TABLE 2: Assessment for and as learning: How will students receive guidance that will help them to affirm,
refine, or extend their work?
Assessment “for” and “as” Learning
Assessment Task Task Description
Interactions Students will review the terms they have
Between Living learned in the unit so far. During the activity,
Things - students will walk around the classroom and
Vocabulary quiz each other on the terms provided to
Review them (eg. quiz cards with word and definition
that students can switch after quizzing each
other). Greater interaction is encouraged.
Exit Cards Students will complete exit cards throughout
the unit. Exit cards can either be given after a
lesson to assess student ability and
understanding, or before a new topic is
presented to assess students’ prior knowledge
about the subject. This will assist teachers in
preparing Differentiated Instruction before
Differentiated Assessment (Cooper, 2011, p.
54)
This activity allows students to visually see
“Foodchain” how the populations of different species
Gizmo Activity affect each other within an ecosystem
(Informal Online (specifically in a food chain relationship).
Lab Module) Students will be given handouts with
instructions on how to navigate through the
online gizmo activity (foodchain module) and
questions to answer as they go along. At the
end of the activity students will complete a
Teacher guidance
Teacher may provide students with vocabulary
cards containing a term and its definition.
They instruct students to mingle and a) give
each person they interact with the word on
their card and ask them to define it, or b) give
their partners the definitions on their cards
and see if they can guess the term. Instruct
students to switch cards after each
interaction. Teacher can circulate and observe
student engagement, listen to students’
answers, and assess if students are having
trouble. At the end, the teacher may want to
get students to rate how hard the activity was
and which terms gave them trouble (e.g.
hand in anonymous notes as they leave - exit
response cards).
-Teacher may guide students by giving them
specific questions/prompts to answer on their
cards
-Analyze the exit cards to identify any
confusion or questions that students have;
teacher can address these in future lessons
-The exit cards can serve as a diagnostic
assessment (DA) for the teacher which will aid
him/her in differentiating instruction
-Teacher should provide detailed instructions
on how to access/use the gizmo activity
-Teacher should give a template that guides
students during the activity in terms of what
they need to look for. This is especially useful
for english language learners (ELL students).
Self and peer support
This activity will help students identify the
vocabulary and concepts that they may still
need to work on in order to succeed in the
unit. Students can record the words and
definitions that they have trouble with in
order to review them in future studying. This
activity allows students to assist each other in
learning and remembering important terms
and to review in a way that allows less
structured interaction and study. Students
may also feel less pressured being “tested” by
their peers, and can receive hints and moral
support from their partners.
Through the process of completing exit cards,
students might also go through the
unconscious process of self evaluation,
understanding which answers they know and
which they should review. Students are also
provided with the opportunity to show their
knowledge in a private manner and voice their
concerns to the teacher.
-Students should be allowed to work in pairs.
-Students do a self-assessment after the
informal gizmo lab/activity
-Pairs will mark each other's’ self-assessment
quiz. Students will know how well they did,
and identify any difficulties they are having so
that they can seek assistance from the
teacher.
 self-assessment mini-quiz so they can gage
their understanding of the material.
Students have the option of working with a
partner or individually and will submit their
worksheet at the end of the period.
Link to Gizmo:
https://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm
?method=cResource.dspView&ResourceID=3
81
Class Foodweb Each pair of students will very briefly present
Informal the animal that they researched for the class
Presentation food web.
Library “Field -Students will work with a librarian to learn
Trip” how to find and assess reliable resources.
-Students will learn how to use databases
offered through the board’s website.
-Students will start researching their topic and
building their annotated bibliography.
Practice Research -Students will choose any topic that they are
Session interested in provided it will allow them to
met project criteria
-Once students choose their topic they will
research it. Students will find 3-4 sources on
their chosen topic and explain, for each
source, why they think it is a good, reliable,
valid resource and which areas/points within
the resource they plan to use.
The teacher will be able to give immediate
(but private) feedback to the students about
what presentation skills they are good at and
what needs to be improved.
The teacher will support students during the
library session by answering questions related
to each student’s research topic and giving
feedback and suggestions.
-The teacher will provide students with a
worksheet that will be used for the library
session research to teach students about
advanced research techniques.
-The teacher will use this as a diagnostic
assessment of how well students are able to
assess the reliability of different sources, and
if more clarification is needed.
By giving oral presentation, students will be
able to develop their speaking skills and
practice using different scientific terms and
concepts in verbal explanation and
communication.
Students will be paired after they have
gathered their resources. Shortly after,
students will exchange and assess each other's
bibliography list to validate its relevance to
their respective topic.
According to Garfield (OISE lecture, 2017),
“learning cascades” can help students solve
complex problems by learning step-by-step
concepts throughout the unit that add up to
an understanding of the final problem. The
culminating project was introduced at the
beginning of the unit to show students what
they should be able to do by the end. As the
class advances through the lessons, they gain
more crucial knowledge needed to understand
and complete the final task successfully. The
Library Field Trip and Practice Research
Session are two significant activities that will
help students grasp the effective research
process and allow them to practice specific
learning skills. This is also an opportunity for
students to get the final project started which
means less stress finishing the final
assignment and ensures that the process itself
is scaffolded. Ideally, students may not know

Review Composed of a variety of review questions
Worksheets based on different unit topics. Students will
be given these worksheets throughout the
unit for home or in-class completion.
Thought Book -Students can use this to gather information
and ideas about any of the major assessments
that they are required to complete
Checklists (for -The teacher will construct checklists that
media correspond to the different levels of the rubric
presentation for the media presentation
rubric) -Each student will receive a checklist with a
certain difficulty, based on their diagnosed
learning level
Guided Students will be given a template for
Annotated recording their information in the form of a
Bibliography simplified annotated bibliography. They will
cite sources and answer brief questions about
how the source will help them with their
research.
Inquiry Wet Lab Students will be asked to work alone or in
(Pre-activity partners. They will take scrap paper and write
Brainstorm) answers to the following questions:
1. Why clean water is important in THEIR
everyday life
2. What kinds of things would be difficult for
them if clean water was not available
3. How the environment around them would
be affected if water was not clean
4. Hypothesize ways people (or student)
Teacher will take up each worksheet with the
class in the corresponding week and will
review any topics that the class might be
having difficulty with.
The teacher will periodically review and give
feedback on the ideas students put in the
thought books. “Assessment that occurs
during the learning process must inform
students about what they are doing well, what
they need to improve, and what they should
do differently to achieve their goals” (Cooper,
p.87-88); this will allow just that.
The teacher will work closely with the
students, especially struggling ones, to
develop their skills, so that they can move to a
higher level on the rubric, gradually using
more difficult checklists
-The teacher will provide a template for the
annotated bibliography to guide the research.
-The teacher will collect these and give
students detailed feedback about their
resources and any needed adjustments.
-Teacher will encourage answers that are
honest and simple (without the use of
research, just from students’ knowledge and
life experience)
how to create an annotated bibliography
when the project is introduced, but they will
be able to do so after these guided library
research practice sessions.
Teacher will allow students to discuss the
answers with their peers to allow them to
assess their knowledge and their peers’
knowledge.
Thought books will allow students to
brainstorm, experiment, plan, self-assess, and
refine their own ideas in a writing space with
less restrictions and judgement.
The checklist enables students to gauge their
research progress and makes sure they are not
missing any important aspects. Formative
Self/Peer assessment helps students improve
work; it is less pressured and develops editing
skills that improve work based off specified
criteria (Cooper, 2011, p. 87-88).
Before handing in the annotated bibliography,
students will provide feedback to their peers.
This allows students to assess their peers and
provide new ideas.
This activity is about the student’s OWN
EXPERIENCES AND REASONING. Cooper (2011,
p.40-41) states: “engage students through an
activity that will form connection between a
new topic and their own lives.”
 might measure cleanliness of water based on
previous knowledge or things learned
throughout the course
-The students will be provided with a
Inquiry Wet Lab worksheet that allows them to learn about
(worksheet) the chemical and biological techniques for
evaluating water quality. For example the
worksheet will allow students to practice how
to use the Hilsenhoff biotic index and do the
required calculations to arrive at a decision
about water quality.
-The teacher will take up the worksheet with
the whole class after the students discuss it
within their groups
-The teacher can identify the students who
are struggling and help them understand the
concepts before the lab period to avoid any
confusion or anxiety
-Students will be heterogeneously arranged in
groups of four to support each other through
the activity
-Students will share their opinions and
techniques and learn those of their peers, and