The Importance of Assessing Historical Thinking-Jessica Lindenmeir

"Some of the most effective assessments are not for credit...I believe strongly in the power of formative assessment."   

This quote really stands out for me because I will often be more interested in how students are doing during the building block pieces of a lesson/unit rather than where they are at the end.  I can still make adjustments and introduce supports for students while they are working on skills and content.  Once we have reached the summative point at the end there is often little or no time for adjustments.  

Jessica gives an excellent example of how hse does this with Thesis Statement Starters.  I know that I often find working in the counterargument to be an extremely difficult part of writing.  Jessica's method gets that out of the way right away sets students up for success.  This process also would help a teacher easily identify which students need help with particular pieces of the argument. I plan to use this format this year and see how I can leverage it to help students become better writers. 

Top Replies

  • Process > Product

    I'm a big believer that if we engage students with fidelity in a learning process that meets them where they are and then challenges them to grow, the product will take care of itself…

Parents
  • Process > Product

    I'm a big believer that if we engage students with fidelity in a learning process that meets them where they are and then challenges them to grow, the product will take care of itself. It's why I never let a student start a paper until we'd conferenced over their thesis statement. Jessica gave a great template for introducing students to the complexities of a thesis with a counterargument, which is usually a challenge! I've seen the XY/AB formula in a different format, and this one was new for me. I'm looking forward to compiling other thesis formulas that might help students hone their argumentative voices. 

Reply
  • Process > Product

    I'm a big believer that if we engage students with fidelity in a learning process that meets them where they are and then challenges them to grow, the product will take care of itself. It's why I never let a student start a paper until we'd conferenced over their thesis statement. Jessica gave a great template for introducing students to the complexities of a thesis with a counterargument, which is usually a challenge! I've seen the XY/AB formula in a different format, and this one was new for me. I'm looking forward to compiling other thesis formulas that might help students hone their argumentative voices. 

Children
No Data