ASSESSING COMPREHENSION OF A TEXT
Formative Assessment
This activity is inspired by ideas from Justin Slocum Bailey , who presented to a group of Michigan teachers a few years ago .
I use this with Latin IV students when we read longer texts such as Pliny or Cicero , but also with poetry , which can sometimes be confusing to students as they focus on the words and not the overall meaning of the poems . It can be adapted to review passages from beginning textbooks as well , perhaps to reinforce vocabulary as well as plot progression .
Tools Needed
Smartboard Shared Document
Large Whiteboard Markers
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Time
Each student creates a True or False question based on the text the class has read .
Students contribute this question to the shared list on the Smartboard or write it on the whiteboard . The goal is to create challenging questions that make the students think deeply about the text : " is this ENTIRELY true ?"... etc .
Once you have a list of the questions ( we write ours in English , but you could certainly have advanced students write them in Latin ), have the students answer them independently on paper .
Then go through the questions and answers one by one . Have a student volunteer to answer , and then the student who came up with the question will confirm the correct answer . You can ask questions like , “ what word in the line makes this question false ?” etc .
Depending on the size of your class and the amount of discussion you have , this can take around 30 minutes .
Submitted by Amy Barker