% got 5 right, 12% got 4 right, 24% got three right, 36% got two right, and 24% got 1 right, and 0% received a zero. For questions one, two, three, and six, the most common answer was the correct answer. Questions four and five are a different story.  Number four asked, “When the president vetoes a bill passed by congress, this is an example of ...” checks and balances, but the only two students circled this answer. Twelve of the students chose “the Bill of Rights,” which is a topic they have covered. Thus, it is concluded that the students do not know what checks and balances are. Also, number five was a question that many of the students answered inaccurately. Only 12% of the scholars matched the branch of the government to its correct power. In light of this, it is imperative that the lessons address which branch of government has which power. The results of the pre-assessment highlight what should be addressed in the lesson.

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Bibliography  

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Bower, B. (2016). Social Studies Alive!: America’s Past. Rancho Cordova, CA: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute.

Brown v. Board of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/ cases/brown_v_board_of_ education

History.com Editors. (2010). Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act

History.com Editors. (2010). Little Rock Nine. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration

M-Step (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/15_M-Step_SocStud_Gr8_Samples_final_485052_7.Pdf

Pinkney, A. (2010). Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down. New York, NY: Little, Brown Company.

Woolfolk, A. (2017). Educational Psychology (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (Calvin custom binding)