I gave my pre-VTS
assessment to both of my 6th grade classes. I use the Winslow Homer’s
painting The Fog Warning. I feel this was externally important first step, because
not only will it allow me to see if student’s writing and communication skills
improve but it also gave me an opportunity to see at what writing level each
student is currently at.
I was very surprised by the student’s lack of diverse adjective.
Even the students who had 50 or more word count continued to use the same
adjectives over and over. The adjective that was used by almost everyone was “big”.
There was also a lot of listing simple assertions. I was also surprised that I
would classify a few of my students at a stage 0 or early stage 1, just listing
things in the picture not even creating a narrative; for example “a big wave”, “big
fish”. I would guess (with my experience with these few students) they maybe
the ones who don’t want to talk when we start a VTS
discussion.
Oh I forgot to ask, Mary what do you mean by "conditional language" on the scoring rubric? I keep skipping that one because I wasn't sure.
ReplyDeleteAdair, you are so right, I was pleased to see "where" the students are with their writing skills. I think this will help me not only get a clearer view of what types of vocabulary to use during discussions and lectures, but also, what to look for in their Artist's Journal writings.
ReplyDeleteOkay, first things first. Conditional language consists of statements that begin with "could be, might be, its possible that, it seems like, I'm thinking maybe" . . . statements like that. They don't express certainty or strong conviction and indicate that the respondent is not completely convinced; he or she is indicating with a conditional statement that there could be other possibilities.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that even as 6th graders, they are at the very basic level. It's a sure indication that they have almost no "eyes on canvas" experience, which is telling about their previous art education. At this basic level, you should begin to see growth indicators pretty quickly; not a tabula rasa, but pretty close! Still, the poor writers could turnout to be your most talkative ones. I've seen that happen. Discussion gives them the voice (literally!) that writing does not! Keep us posted on that!!
I like Livvy's comment about pre-VTS writing samples as helping to inform expectations about other art room writing, like Artist's Journals. Great connection!