Query: Meaningful (and, of course, FUN!) assessments
I hate the Forum Monuments project I've used the past three years. It basically involves assigning each kid the name of a monument, sending them to the library (not without a detailed instruction sheet, grading rubric, and list of useful web sites to consult, mind you), and turning them loose to research the monument and create a poster (and optional model if they're overachievers), then later to present said poster to the class. They just don't know enough background yet to gain much from this. I've decided it will be more effective if I put together a slideshow (see previous entry), give them straight-out all the information I was fishing for them to find for themselves (insert template for high-schoolers-have-no-research-skills-anymore rant here!), show some of my myriad pictures of the sites I've visited, tell them the fun stories associated with each building, pass around the "Rome Then and Now" books with their cool overlays showing how the ruins must once have looked, and let them just take notes and ask questions.
But I don't want to end all that with merely some quiz or other on the monuments. This is still a good topic for projects, and their projects can't turn out any worse for getting more direct lecture from me at the beginning, can they? The problem is, I'm not sure what kind of project to request as a summary to this. The old poster-on-one-monument deal seems redundant since they would have got from my slideshow all the information the poster was supposed to have. I'm wondering if it would be best to have a list of options and let students choose the project that suits their talents best. So I've started a list of ideas:
- Good quality map of the whole forum
- model of one building
- drawing or floor plan of one building
- short story taking place in one or more buildings of the forum
- essay on the uses of one building
- advertisement offering a monument up for sale :-D (For Sale: One Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest. Former inhabitant relocated to Olympus. Gently used; lingering scent of burnt sacrifices.)
Another idea I once got from the Latinteach mailing list was to clear a space in the classroom and position kids in the relative locations of each building: a living map. This wouldn't be an individual student project, but it's something I might do along with my slideshow.
Anyway, right now I'm just brainstorming for ideas of projects students can do that would (a) give them a chance to delve more deeply into individual monuments OR construct a sounder view of the totality of the forum layout (did that make any sense? I mean, in the case of the map of the whole forum, it's to help them get an idea of where ALL the buildings are in relation to the whole area); (b) assess what they learn from the slideshow (though there will also be a quiz, as far as just checking that they wrote down the right names and dates and things...); (c) be fun and engaging and worthwhile. So, dear readers, what sort of projects would YOU find fun and engaging and worthwhile?
But I don't want to end all that with merely some quiz or other on the monuments. This is still a good topic for projects, and their projects can't turn out any worse for getting more direct lecture from me at the beginning, can they? The problem is, I'm not sure what kind of project to request as a summary to this. The old poster-on-one-monument deal seems redundant since they would have got from my slideshow all the information the poster was supposed to have. I'm wondering if it would be best to have a list of options and let students choose the project that suits their talents best. So I've started a list of ideas:
- Good quality map of the whole forum
- model of one building
- drawing or floor plan of one building
- short story taking place in one or more buildings of the forum
- essay on the uses of one building
- advertisement offering a monument up for sale :-D (For Sale: One Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest. Former inhabitant relocated to Olympus. Gently used; lingering scent of burnt sacrifices.)
Another idea I once got from the Latinteach mailing list was to clear a space in the classroom and position kids in the relative locations of each building: a living map. This wouldn't be an individual student project, but it's something I might do along with my slideshow.
Anyway, right now I'm just brainstorming for ideas of projects students can do that would (a) give them a chance to delve more deeply into individual monuments OR construct a sounder view of the totality of the forum layout (did that make any sense? I mean, in the case of the map of the whole forum, it's to help them get an idea of where ALL the buildings are in relation to the whole area); (b) assess what they learn from the slideshow (though there will also be a quiz, as far as just checking that they wrote down the right names and dates and things...); (c) be fun and engaging and worthwhile. So, dear readers, what sort of projects would YOU find fun and engaging and worthwhile?