Example Technology Performance Assessment Task

Task #3	A Newsletter
Grade	4
Content Area(s)	Social Studies/Writing
Unit Title/Theme	Famous Vermonters
Task Developer/Author	Leslie Read

1. Setting the Context

This task takes place during a larger unit on Vermont History. The Vermont History unit takes place over 8 -9 weeks. This task is designed to assess a smaller component of the large Vermont History unit, which deals with famous Vermonters and the impact they had on Vermont. The Famous Vermonter portion of the unit takes 2 weeks to complete and this assessment task would be the culminating activity.

During the unit students are exposed to Vermonter’s independent spirit and they conduct small research inquiries into various Vermonters’ contributions to our state. Students become aware of Vermonter’s independent spirit through literature, writing activities, and research activities which provide practice for the final assessment task.

2. Grade Expectations/Standards

Technology

IT1 - Basic Operations & Concepts

· Using removable media (e.g., floppy disk, CD, DVD)

· Launching a program from the desktop using a shortcut or alias.

· Using effective keyboarding:

o posture (i.e., back straight, body leaning slightly forward, etc.

o techniques (e.g., eyes on monitor or copy-not the keyboard, etc)

o attitudes (e.g., willingness to change habits, persistence and diligence)

Using digital tools to capture images (e.g., scanner, digital camera)

IT2 - Social, Ethical & Human Issues

• Documenting sources of information obtained through electronic resources (e.g., identifying author and URL).

IT3 - Productivity Tools

• Combining text with pictures on a single page (e.g., inserting clipart).

IT4 – Communication

• Sending an email message to another local user.
• Sending an email message to a remote user (i.e., using address with @).

IT5 - Research, Problem Solving & Decision Making

· Accessing information from a workstation, LAN or Internet-based electronic encyclopedia.

· Preparing a search off-line using a teacher-prepared form/strategy.

· Using a search engine predetermined by the teacher, implementing the search strategy developed and locating pertinent information.

· Identifying decisions made, (e.g. representing data, formatting, criteria for search, visual organizer)

Example: What key words did you use in your internet search?

Content

H&SS3-4:8 Students connect the past with the present by:

*Examining how events, people, problems, and ideas have shaped the community

and Vermont.

H&SS3-4:4 Students conduct research by:

*referring to and following a plan for an inquiry

*locating relevant materials such as print, electronic, and human resources

*citing sources

H&SS3-4:5 Students develop reasonable explanations that support the research statement

by:

*organizing and displaying information in a manner appropriate to the research

statement through tables, graphs, maps, dioramas, charts, narratives, or posters

W4:16 In persuasive writing students present and coherently support judgments or

solutions.

3. The Performance Task

Students will demonstrate their understanding of how people and ideas have shaped Vermont through the creation of a newsletter and its presentation at the “Class Town Meeting”.

Goals: 1. To examine the impact people and their ideas have on Vermont

2. The students must also attempt to convince the rest of the class that their

famous Vermonter should be one of three famous Vermonters being inducted into

the “Hall of Fame”, because he or she had a great impact on Vermont.

Role: The student plays three roles. First the student is a researcher/journalist. Second the student must present his/her newsletter to the class at the town meeting. Finally the student plays the role of a town member when the students vote on the top three famous Vermonters who have had the greatest effect on Vermont.

Audience: The town meeting attendees (who will be their peers and instructor)

Situation: The state wants to select three famous Vermonters from any time period to become members of the “Hall of Fame”. The students are being called on to research famous Vermonters throughout time and create persuasive newsletters. Their mission is to convince everyone at the “Class Town Meeting” that their famous Vermonter had the greatest impact on Vermont and should become a member of the “Hall of Fame”.

Product/Performance: A newsletter that will be presented at our “Class Town Meeting”

4. Activities

Students are being asked to create a newsletter about a famous Vermonter of their choice. Their purpose is to convince the rest of the class that their Vermonter had the greatest impact on Vermont and should be inducted into the “Famous Vermonter Hall of Fame”. Once research and newsletters are completed we will hold a “Class Town Meeting”. During the meeting each student will present his/her newsletter and famous Vermonter to the meeting attendees. At the end of the meeting the group will select three Vermonters who they feel had the greatest effect on Vermont. These three Vermonters will be inducted into our fictional “Famous Vermonter Hall of Fame”. The students will culminate the activity by emailing the results to parents and other fourth graders.

1. After being introduced to the task above, each student will select one famous Vermonter to research. They may choose from the following Vermonters: Jerry Greenfield, Maria Von Trapp, John Deere, Ethan Allen, Chester A. Arthur, Ann Story, Wilson Bentley, Howard Dean, Norman Rockwell, Ira Allen, Calvin Coolidge, John LeClair, Katherine Paterson, Thomas Chittenden, Bernie Sanders, Kevin LePage, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Robert Frost, Ben Cohen, and Kelly Clark.

2. Using an offline search template created by the teacher, the students will plan their Internet search by listing keywords and synonyms. Students will also need to justify the validity of the keywords they selected in a mini-conference with the teacher before searching the Internet.

3. The students will use a predetermined search engine (Yahoo, Google, etc.) to identify pertinent sites.

4. Once the sites have been identified by the student, he or she will meet with the teacher and justify the sites to get them approved.

5. Using three stations within the classroom, students will research their famous Vermonter using a stations model. Students will rotate through the three stations over 3 to 4 class periods based on the amount of information the students collect. The three stations will include a station with books on famous Vermonters, a station with CD encyclopedias, and a station for Internet research.

6. Once the students have finished their research each child will create a newsletter, using a teacher-created template, about their famous Vermonter. Students are expected to use proper keyboarding techniques during the creation of the newsletter. Each student’s goal is to persuade the class to vote for their famous Vermonter by demonstrating how the famous Vermonter affected Vermont in their newsletter. We will have a “Class Town Meeting” at the end of the task, where each child will present their newsletter to the town meeting attendees (their peers).

The newsletter must include four elements. The elements are:

*a persuasive paragraph explaining why the Vermonter should be inducted into the Famous Vermonter Hall of Fame- The paragraph should include a main idea statement and evidence from the student’s research to support the main idea.

*a “Did You Know” section- In this section of the newsletter the student will provide interesting facts about the Vermonter that don’t belong in the persuasive paragraph ( for example: birthday, place of birth, schooling, etc..).

* at least one digital image, captured with a digital camera- The image must relate directly to the famous Vermonter (for example: a picture of the person, something the Vermonter invented, their family, etc.)

*a resources used section that cites all websites, books, and CDs used

7. Once all students have completed their newsletter we will hold our “Class Town Meeting”. Each child will present their newsletter to the class. After all of the presentations each child will vote for his/her top three Vermonters. They children should select the three Vermonters they feel had the greatest effect on Vermont.

8. Once we have selected three Vermonters to induct into the “Famous Vermonter Hall of Fame” each child will email the results to another fourth grade student or teacher and a remote user (their parent or relative with email access).

5. Materials and Resources

* publishing software

* digital camera

*printer

*email program

*Internet connection

*offline search template

*CD encyclopedias or online encyclopedia access

*list of famous Vermonters

*ballots for voting for the top three Vermonters

*parents and students to email- The results of the town meeting vote will be emailed to other fourth grade students and parents.

6. Criteria/Rubric

Technology Task Rubric

Grade Expectation	Introduced	With Assistance	Met the Standard
Basic Operations
Using removable media (e.g., floppy disk, CD, DVD)
Launching a program from the desktop using a shortcut or alias.
Using effective keyboarding: · posture (i.e., back straight, body leaning slightly forward, etc. · techniques (e.g., eyes on monitor or copy-not the keyboard, etc) · attitudes (e.g., willingness to change habits, persistence and diligence)
Using digital tools to capture images (e.g., scanner, digital camera)
Social, Ethical & Human Issues
Documenting sources of information obtained through electronic resources (e.g., identifying author and URL).
Productivity Tools
Combining text with pictures on a single page (e.g., inserting clipart).
Communication
Sending an email message to another local user.
Sending an email message to a remote user (i.e., using address with @).
Research, Problem Solving & Decision Making
Accessing information from a workstation, LAN or Internet-based electronic encyclopedia.
Preparing a search off-line using a teacher-prepared form/strategy.
Using a search engine predetermined by the teacher, implementing the search strategy developed and locating pertinent information.
Identifying decisions made, (e.g. representing data, formatting, criteria for search, visual organizer)

Content Rubric

Criteria	Beginning	Almost There	Meets the Standard	Exceeds the Standard
H&SS3-4:8	The newsletter provided 0 to 1 accurate way that the famous Vermonter influenced Vermont.	The newsletter provided 2 accurate ways that the famous Vermonter influenced Vermont.	The newsletter provided 3 to 4 accurate ways that the famous Vermonter influenced Vermont.	The newsletter provided 5 or more accurate ways that the famous Vermonter influenced Vermont.
H&SS3-4:4	The student did not cite sources or located irrelevant sources. The student did not create or follow a plan for inquiry.	The student successfully completed everything at the Meets the Standard level except he/she did not cite all sources or he/she did not follow the inquiry plan.	The student: *created and followed a plan for inquiry *located relevant materials such as print and electronic resources *cited all sources	The student met the standard, plus collected information from human resources as well.
H&SS3-4:5	The student did not organize the newsletter clearly. *One or more of the 4 elements was missing from the newsletter. *More than 6 spelling mistakes were made. *The digital image was missing or does not relate to the topic at all.	*The student organized their information clearly. *All 4 elements of the newsletter were present. *The newsletter had either a title or heading missing. *4 to 6 spelling mistakes were made. *he digital images relates to the topic.	*The student organized their information in an easy to use manner. *All 4 elements of the newsletter were included. *The newsletter has a title, headings, and 0-3 spelling mistakes. *The digital image supports the newsletter topic.
W4:16 Persuasive Writing	The persuasive paragraph is missing a focus statement and 3 or more examples do not support the focus.	The persuasive paragraph is missing a focus statement or there are 1 or 2 examples that do not support the focus.	The persuasive paragraph has a focus statement and provides 3 to 5 appropriate examples to support the focus.	The student met the standard, plus included 6 or more examples that support the focus.

7. Checklist

I would recommend making a checklist of the effective keyboarding elements listed under IT1. This would make the assessment of each keyboarding element more effective since the teacher can isolate all of the components of effective posture, techniques, and attitudes.