Example Technology Performance Assessment Task

Task #1	A Written Report with Graphics/Illustrations
Grade	5
Content Area(s)	History/Social Sciences
Unit Title/Theme	Our Town Now and Then
Task Developer/Author	Jill Corliss

1. Setting the Context

As a culminating project to a two month long unit on the Civil War, students will develop a written report highlighting various concepts about this period in U.S. History. In addition, the report will compare and contrast that era with life today. This will help students develop an understanding of past, present and future time. These written reports will be published in-house as a collection and placed in the classroom, the school library and at the town Historical Society.

2. Grade Expectations

Technology

IT1 - Basic Operations & Concepts

· 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).

IT2 - Social, Ethical & Human Issues

• Documenting sources of information obtained through electronic resources using acceptable formats.

IT3 - Productivity Tools

· Embedding an original piece of art, applying text wrap and resizing.

• Adding non-textual elements (e.g., arrows, lines, shapes, etc.).
• Manipulating styles and formats (e.g. header, footer, borders, page breaks, lists).
• Using spell check, and thesaurus.
• Modifying a digital image using flip; rotate, resize, crop

Content

H&SS5-6:4Conducting Research

Students conduct research by…

• Referring to and following a plan for an inquiry.
• Locating relevant materials such as print, electronic, and human resources.
• Applying criteria from the research plan to analyze the quality (e.g., credibility of a Web site) and quantity (e.g., minimum number of sources) of information gathered.
• Describing evidence and recording observations using notecards, videotape, tape recorders, journals, or databases. (e.g., recording relevant details of a historical or

geographical landmark).

• Citing sources.

H&SS5-6:11

• Locating the physical and political regions of the United States and the world (e.g., Plains, NE Coast, New England, South, West, etc.).

3. The Performance Task

Task Statement: As a culminating project to a two month long unit on the Civil War, students will develop a written report. The report will include a title page with students’ own artwork, a table of contents, a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting life during the Civil War and life in their town today, a summative report of what was it must have been like to be a child during the Civil War, a map of the United States showing the Union and the Confederacy and a map of the United States today, and finally a bibliography. These written reports will be published in-house as a collection and placed in the classroom, the school library and at the town Historical Society. The collection will be placed on display at the Historical Society for the Heritage Day celebration.

Goal(s): Students will show an understanding of past, present, and future time by producing a written document complete with graphics and illustrations.

Role: Authors, Community Historians

Audience: School Community, Visitors to the Historical Society and Attendees of Heritage Days

Situation: A member of the local Historical Society has contacted the school and asked our class to be a part of the Town’s upcoming Heritage Day celebration. In preparation for this day, students have been asked to prepare a written “Now and Then” report.

Product/Performance: A Written Report with Graphics/Illustrations

4. Activities

Ongoing Activities

1. Students will begin each session in the Computer Lab with a minimum of 10 minutes of a keyboarding program. The teacher will use the assessment built into the keyboarding software as well as a teacher generated checklist to assess posture, techniques and attitude.

Assessment Activity 1

• Students will use the teacher generated offline search strategy form (T-chart) to locate resources on the Civil War. The T-chart will contain a place for keywords on one side and a justification for the choice of those keywords on the other, thus analyzing the quality (e.g., credibility of a Web site) and quantity (e.g., minimum number of sources) of the information gathered.

Assessment Activity 2

Students will use a research organizer, such as a KWL (Know-What-Learn), to conduct their research. The questions will include:

· How does life during the Civil War period compare to life in our town today?

· Which states were Confederate States? Which states were Union States?

Assessment Activity 3

Students will conduct their research using the above KWL as a guide to help them locate relevant materials such as print, electronic, and human resources.

Assessment Activity 4

Students will copy a blank U.S. map from an internet resource and paste it into a drawing program. They will use the drawing program to color code the Confederate and Union States, create a key, and label significant historical and geographical landmarks (Gettysburg, Confederate capital city, etc.)

Assessment Activity 5

Students will create a title page, “Our Town Now and Then.” Using a digital camera and a scanner, they will create a collage of historic and current images of the town. Students will modify these digital images using flip, rotate, resize and crop.

Assessment Activity 6

Students will word process a report based on their research. They will write first and subsequent drafts of this piece. They will use proper keyboarding techniques. The report will include a bibliography citing sources. Additionally, they will edit using spellchecker, grammar checker and thesaurus. Document will be properly formatted. Students will import the map created in activity 4 and wrap text around it.

Assessment Activity 7

These written reports will be published in-house as a collection and placed in the classroom, the school library and at the town Historical Society.

5. Materials and Resources

1. Keyboarding software
2. Word Processing Software

3. Internet Connection

4. Digital Camera

5. Scanner

6. Printer

7. Teacher generated offline search form

8. Teacher generated checklist for effective keyboarding

9. Town History

6. Criteria/Rubric

Technology Rubric

IT1 - Basic Operations & Concepts

· 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).

IT2 - Social, Ethical & Human Issues

· Documenting sources of information obtained through electronic resources using acceptable formats.

IT3 - Productivity Tools

· Embedding an original piece of art, applying text wrap and resizing.

· Adding non-textual elements (e.g., arrows, lines, shapes, etc.).

· Manipulating styles and formats (e.g. header, footer, borders, page breaks, lists).

· Using spell check, and thesaurus.

· Modifying a digital image using flip; rotate, resize, crop

IT4 - Communication

Not assessed in this task

IT5 - Research, Problem Solving & Decision Making

Not assessed in this task

Content Rubric

	Below Standard	Meets Standard	Above Standard
Research Plan	Work reflects no correlation to research plan (KWL)	Work reflects some correlation to research plan (KWL)	Work reflects direct correlation to research plan (KWL)
Offline Search Strategy Form	No evidence of use.	Information gathered reflects some use of form.	Information gathered reflects extensive use of form.
Use of Bibliography	No evidence of sources cited.	1-2 sources cited.	Three or more sources cited.
Map	Inaccurate representation of physical and political landmarks; no key	Representation of physical and political landmarks with key	Extensive representation of physical and political landmarks complete with key