JUST FOR FUN

I FOUND THIS FUN ACTIVITY WHILE I WAS BROWSING IN VAIN TRYING TO LOOK FOR NEW ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY FOR THE RELIGIOUS GATHERING. THE WEBSITE IS http://www.puzzle-maker.com/WS/index.htm.

TRY IT. IT'S EASY. YOU WON'T REGRET IT. AT ALL. 
   R  E  J  P  E  L  Z  Z  U  P Y  V  A  E  T  R  N  W  O  S H  E  N  R  S  E  A  W  S  P I  N  N  S  E  U  C  H  E  E S  O  I  O  R  N  U  E  A  C T  I  V  N  E  I  S  N  R  I O  S  E  A  T  O  T  I  C  A R  A  R  L  N  N  O  G  H  L Y  C  S  I  I  T  M  A  E  N E  C  A  Z  H  S  I  M  L  A M  O  R  E  O  E  Z  I  P  M X  D  Y  D  T  H  E  I  R  E

anniversary	interest	reunion
can	more	search
customize	name	special
even	occasion	their
help	own	They
history	personalized	when
Imagine	puzzle

 

 

 

                                             

Extensive Reading Develops Vocabulary Acquisition by Ratna Nur'aini

 

        I do agree that extensive reading is considered to be a part of the way to increase the students’ vocabulary. After reading the text materials, the students are asked to make discussion. In this case, the students automatically increase their vocabulary to express their opinion to reply their friends’ ideas during the discussion.  Meaning that, the students will be challenged to read more sources to enhance their knowledge. Otherwise they will have limited information to get involve in discussion. As what Cahyono (1997) said that students limited vocabulary cause problems in expressing main idea and elaborating supporting ideas.When the students reading the text materials given several times, they will learn how grasp the meaning of the vocabularies from the context. It is expected that automatically the students build their vocabulary through a contact or context.

        Vocabulary has essential role in learning a language. Kresen and Terrel claim that learning vocabulary should be focused to be more comprehensible, thus there will be more acquisition.

        Based on these facts, I think that teachers may create class for vocabulary learning such as what I have ever done as follows:

One in two weeks I give the students in group of 4 a kind of assignment or homework about a reading text.

·      Asked the students at home or out of class to discuss the text material in group to find some unfamiliar words to be listed while understanding the content of the text.

·      Understanding the meaning and the usage of the words, the students are asked to create their own sentences

·      Change their work to another group to be corrected and give back to the group owner

·      Based on the correction they make some revising and editing

·      Present in front of class, accepting the comments from another groups and teacher

·      All students make some note

INCLUSION DOESN'T MEAN DISTURBANCE

Guide to Scoring Rubrics

  

 

What is a scoring rubric?

How do you know if your students have learned something you've taught in the classroom? Evaluating the learning process is no simple task. Since learning is a dynamic and complex process, teachers need a diverse set of tools for measuring the progress of his/her students. One of those tools is the scoring rubric.

A scoring rubric is a standard of performance for a defined population. It is a predetermined set of goals and objectives on which to base an evaluation. This article will explore in depth the different types of scoring rubrics, how to make one yourself, as well as an analysis into how scoring rubrics enhance learning.

Types of Scoring Rubrics

Despite the overwhelming number of scoring rubrics you can find on the Internet and in various textbooks and curriculum guides, most rubrics fall into one of two categories: Analytic or holistic scoring rubrics.

Analytic scoring rubrics

Analytic rubrics attempt to break down the final product or goal into measurable components and parts. In other words, your student has a project or assignment and you use an analytic scoring rubric to evaluate all the pieces of the project. Analytic rubrics typically use numbers to measure quality. Let’s take the example below.

Student Assignment: Write a one-page paper on your summer vacation.

The rubric might break down the evaluation process into three parts- content of the paper, grammar and mechanics, and organization of ideas. For each of these components, numbers would be assigned.

(1) Needs improvement, (2) Developing, (3) Goal, (4) Above average, (5) Excellent

The rubric also explains what exactly each of those numbers mean. So a student might have a score like this:

Content (3) – Ideas were developed and thought out. Examples were given.
Grammar (4) – The paper was free of all spelling and grammar errors. There were only a few awkward sentences.
Organization (2) – Each idea was not separated out into paragraphs. Author jumped around and confused the reader.

With an analytic scoring rubric, the student and teacher can see more clearly what areas need work and what areas are mastered. It is far more descriptive than a simple A, B, or C grade.

Holistic scoring rubrics

Whereas analytic rubrics break down the assignment into measurable pieces, a holistic scoring rubric evaluates the work as a whole. In the above example, a holistic rubric would look like this:

Student Assignment: Write a one-page paper on your summer vacation.

(1) Needs improvement: The story is not clearly organized, grammar errors make it difficult to understand, and content is lacking.

(2) Developing: The student has a grasp on the assignment but needs to spend more time organizing thoughts, adding details, and fixing errors.

(3) Goal: The student has completely the paper using good content, correct, grammar, and a logical organization of ideas.

(4) Above average: The story is full of great content, organized well, and free from spelling and grammar errors.

(5) Excellent: The student went above and beyond, adding rich detail to his/her story. The content is interesting and organized well. Thoughts are well described. Grammar and mechanics are flawless.

With this rubric, the piece is evaluated as a whole.

General or task-specific?

Rubrics can be either general or task-specific. General rubrics are used across multiple assignments. Once you have developed a general rubric, you can use it to measure different subjects and lessons. Task-specific rubrics are designed to evaluate one specific assignment. Using these guidelines, you can categorize your rubrics into one of the following categories:

• General holistic rubrics have advantages and disadvantages. If you spend the time to create a solid scoring rubric, you won’t have to do it again. Students will quickly grasp the “meaning” of each number- therefore understanding what needs improving from assignment to assignment. The value of each number is clear. The disadvantage to this type of rubric is that different subjects may need more specific scoring instructions. With the same rubric used over and over again, your or your students might get stuck in a rut – always using the same score.

• General analytic scoring rubrics are difficult to create. Since an analytic rubric is designed to break an assignment into pieces, the best bet is to create a general analytic rubric for a particular subject (like one for writing, one for math, one for reading, etc.). Each subject has similar “measurable” – something that would be difficult to create across different disciplines.

• Task-specific analytic scoring rubrics are the most comprehensive and detailed. While they provide a great source of feedback to the student and teacher, it does require more work upfront to create. Creating a task-specific analytic rubric for each assignment would be tremendously tedious. Save these types of rubrics for projects that are large and need to be broken down into parts and pieces for your students to manage and understand.

• Task-specific holistic rubrics are like the “balanced” middle of the road rubric. They are designed for a particular assignment, but evaluate it as a whole rather than in parts.

Creating a Scoring Rubric

Why is it important to create scoring rubrics for your students? Well for one, it helps to spell out clearly what you expect from them in terms of quality, content, and effort. It gives you an objective criterion on which to base a grade, eliminating a lot of the “It’s not fair!” mentality that can creep in when grades seem unfair. It allows your students the opportunity to understand more comprehensively your expectations of performance. A scoring rubric can also be used for peer-to-peer evaluation. This is another way to engage your students in the learning process.

1. Decide what kind of rubric you are going to make- general or task specific, and then analytic or holistic.
2. Use a Word processing software or Excel to make a chart.
3. If you are creating an analytic scoring rubric, divide the project or assignment up into parts (for example, a math project might have the categories – creativity, understanding of mathematical concepts, correct answers, presentation, effort, etc.).
4. Place these categories in one column down the left side of the table or chart.
5. Create a scoring method. You can use numbers (i.e. 1-5) and attach words to each number (like 1 is poor, 2 is below average, 3 is average, 4 is above average, and 5 is excellent). If it is a task-specific analytic rubric, you can be even more descriptive.
6. Put these scores along the top of the chart in one row. Each score should represent a column.
7. Now you have to write up a short blurb for each category and score. Here is an example of a task-specific analytic scoring rubric for a language project.

The student should be given the scoring rubric before the project begins. This way, he/she understands exactly what you are grading on and how you will assess performance. Once you’ve graded the presentation with the rubric, you can add up the scores and take the average. When using a 1-5 model, it’s easy to assign 1=D, 2=C, 3=B, 4=A.

You can also leave an extra column to write in comments about each category. Whenever possible, write criterion that are measurable. Use specifics. For general rubrics, this is a bit more challenging, but you can get some idea by perusing online rubrics to see what kind of language other educators use.

Using Descriptive Gradations

The example above gives you some generic terms to use (like poor, average, etc.), but depending on the task, other words might work better to describe your expectations and criteria. Here are some options to try:

1. Beginning, developing, accomplished, exemplary
2. No, maybe, yes
3. Missing, unclear, clear, thorough
4. Below expectations, basic, proficient, outstanding
5. Never, rarely, sometimes, often, always
6. Novice, apprentice, proficient, master
7. Lead, bronze, silver, gold
8. Byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte
9. Adagio, andante, moderato, allegro

Using Your Students To Create Rubrics

It is crucial that you use language your students can understand. For younger children, you might even use images (of a smiley to sad face for example) to help them understand the expectations. When creating a task-specific analytic rubric, start by drawing the rubric on a whiteboard or poster and have them come up with the language to express what is required.

This writing rubric below is a simplified example that a teacher might use for an elementary assignment.

Weighted Rubrics

Sometimes you want one part of the rubric to count more than others. A simple way to do this is to assign percentages to each category. In the example below (the math scoring rubric), the understanding of concepts and the correct answers categories are going to weigh more heavily. For purposes of our example, let’s assign criterion two and three 40% of the project.

So in this case, the student got a 2 in criteria 1, a 4 in criteria 2, a 3 in criteria 3, and a 2 in criteria 4. If you did not weight the grade, the average score would equal 2.2 or a D. However with a weighted rubric, the most important parts of the grade should account for more. Out of a possible 100%, each number should be counted according to the percentage given. Your formula would look like this:

2 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 32 \ 10 = 3.2 or a C.

(Criterion 2 and 3 are each counted four times, and 1 and 4 are counted once – equally ten points or 1.0)

Looking at this rubric, it would seem that a C is a better (or more accurate) grade for this student. They completed the problems and understood the concepts, but didn’t spend a lot of time and energy in the presentation part of it.

Sites For Scoring Rubric Resources

If you are short on time or simply need a little help getting started, the following list will help you find excellent already-made scoring rubrics. There are also sites that can help you create them as well!

Rubric generators

1. iRubric – Free rubric building tools plus options for analyzing data and sharing rubrics with other teachers around the world.
2. Teach-nology – A comprehensive list of rubric building tools arranged by subject.
3. Digi-tales – Create a scoring rubric for evaluating media projects.
4. The Canadian Teacher– A rubric builder that allows you to build weighted rubrics, checklists, and rating scales.
5. Rubistar - Register for an account and have access to a variety of rubric tools, plus the ability to edit, save, and access online.
6. Scholastic – A simple and fast rubric tool. Fill in the fields and it will arrange it in a matrix for you.

Pre-made scoring rubrics

1. Exemplars – Standard rubrics for math, science, reading, and writing. They offer some student evaluation rubrics as well.
2. Teacher Rubrics for Secondary and College – This website is a list of rubrics that one faculty member has made available for other teachers.
3. University of Wisconsin– Rubrics for wikis, web projects, PowerPoint, oral presentations, as well as general subject areas like math and writing.
4. Teacher Planet – Rubrics are organized by subject and level. They also offer a rubric generator too.
5. Kathy Schrock – One of the largest lists of common core rubrics.

Subscription scoring rubric websites

1. Rubrix – Designed for school systems and HR professionals. Full set of tools, mobile functions, and more.
2. rGrade – Comprehensive assessment management system.

How Do Scoring Rubrics Enhance Learning?

First and foremost, a scoring rubric makes it easy for your students to understand your expectations as the teacher. When an assignment is given without a rubric, there are a lot of assumptions that can be made about the quality, quantity, and project outcome that can result in rabbit trails and a poor grade. Rubrics spell everything out in an easy digestible format.

1. Rubrics help educators’ grade projects fairly.
2. Rubrics speed up the grading process with clearly outlined goals.
3. Rubrics allow the student to use the scoring sheet to grade someone else's work.
4. Rubrics are an easy way for parents to understand the final grade on the assignment.
5. Rubrics help to define the goal and reason for the assignment or project.
6. Rubrics keep students on track during the course of the assignment.
7. Rubrics give more specific feedback so that the student can see where his/her strengths and weaknesses lie.
8. Rubrics are a tool to help the student dig deeper into an assignment.
9. Rubrics are easy to understand and can help give instructions about the project.
10. Rubrics outline various skill sets that students should be aware of during the assignment.
11. Rubrics allow students to check their work throughout the project for instant monitoring and feedback.
12. Rubrics give teachers data for future planning and curriculum design.
13. Rubrics ensure that different teachers will all grade a project using the same criterion and goals.

So Are There Any Disadvantages To Scoring Rubrics?

Even though rubrics are a great classroom tool, there are a few pitfalls to avoid. For one, scoring rubrics can take a long time to create – especially if they are task-specific and you spend time thinking through each criterion carefully. A teacher’s work needs to be balanced between instruction, mentor-ship, and feedback. Try not to get caught up in creating a custom rubric for every single assignment. Don’t be afraid to use rubrics that are already made up for you.

1. Watch out for rubrics that are poorly designed. If the criteria are not thought out well, then your students will be heading in the wrong direction.
2. Too many rubrics can cause creativity to dwindle. If your students are always performing to the written standard, they may be less likely to think outside the box.
3. Rubrics may cause your most intelligent students to under-perform. Once in a while, let their imaginations determine how high or far they can go in an assignment. It may be further than you dreamed.
4. Poor descriptions will render a scoring rubric useless. Make your assessments as specific as possible.
5. Rubrics can overwhelm students if the criterion is lengthy. Maybe breaking the project into parts with “mini” rubrics would be more helpful.
6. Some educators say that turning rubric scores into grades is unhelpful. Scoring rubrics should be the extent of the evaluation, not trying to turn it into an A, B, or C.

Ultimately, balance is key. Scoring rubrics are a great asset to both teachers and students, as long as the classroom isn't wholly designed to simply meet a goal. We all know that learning is far more dynamic and creativity than what can fit inside a little box. Good Luck!

OPEN UP AND LOVE WILL COME TO YOU

CHINESE PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT IF YOU EASE SOMEONE ELSE'S PAIN, YOUR PAIN WILL BE EASED IN RETURN. They prefer to let go of things in many ways. This is highly affected by their religion, Buddhism, which has the largest disciples in China, more than 185 million people, besides Taoists. Buddhism teaches its disciples to be good in any way so that they will get good deed return to them through people around them.

          IT IS IMPORTANT that in order to expect someone to respond the way we expect them to, we'd better give examples for them to study. So, if we expect our students to act, perform, or complete the test the way we expect them to, we should be open in stating the objectives of the lesson; so that the students are able to catch up easily. In order to achieve that condition, we should get the students understand the objectives of a lesson by taking a journey through the objectives together, opening up our lesson plan, showing the students the steps we are going to do for them, and finally asking them to follow the steps provided. Those activities are important to customize the raw, semi-finished, and finished material to the students and to make them understand the soul of teaching.

          I BELIEVE THAT IF SOMEONE IS TRUSTED ENOUGH, HE WILL GET A FEELING THAT HE IS ACCEPTED; IF HE FEELS ACCEPTED, HE WILL ALSO OPEN HIMSELF TO OTHERS. 

BASED ON THAT THOUGHT, I PROPOSE THAT WE, TEACHERS SHOULD GIVE A CHANCE TO OUR STUDENTS IN TAKING PARTS TO COMPOSE THEIR RUBRIC. What I have proudly done has been marvelous. I can't say contrary to the characteristics needed to make a good rubric by  http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/rubrics/characteristics.cfm.

Criteria
An effective rubric must possess a specific list of criteria, so students know exactly what the teacher is expecting.

Gradations
There should be gradations of quality based on the degree to which a standard has been met (basically a scale). The gradations should include specific descriptions of what constitutes "excellent", "good", "fair", and "needs improvement". Each gradation should provide descriptors for the performance level. Typically there are 4-6 gradation levels on a rubric.

Descriptions
Effective rubrics offer a lot of descriptive language. The rubric describes exactly what makes an assignment quality. By specificity, the descriptors enable student performers to verify and comprehend their scores.

Continuity
The difference in quality from a score point of 5 to 4 should be the same difference in quality from a score point of 3 to 2. All descriptors should model and reflect the consistent levels of continuity.

Reliability
A "good" rubric should be able to be used by various teachers and have them all arrive at similar scores (for a given assignment). Reliability also can refer to time (for example, if you are scoring your 100th essay - the rubric allows you to judge the 100th essay with the same criteria that you judged the 1st essay).

Validity
A rubric possessing validity, scores what is central to the performance and assignment, not what is easy for the eye to see and simple for the teacher to grade.

Models
Don't forget to model exemplars of products at various achievement levels (be sure to keep the models anonymous).

ABOVE ALL THAT, REMEMBER THIS:

STUDENTS WILL BE STUDENTS AND THEY NEED OUR GUIDANCE. WE MAY NOT CUT THEM LOSE AND LET THEM LOST IN TRANSLATION, BUT WE HAVE TO BE WITH THEM IN EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. JUST LIKE WHEN WE ARE PLAYING KITES. IN ORDER TO FLY IT HIGH WE HAVE TO LET LOOSE A LITTLE AND PULL IT BACK A LITTLE, TOO. THE KEY IS PATIENCE AND KNOWING HOW TO DANCE IN THE STORM.

GOOD LUCK, TEACHERS!

Advantages and Disadvantages of Student Generated Assessment Rubrics

Dear readers,

As we know that learning of any subjects needs to be measured. Therefore, we need a learning assessment. To assess a particular aspect, we need a scoring rubric. It can help the assessor to have a guide, so he/she will have the standard score. And now, what about if the makers of the rubric are the students themselves? I think it will be more interesting, won't it? Secondly, by creating the rubric, the students will know exactly what points they should master. Therefore, they will be motivated to reach the standard needed. Thirdly, it is such an innovation, isn't it? (As far as I know that the rubric is usually generated by teachers). It is very necessary to apply the 2013 Curriculum that there is a scoring aspect in the end of the semester which is called "Self Assessment" and included on the semester report.

By the way, the assessment rubric generated by students also has some disadvantages. Firstly, it needs much time to do that while there is only limited time to finish all the materials. Based on 2013 Curriculum, there are only 2 x 45 minutes (1 meeting) per week while on KTSP (2006 Curriculum) there were still 5 x 45 minutes (2 or 3 meetings) per week. What about making it as homework? Yeah, let's try it and most of the students will not do it because the recent students have so many activities outside school time. They generally join some extra-curriculars, have other public or private courses, etc. They will not have enough time to finish their homework given by all of their teachers. That's why I seldom give homework to my students :). Secondly, by generating the rubric, students will find difficulties to make the correct and logic indicators as it needs deep thoughts badly unless we give the example or make it as a group work.

Overall, I agree with any new things as long as they have benefits for our education improvements. Cheers :)

February

 

Dear teachers,

Welcome to February 2014. This is a new beginning in the year of Horse in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Are you familiar with assessment rubrics? Here are two examples of the rubrics:

Essay Rubric

 

Single Paragraph Rubric



This month we are going to look at involving students in creating rubrics. Please visit the link: http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/rubrics/involving-students.cfm.

What would you say to the idea of involving students in creating rubrics? Please discuss both advantages and disadvantages of student generated assessment rubrics.

Please remember that another book will be drawn in the end of this month. Be ready for the prize!

 

References:

(a) http://readingready.wikispaces.com/file/view/rubric.jpg/238252383/800x600/rubric.jpg and

(b) http://static.squarespace.com/static/51a6abbee4b07edcf513ca91/t/51b2607fe4b022160b50cfb7/1370644608262/SingleParagraphRubric.jpg