Assessment in SOMOS
Modified on Fri, 19 May, 2023 at 4:50 PM
Assessment in SOMOS* is intended to be easy for teachers and success building for students. We have so many resources about assessment with the curriculum! Here are our favorites:
VIDEOS
- Assessment Hacks and Hope, Martina Bex & Elicia Cárdenas
- Virtual Assessment in Language classes: What works, Martina Bex & Elicia Cárdenas
- Assessment for Acquisition ($) by Martina Bex
PERFORMANCE TARGETS
- What standards should I set for my language students? by Elicia Cárdenas (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Recommended performance targets by Elicia Cárdenas (The Comprehensible Classroom)
GRADING
Interpretive (Reading & Listening)
- How to grade reading comprehension by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Interpretive Rubric
- More assessment hacks: Reading and Listening by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Quick Quizzes by AnneMarie Chase (Señorachase.com) *only align with ACTFL Performance Descriptors if used for authentic texts
- Reading Activity or Reading Assessment by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- What ACTFL Level is this text? by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
Expressive (Writing and Speaking)
- Presentational rubrics (for multiple levels)
- Writing hacks for SOMOS by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- “I can” writing assessment: Choose your target proficiency level by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Speaking assessment cards & rubric by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Timed Freewrites by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Calibrate scores to grade with confidence by Elicia Cárdenas (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- What standards should I set for my language students? by Elicia Cárdenas (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Should we give Interpersonal assessments? by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- How to grade Participation by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Participation “Interpersonal” Rubrics, by Grant Boulanger
- Engagement Rubric, by Lance Piataggini (Magister P)
- The A Word: Accountability Part 1 and Part 2 by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Things to avoid: Grading for Engagement, Accuracy, and Participation by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- How to structure the grade book by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- What goes in the grade book? by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Single point rubric by Jennifer Gonzales (Cult of Pedagogy)
SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING MIDTERMS AND FINALS
- End of term assessments by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Developing assessments that support student success by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Easy Midterms and Finals for Language Class by Elicia Cárdenas (The Comprehensible Classroom)
PREMADE MIDTERMS AND FINALS
As written, the Somos Curriculum includes assessments within each unit, but it does not does not include traditional end-of-term assessments. The following pre-made assessments are available from The Comprehensible Classroom as add-on purchases:
- SOMOS Spanish 2 Final ($)
- SOMOS 1 Exam
- Spanish 2 Reading assessment ($)
- More assessments can be accessed by joining the SOMOS Collaboration group on Facebook.
ASSESMENT OPTIONS
- Universal Screener ($)
- Listening assessment idea by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- More ideas for assessment
- Performance Rubrics (with Daugherty’s Bicycles)
- Speaking assessment rubrics
- Dictation form with transcription and illustration
STANDARDS BASED GRADING
- Immediate Immersion Resources (recommended: Webversity Course and Proficiency-based Grading and Assessment)
- Standards based grading and how it works by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Why I love Standards Based Grading by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Teaching about proficiency by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Reading assessment or Reading activity? by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Formative assessment: Comprehension checks by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Performance Targets
VIRTUAL
- Virtual Assessment in Language classes: What works (video) by Martina Bex & Elicia Cárdenas
- Quick Quizzes using Google Forms by AnneMarie Chase (Señorachase.com)
- Using Flipgrid to “proctor” student screens for on-line assessments (video) by Bill Langley
- Who Said It listening or reading assessment
- Directions for Who Said It by Martina Bex (The Comprehensible Classroom)
- Example for distance learning by Elicia Cárdenas (Deskless Classroom)
- Dictatos Listening form and assessment: Adapt by having students just use blank paper and submitting a photo in your learning management system.
- Locking GoogleForms (video)
- Make any readings virtual screenshots, so it is harder to copy/paste.
FEEDBACK & PROJECTS
- There is a lot of discussion about using projects to assess and providing feedback to help students move to the next level of proficiency. However, it is worth remembering: students can not control the rate at which they acquire language, and giving them feedback in a traditional sense (e.g. correcting errors) has been shown to actually inhibit language acquisition.
- Consider reframing the idea of feedback and mastery and using these framing questions:
- "How can I get them to interact more with the input?"
- “How can I give them more input with my feedback?”
- "How can I show them what they *can* do to keep them motivated?"
- Regarding projects: read more about projects in SOMOS here.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Self reflection form for conferences
- Behavior reflection form for conferences
- Book: Fair Isn’t Always Equal, Rick Wormeli
- Book: A Repair Kit for Grading, Ken O’Connor
- Book: Grading Smarter, not Harder, Myron Dueck
- Book: Grading for Equity, Joe Feldman
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