In the Comprehension Model, students take traditional tests to show their comprehension of the textbook and vocabulary words.
In the Concept Model, students often cannot show their knowledge using a traditional test. With my class last year, I realized that many of the standards did not lend themselves to traditional tests because they required students to show an ability or a skill, not knowledge. Sometimes these skills involved prerequisite knowledge not directly related to the skill at hand. For this post, I will give you some examples of Grade 2 Next Generation Science Standards (my school uses the Massachusetts version for some reason) along with my interpretation of the skills needed and the way I assessed the standard with my class last year.
Standard: 2-LS2-3(MA) Develop and use models to compare how plants and animals depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in the places they live.
Prerequisite Knowledge: Needs of plants and animals, types of places living things live, ways to make models
Assessment: I gave my students a graphic organizer with an animal in a center rectangle. Around the rectangle were ovals with the words “food, water, shelter, air, heat” in them. Their assessment was to draw or write in each oval how the animal met each need in its environment.
Standard: 2-ESS2-2. Map the shapes and types of landforms and bodies of water in an area.
Prerequisite Knowledge: How to make a map, types of landforms, bodies of water
Assessment: I gave each student a checklist with different types of landforms and bodies of water listed on it. The checklist also had the parts of a map, such as symbols, a key, a compass rose, and a title. Students would use the checklist to create a map of an imaginary land. *This paired nicely with one of our Geography standards, which asked students to be able to read a map. After the maps were done, I gave each student a questionnaire to fill out by reading different maps around the room. Two assessments in one!
Standard: 2-LS4-1. Use texts, media, or local environments to observe and compare (a) different kinds of living things in an area, and (b) differences in the kinds of living things living in different types of areas.
Prerequisite Knowledge: How to use texts/media/environments to gain information, how to compare living things, the difference between different types of areas, the needs of animals and how they meet their needs in different areas
Assessment: At the end of a several-month unit on habitats, I had my students do a short report on an ocean animal. I provided books for them to find information, and I gave them example sentence stems such as “my animal is…” and “my animal eats…” and “my animal lives…” to help them get started with their writing.
The most important part of an assessment, other than its ability to assess students, is that it aligns with the standard. When the standard asks students to develop, map, or compare, it can be hard to show that students have mastered those skills on a traditional assessment.
A benefit of these alternative assessments is that they are more equitable for students who struggle with literacy. In the first example, students who cannot read or spell can look at the picture of the animal and draw pictures to answer the questions. In the second example, students don’t need literacy skills to be able to draw and label. The third example requires the most reading and writing, but it still enables students to work at their own level, reading books or writing sentences reflective of their literacy abilities.
I can’t say that I only did Concept Model assessments all year. Some of the standards lent themselves better to a more traditional assessment style, and I wanted my students to have some experience with traditional assessments before entering third grade. Still, I found that these alternative assessments provided valuable insight into what my students learned in each unit, and they showed that my students could reach the standard.
Have you tried any alternative assessments in your science class? Please go to the “Contact Us” page and send a message letting me know how it went!
This is the end of my posts about ways to teach science. Is there something else you wanted to know? Is there a way that I could improve what I have? Again, please go to the “Contact Us” page and let me know!
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