1. Sibyl Minighini<br />May 15, 2010<br />Formative Assessment for the Tech Unit “Independence!”<br />During the tech unit, students will have multiple opportunities to reflect back what they learn before summative assessment turns formative. Students have about two weeks at the beginning of the school year to think about what kind of question they want to research, and this step does not include beginning any research just yet. As mentioned in the teacher Powerpoint, students are encouraged to ask for help from the instructor or classmates if they need it. At this point, around one week into this step, the instructor will invite students to meet individually with her for a few minutes to check on progress and answer questions. The instructor will provide her email address to all students on the first day of school.<br />Also, students have another ten days to explore different websites they can use to answer their research question. Again, students are not required to have any research done by this point in time; the assignment is set up so that students can explore online media before using these resources to learn curriculum. Actual research does not begin until five or six days later, giving students ample time to find websites. At this time, I would have students look at websites in pairs, grouping students with similar research questions so that the exploration will be fruitful for both. For example, I might pair a student who wants to research weaponry with a student who wants to research Valley Forge. Together, students have the chance to act as peer assistants, helping each other with research.<br />Once the research is underway, the instructor will frequently repeat grading criteria (quality of the research question, quality of the research, and ultimately the answer to the question). The instructor will work closely with each student on the formulation of the research question, and will frequently go around the computer lab helping students to effectively use the web to research American history. Students are expected to have enough information by October 10th, and that will also be the day the initial presentation is due for teacher and peer revision before presenting the final product on the 15th.<br />