ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Stage 1 Desired Results

Established Goals:
Students will explore the different elements of a magazine and determine its value not only on our society and
culture but also on our personal values and beliefs.
Examine to what extend persuasive writing influences non-fiction works and affect how we read magazines.
Apply the writing process to various contexts.
Understandings:
Students will understand that

Different elements of a magazine serve

different purposes and roles and have different
impacts.
Writing must be purposeful and suited to the
role, audience and format and topic.

Essential Questions:

How do various advertisements influence our values

and beliefs?
Why is it important to have knowledge and
application of different writing techniques?
How can we use different writing styles in our
everyday lives?

Students will know

Students will be able to do
Identify different parts of a magazine.
Create their own magazine.
Recognize writing techniques such as persuasive
Apply knowledge of the writing process to their magazine
writing, point of view and inferencing.
assignments.
Describe the impact of advertising our values and
Analyze magazine advertisements
beliefs.
Create a comic strip that combines persuasive writing and
How to use appropriate computer research and typing
images.
skills.
Apply suggestions from teachers and classmates during
editing and revision and make valid suggestions to
others.
EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Stage 2 Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks, Projects
Completed Magazine
Quizzes, Tests, Assignments:
Found Poem
Media Text Assignment (Create an Advertisement)
Written AssignmentEditorial
Written Assignment3 Letters to the Editor
Written AssignmentFeature article and Interview
Media Text AssignmentComic Strip
Media Text AssignmentMagazine Cover
Other Evidence (observations, work samples,
dialogues):
--introduction interest inventory
--class discussions
--formative sample of student writing
--observations and anecdotal notes of student
progress
Learning
Outcomes

Student self-assessment:
Checklists for students to assess their writing and
progress throughout the writing process (for each
written assignment)
Reflective journals (every Thursday)
Exit Slips
Assessments

Title

Reflect
ive
Journal

Fou
nd
Poe
m

Type

(Formative/Sum
mative)

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

Rubrics,
Checklists
and
Observati
ons
F

Advertisem
ent

Editor
ial

Letters
to the
Editor

Feature
Article
and
Interview

Comic
Strip

Magazi
ne
Cover

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage
Weightin
g

General Outcome #1:

Students will listen,
speak, read, write, view
and represent to explore
thoughts, ideas, feelings
and experiences.
General Outcome #2:
Students will listen,
speak, read, write, view
and represent to
comprehend and respond
personally and critically
to oral, print and other
media texts.
General Outcome #3:
Students will listen,
speak, read, write view
and represent to manage
ideas and information.
General Outcome #4:
Students will listen,
speak, read, write, view
and represent to enhance
the clarity and artistry of
communication.
General Outcome #5:
Students will listen,
speak, read, write, view
and represent to respect,
support and collaborate
with others.

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

1.1

1.2

2.1

2.2

2.3

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

10%

20%

15%

30%

10%

15%

X
X

2.4

3.1
3.2

3.3
3.4

X
X

4.1

4.2

4.3

5.1

5.2

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Knowledge/Comprehension
Taxonomic Levels

Application/Analysis/Synthesis/Evaluation
All Levels (Creating)

Assessment Tool Overview

Assessment
Tool Title

Brief Description

The reflective journal is a formative assessment which

requires students to reflect upon the week's lessons and
activities and/or topics and themes in a written response.
Every Thursday, students will be given a prompt at the end
of class that encourages them to think about their learning
over the course of the week and reflect. After each entry, I
will read the journals and provide formative feedback and
Reflective
Journal and Free- comments to help students to improve their reflections
and/or promote further thinking and reflection.
Writes
Students will:
answer the prompt and reflect upon their learning.
turn in their completed journal at the end of every
week
apply feedback to improve their clarity and
comprehension of ideas.
Rubrics,
Rubics, checklist and observations combine all types of
Checklists and assessment. Rubrics and checklists are provided at the
Observations
beginning of each assignment and provide a foundation for
assessment for and as learning. Student and teacher
EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

Assessment FOR
Learning

Assessment AS
Learning

Assessment OF
Learning

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Found Poem

Advertisement

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

checklists provide an opportunity for teacher observation as

well as student self-assessment throughout the learning
process.
Students will:
Use rubrics and checklists to guide learning and
creation
Apply knowledge of rubrics and checklists to their own
learning
The found poem assignment requires students to utilize
their exploration of magazines to create a text, using
materials found in magazines. This assignment will be
assessed using a checklist.
Students will:
explore various magazines, selecting texts that can be
combined by a particular theme or topic.
Combine various magazine texts by either cutting
specific words from a magazines, or circle words in a
magazine article to create their own poem.
The advertisement assignment requires students to apply
their knowledge of inferencing and persuasive media to
create their own advertisement that compliments the theme
of their magazine. Students will be assessed on both their
choice of images and text for their ad. This assignment will
we assessed using a rubric.
Students will:
Choose a type of ad. they would like to create
Apply persuasive techniques through both image and
text.

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Editorial

Letters to the
Editor

Feature Article
and Interview

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Students will continue to expand their knowledge of

persuasive writing in an editorial. Students will write an
opinion-based article that helps to define their magazine's
perspective on a particular issue. Students will self and peer
edit their works using checklists. The final draft will be
assessed using a rubric.
Students will:
Identify their opinion on a designated topic
Construct an argument based on their opinion.
Apply knowledge of persuasive writing to enhance
their argument.
The letters to the editor assignment requires students to
write opinion-based articles from various points of view.
Students will be provided with a checklist at the beginning
of the assignment and will be summatively assessed on
their ability to consistently maintain a point of view
throughout a piece of writing using a rubric.
Students will:
Choose three different characters in which to
represent.
Identify each characters' point of view on a
designated topic.
Write letters from each perspective.
This is the largest assignment of the unit and consists of two
parts: an interview and a feature article. This assignment is
a research-based writing assignment. Students research an
issue and a famous person related to their magazine topic.
Then, they will create a mock interview based on their
research, followed by a feature article that summarizes and
focuses the interview. Individual checklists will be provided

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

for each part of the assignment. However, the final project

will be assessed with one rubric.
Students will:
Research an issue related to their magazine
Record their findings on a worksheet
Create an interview and feature article based on their
research
This comic strip assignment requires students to apply
inferencing and writing skills for a particular purpose such
as comedy or politics. Students will choose from a list of
comic types, but will choose their own topic. Checklists and
rubrics will be provided for students to self-assess.
Students will:
Comic Strip
apply knowledge of images and inferencing.
Use a storyboard to create an outline of a particular
type of comic.
Use electronic or hand-drawn artwork and text to
create a published comic strip.
Magazine Cover The magazine cover provides a summary of each student's
magazine, while providing evidence of inferencing,
persuasive writing and perspective writing knowledge that
will help to 'sell' their magazine. Students will write a short
reflection in their journals describing their magazine cover
and why they chose to include each element. Students will
be assessed using a rubric. However, they will be given a
rubric and a checklist to assess their learning throughout
the process.
Students will:
Choose an image that suits the theme of their
magazine issue, and their magazine as a whole.
EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Apply inferencing techniques when choosing and

manipulating images and text.
Use persuasive writing to 'sell' their magazine to the
class.

UAP Rubric (Total 5 marks):

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

15% Weighting

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan
Abbey Parsonage

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

Level

Insuf
cient

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Criteria
Explicitly identifies outcomes (GLO, SLO) from the Program of Studies
Established goals, understandings, and essential questions are explicitly connected to the identified outcomes from the
program of studies
Incorporates multiple types of formative and summative assessment tools that assesses each outcome on more than one
assessment tool
Descriptive overview of each indicated assessment tool is explicit and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of each
tools use with respect to assessment for, as, and of learning
Ready to be used in the classroom with minor revisions
Identifies outcomes (GLO, SLO) from the Program of Studies
Established goals, understandings, and essential questions are connected to the identified outcomes from the program of
studies
Incorporates multiple types of formative and summative assessment tools that assesses each outcome
Descriptive overview of each indicated assessment tool is explicit and demonstrates a significant understanding of each
tools use with respect to assessment for, as, and of learning
Ready to be used in the classroom with several revisions
References outcomes (GLO, SLO) from the Program of Studies
The connections of established goals, understandings, and essential questions to referenced outcomes from the program
of studies can be inferred
Incorporates both formative and summative assessment tools that assesses each outcome
Descriptive overview of each indicated assessment tool is evident with a weak connection to assessment for, as and of
learning
Useable in the classroom with significant revisions
Outcomes (GLO, SLO) from the Program of Studies are able to be inferred
The connections of established goals, understandings, and essential questions to referenced outcomes from the program
of studies are unclear or irrelevant
Incorporates formative and/or summative assessment tools that assesses each outcome
Descriptive overview of each indicated assessment tool is evident but the connection to assessment for, as and of learning
is inconsistent
Major revisions needed before able to be used in the classroom
No score is awarded because there is insufficient evidence of student performance based on the requirements of the
assessment task.

EDUC 3604 Unit Assessment Plan Template

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-Fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Unit Assessment Plan Defense

Paper
Introduction
My Unit Assessment Plan (UAP) represents a balanced, fair and valid
representation of student learning. Validity is important to ensure that I am
accurately assessing student knowledge. Reliability is also important because it
produces consistency. These two factors are the pillars of good assessment; they
are essential to my UAP. To ensure that reliability and validity remained central to
my UAP, I followed Anne Davies' theory of Triangulation. Davies explains this
theory as the ability to collect three general sources of assessment evidence . . .
observations of learning, products students create and conversations with students
about learning (Davies 2011). I really liked using this theory because it helped to
ensure that I was using a range of techniques to gather evidence of student
learning over the course of my unit. It also helped me to plan how I would include
both formative and summative assessment evidence. Formative assessment is
essential to direct learning and demonstrate what students know during the
learning. This ongoing assessment can take the form of descriptive feedback from
the teacher (assessment for learning), or student reflections on their learning,
assessing their thinking and learning (assessment as learning). Summative
assessment tasks are important to include because they demonstrate what
students know at a particular moment (assessment of learning).
After I had established the theoretical framework for my UAP, I went directly
to the English Language Arts Program of Study. It is important to ensure that all
assessments relate back to the student learning outcomes to ensure proper
alignment between the assessment tools and the curriculum. I created my Unit
Assessment Plan by choosing both knowledge and skills outcomes and creating
goals that align with these outcomes. I recorded these in Section 1 of my UAP.
These goals formed the framework for my various assessment tools and provided a
foundation for my essential questions, which connect the outcomes to real life.
Essential questions focus the unit and make it meaningful for students, while
encouraging them to make connections that provoke deep thought, sustained
inquiry and new understandings.
Performance Assessment
Thus unit focuses on non-fiction writing, particularly writing a magazine.
Students are required to complete one assignment per week; each assignment
focuses on a different element of a magazine. The majority of the assignments
have an strong emphasis on writing. Each completed assignment will be placed in
a writing portfolio until students have completed all assignments. Then, students
will combine their assignments to create their own magazine. Each assignment is
assessed individually and the completed magazine will only be assessed with a
checklist to ensure that all components of the magazine are included. I chose to

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-Fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

avoid assigning a summative grade to the completed magazine because I will have
already evaluated each component based individual rubrics created for each
assignment. I think that breaking down the performance task week by week makes
the project much more manageable, as well as more reliable and valid.
Journal Response Assignment
A journal is an excellent assessment tool that can be used in so many ways
to assess many different areas. The unit focuses very heavily on the writing
process. Therefore, students will complete an initial journal entry which will
function as a pre-assessment to evaluate their writing level as well as their
strengths and weaknesses. This will help me to better understand my expectations
for the students, while allowing me to plan time to focus on areas for improvement.
The journal will continue throughout the unit as a formative assessment tool. It will
function as an assessment as learning tool because students will be required to
reflect upon their learning and engage in metacognition at the end of each week.
However, it will also be used as an assessment for learning tool because I will
provide continual, descriptive feedback that will help students to improve the
clarity of their ideas and their writing. This assignment focuses on general outcome
1 (metacognition) and 4 (writing) of the English Language Arts Program of Study
and is designed to address all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Initially, students will
answer lower level questions that require them to remember or demonstrate
understanding of a particular topic. The journal prompts will progress to higher
levels will that require students to make personal connections and/or analyze an
image or text passage. I decided to scaffold the writing prompts to provide
students with an opportunity to initially demonstrate their writing skills and then
naturally apply their knowledge as the content of the unit is addressed.
Rubrics, Checklists and Observations
Students will be provided with a checklist and a rubric for each summative
assessment task. These assessment tools function as an assessment for, as and of
learning. The rubric will initially be provided formatively to help students to guide
their learning and understand my expectations for each assignment. Students will
have a check-in date after their first draft. I will assess their work using the rubric
and provide descriptive feedback. During peer review, students will also use the
rubric to provide feedback. Once each assignment is handed in for 'publication' in
student writing portfolios, I will then use the rubric to conduct a summative
assessment of student learning. Checklists will also be provided at the beginning of
each assignment. Students will complete the checklist as they complete their
assignment. This is a form of student self-assessment and therefore functions as
assessment as learning. I also have teacher checklists that will help me stay on
track with observations or student learning. The plethora of formative assessment
tools incorporate the triangulation aspect of products, observations and
conversations, ensuring that my assessments are fair and valid.
Found Poem
The first assignment students will complete is a series of found poems. This
is a formative assessment designed to familiarize students with magazines and

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-Fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

assess their ability to create text using resources provided. First, students will
create a poem about themselves by cutting out words from various magazines and
pasting them on a separate sheet of paper. The second poem will require students
to locate a magazine article and block off words within the article to create an
original text. This assignment focuses on Outcomes #1, 2 and 3. It addresses a
wide range of Bloom's Taxonomy; most of the outcomes cover all levels.
Advertisement
The advertisement assignment is the first summative assignment of the unit
and will be included in the final grade. One way for students to demonstrate their
learning is through a visual representation. This assignment is designed to assess
both image and textual analysis through inferencing. Students will apply their
knowledge of the power of media and the various techniques to create their own
advertisement. This assignment is worth 10% of the final unit grade. I chose to
weight this assignment at 10% because it requires more application of knowledge
rather than analysis. The unit also focuses on writing and this assignment requires
students to work primarily with images. Therefore, I reserved the majority of the
marks for writing assignments. Nevertheless, this assignment is very important
because it addresses each of the General Learner Outcomes and covers a wide
range of Bloom's Taxonomy levels.
Editorial
Written language is also an essential way to assess students, particularly in
English Language Arts. It is important to teach students about the writing process
and provide them with opportunities to write from different points of view and
perspectives to a specific audience. I chose an editorial as the first writing
assignment because the students are most familiar with creative writing. Opinionbased writing is the closest form to narrative writing and I want to set my students
up for success. This is also why I have decided to weight this assignment at 20%.
Students will be provided various mini-lessons as well as a rubric to help guide
their writing. Each writing assignment will also have a formative checklist to assist
student learning. Checklists provide an opportunity for conversations and
observations to assess student learning. The editorial focuses primarily on higher
level Bloom's Taxonomy including Application and Analysis.
Letters to the Editor
In this assignment, students continue to develop their writing skills with point
of view writing. Charades games and mini-lessons are incorporated within the
assignment work period to help students gain the understanding and ability to
apply point of view in their writing. This assignment is also worth 15 % of the final
grade. Students will construct three articles, each from a different point of view.
Each article will be worth 5%. Numerous editing and drafting sessions will be
provided for students to improve their writing before submitting a published
version to their writing folder. This assignment assesses based on all levels of
Bloom's Taxonomy with a focus on application and analysis.
Feature Article and Interview
To help students understand the interview and article writing process, I plan

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-Fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

on having a local journalist come in for a question and answer session and to help
students self assess their own writing. It will also help them to be better peer
editors during the revision stage of the writing process. I think that it is important
to provide students with many strategies and resources such as exemplars as
models to help students. This assignment is worth 30%, the most marks of any
assignment in the unit. I chose to weight this assignment so heavily because it
involves brainstorming, research, drafting and editing before publishing the final
product. This assignment focuses on all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy
Comic Strip
I decided to situate an assignment that returns to inferencing towards the
end of the unit to test student understanding of topics that were brought up near
the beginning of the unit in the advertising section. Although this assignment is
similar to the advertisement assignment, it provides students with an opportunity
to improve their understanding of inferencing and persuasion, the foundations for
this unit after learning about and practising writing. I hope that their practice with
the writing process will allow them to return to a previous outcome and better
apply their understanding. It also returns to image analysis to prepare students for
their upcoming magazine cover assignment. This assignment is worth 10% of the
unit grade. Text and image use and application are each worth 5%. This
assignment focuses on the application level of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Magazine Cover
The final assignment for the unit is a magazine cover. This assignment
covers all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, with a focus on synthesis. Students are
required to combine knowledge of magazines, image and text inferencing, as well
as persuasive and perspective writing. This assignment combines many elements
and will function effectively as a culminating unit activity. This assignment is worth
15% of the unit grade. A rubric will outline the assessment which is based on three
main pillars. 5% is designated for persuasion; 5% is designated for point of view
and 5% is awarded for effective use of image and text to convey these qualities.
Conclusion
My knowledge and understanding of assessment, derived from my Education
3604: Evaluation of Student Learning has allowed me to create an effective and
balanced Unit Assessment Plan. My UAP applies the foundation of assessment:
validity and reliability throughout the plan by creating multiple opportunities and
multiple strategies to collect evidence of student learning. My UAP provides a
range of assessment tools which assess students for, as and of learning. All of
these factors have been carefully designed to ensure that my UAP will be a true
and fair reflection of students' skills and knowledge in Grade 7 English Language
Arts.
References
Davies, Anne. Making Classroom Assessment Work 3rd Edition.
Chappuis, Jan, et.al. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing It Right
Using It Well.

ED 3604 Evaluation of Student

Learning
Unit Assessment Plan

Level

Subject Area
Grade Level
Topic
Length of Unit
(days)

English Language Arts

7
Magazine Non-Fiction Writing
27 days (6.5 weeks)

Excellent

Proficient

Adequate

Limited *

Insightful
rationale linking
assessment
decisions with a
balanced
approach to
assessment,
demonstrating a
comprehensive
understanding of
effective
assessment
practices
Explicit
connection
between
acceptable
evidence and
judgments
regarding student
learning
Significant
connection
between
assessment
theory and
practical
application with
explicit
references to
assessment
literature

Thoughtful
rationale linking
assessment
decisions with a
balanced
approach to
assessment,
demonstrating a
thorough
understanding of
effective
assessment
practices
Logical
connection
between
acceptable
evidence and
judgments
regarding student
learning

Simplistic
rationale linking
assessment
decisions with a
balanced
approach to
assessment,
demonstrating a
basic
understanding of
effective
assessment
practices
Reasonable
connection
between
acceptable
evidence and
judgments
regarding student
learning

Unconvincing
rationale linking
assessment
decisions with a
balanced
approach to
assessment,
demonstrating a
superficial
understanding of
effective
assessment
practices
Unsupported
connection
between
acceptable
evidence and
judgments
regarding student
learning

Relevant
connection
between
assessment
theory and
practical
application with
reference to
assessment
literature

Predictable
connection
between
assessment
theory and
practical
application with
implied reference
to assessment
literature

Unrelated
connection
between
assessment
theory and
practical
application with
no reference to
assessment
literature

Insufcient
/ Blank *

Criteria

Balanced
Assessment
Plan
(Outcomes 1, 2,
3, 7)

Evaluation of
Student
Learning
(Outcomes 2, 3)

Connection
between
assessment
theory and
practical
application
(Outcomes 1, 2,
3)

No score is
awarded because
there is
insufficient
evidence of
student
performance
based on the
requirements of
the assessment
task.