Creative Alternative Assessments for Literature (Michelle)

[Dr Loh, I am going to start with a little disclaimer. I was not ripping off Beatrice's ideas/assessment website from her earlier post when I wrote this entry. It just so happens that we both found the same website but she beat me to writing about it. However, she zoomed in on one particular method of assessment. So, I shall go broad, by talking about a few methods of assessment that I found interesting. I shall start my post proper now.]

I was looking through http://novelnovice.com when I found a post about one Young Adult Literature teacher's list of 25 alternative assessments (available for download here). Novel Novice has some pretty good resources too by the way. For example, book reviews of the latest YA books, classroom ideas, essays and project ideas. It is definitely more suited for an American curriculum, but some of the classroom and essay/project ideas can be adapted to any text you may be teaching.

The list of 25 alternative assessments was designed by a teacher named Adrien Alsobrook, who manages to make literature really fun for her students. I have grouped some of her more interesting ideas according to suitability for teaching of certain topics. 

Setting: 

These are assignments that are great for assessing students' understanding of setting and encouraging self-directed learning. 

4. Research - Research to learn more about the culture and historical background surrounding the time period of your selection.  How did they live?  How were they governed?  What was their religion?  What is considered appropriate behavior?  What is considered taboo?  What references to this information is included in the text of your selection?  How does the author relate that information to the reader? How is this information pertinent to your understanding of this selection?  Make an oral presentation of your findings.  Try to relate the information you learn to specific parts of the selection. 

11. Timeline Poster – Create a timeline poster (1/4 poster or larger) with the major events listed for the novel.  Include color and some graphics.  Submit a bulleted list explaining the significance of each event you include or of the events taken together in terms of the structure of the novel as a whole or the meaning of the novel as a whole.

25.  Travel Brochure – As the author of your book, write a travel brochure for a scenic tour of the setting of your selection.  Describe the sights the travelers would want to see and include photos or illustrations.

Plot:

2.  Create a Game - With a partner, create a game based on your selection.  It can be a computer game, board game, card game, or any other kind you’d like, but actual passages from the selection should play a part in the action of the game.  If you create a computer game, write a detailed description of how it will be played, with samples of the graphics.  For other kinds of games, create actual boards, cards, and other playing pieces.  Write out the rules to play the game.

(This sounds quite complicated and time-consuming but could potentially appeal to the boys. It may be useful for generating interest in the subject when students don't like to read.) 

5. Jackdaw – Collect artifacts that pertain to elements of the plot, setting, theme, or characters in the text.  Build a display for these artifacts, label them, and explain the significance of each artifact in terms of the meaning of a particular part of or the whole book.

6.  Story Quilt – Make a “quilt” relating to the book and include quotations on each quilt square with a graphic.

Character:

14.  Eulogy - An eulogy is a speech or written tribute praising a person or thing.      

Eulogies are usually about someone who has recently died and are often delivered at a funeral service.  Write a eulogy for one of the characters that dies, or who is already deceased, in your book.  Write this from the point of view of one of the other characters you read about.  The eulogy should include personal anecdotes and information to show how important the deceased character is to the person giving the eulogy.

(Not to be morbid, but I really love this idea. It can see it working quite well for Shakespearean plays and this format could really encourage students to think deeply about the role and impact of key characters in a text.) 

15.  Resume’ – Create a resume’ that highlights the skills of one of the main characters of

your selection.  Research on line resume’ formats and choose one the works for your character.  Be creative, but arrange the information clearly: name and address on top, job objective, work history, education and special skills and talents. 

20.  Gossip Columnist – Write a column for the newspaper or a tabloid publication concerning a scene from your book.  Research articles in People, The Enquirer, etc…

and write your own “tell all” article about a character in your selection.  Be sure to use headlines, tag lines, and pictures (where possible).

(I think students would have a blast with this assignment if we tasked them to set it in the context of Stomp, 8 Days, The New Paper etc.) 

Themes, Symbolism, Mood & Tone

7.  Song – Find a song that relates to the book.  Record it for presentation and type a handout of the lyrics and why they relate to your selection.

(One of my favourite assessment ideas as I am a musical person. This assignment allows students to find thematic and emotional links between the contemporary music that they listen to and the text. I think they would get excited about an assignment like this as it makes literature so much more personal and relatable for them. Furthermore, the experience of reading a text can be so much richer when we are listening to music that relates to the text. In fact, I would give students the option of extending this assignment further by creating a mini soundtrack or playlist of 3-4 songs. They would then have to present it to the class and explain how their song selections relate to the text.) 

 

8.  Book Jacket – Design a book jacket to reflect a warranted theme in your book, or the mood or tone.  Include the title and author’s name.  Prepare a one-page handout explaining how the book jacket reflects the theme or mood or tone of the selection.

13.  Symbol Project - A symbol is an object or person that stands for something else, such as an idea or a quality.  Make a directory of symbols in your selection and write an explanation of what ideas are represented by each symbol.   List the symbols alphabetically and include a description of the ideas each symbol represents.

Here are 5 reasons why I like her ideas:

1. They pique students' interest and make literature fun, relevant while encouraging creativity and critical thinking.

2. The diversity of activities/assignments will appeal to a wide spectrum of learners (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, high, middle & low ability learners).

3. Most of her assessment ideas are suitable for group work and collaborative learning. In literature, it is particularly valuable for students to be exposed to a myriad of perspectives and interpretations.

4. The assignments eliminate rote learning and very creatively help students to immerse themselves in the world of the text. This means that they will naturally end up with a much deeper understanding and appreciation for the text. Without having to 'study' too hard for summative assessments, they would also be armed with textual evidence through the preparation work for these assignments.   

5. For schools that only do lower secondary literature, these ideas are especially good for generating interest and appreciation for literature. These ideas also work well for project work or assessing students based on a portfolio of work.

Adrien Alsobrook's alternative assessments are generally more appropriate for formative assessment in the Singaporean school context. They can also be quite time-consuming, so the SoW has to be well planned out in order to integrate these assessments. I think some teachers may find Alsobrook's ideas gimmicky. But with literature on the decline in Singapore, I feel that if we started to integrate some creative alternate assessments into our school system, literature would seem less boring or 'dead' and archaic to students. Shifting away from the traditional cognitive assessments, and assessing students based on a portfolio of work may be worth considering, especially for lower secondary students.