Assessment Tools (Pre-, Post-, and Instructional)
-Unit Pre- and Post- Assessment Instrument-
To assess the kindergarten class at Polaris, the Poudre School District visual art rubric was used (attached at the end of the paragraph). The pre- and post- assessments are identical, as the students were evaluated both at the beginning and the end of the semester using the same rubric. Each of the sections of the scoring criteria align with one or more of the State Standards that teachers are required to reach. Creation and Exploration for example could align with Standard 3, Invent and Discover to Create. The Creations and Exploration section of the grading criteria could also align with State Standard 2, Observe and Learn to Comprehend. Standard 3 is reached when students are creating their art work while Standard 2 is being reached when students are exploring materials.
Above it was mentioned that each of the scoring criteria used in the PSD grading rubric aligns with the Colorado State Standards, the scoring criteria also align with the Grade Level Expectations. Below is an in depth alignment of the PSD rubric, the Colorado State Standards, and the Grade Level Expectations.
As demonstrated above, the PSD visual arts rubric meets all of the state standards and GLEs. The standards and GLEs for kindergarten are largely about storytelling, personal relevance, and use of materials, and the assessment also mentions personal relevance, use of materials, and accurately communicating expression. Thus, the PSD rubric we used to evaluate our students were very similar to the state standards and GLEs.
-Assessment Tools-
Each lesson had a rubric that related to the objectives of the lesson. The class also used a discovery board and that was used to discuss what students felt they learned that class. The students talked about how they could tell that person was moving based on the way the body was positioned. Videos of the students creating their art work was also a form of assessment used this semseter. There is a video in which students are demonstrating how their found object transportation sculptures move. That video was demonstrating how students met the objectives.
Below is an example of rubric used this semester.
Below is an example of rubric used this semester.
-Programmatic Assessment-
At the end of the semester to demonstrate all of what the students had learned there was an art show. This show included art from grades K-5 and all of the art work that students had done through the semester was on display as well as lesson plans and quotes and thoughts from each student. Below is a newsletter that was sent home to parents after the art show talking about what their students worked on this semester.