Reflections on a Scratch Assessment
Colin Meltzer and Jennifer Junkin are colleagues at The Carroll School in Lincoln, MA which serves children, grades 1-8, diagnosed with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Jennifer is the ninth grade math teacher and Colin is the Director of Learning Commons.
They have developed an assessment activity and rubric to complement their Scratch curriculum. The curriculum, collaboratively developed and taught by Colin and Jennifer, is a month-long unit to teach algebra and geometry concepts through Scratch. The assessment is an activity comprised of four challenges:
- Have a cat draw a staircase with 5 steps. You must use the repeat block.
- Have the cat draw a rectangle with a perimeter of 4x. Have the cat draw a rectangle with a perimeter of x.
- Make a machine that will take the variable "x" and produce a solution of "3x+1"
- Follow instructions to find the code that you are to "debug" so it will run properly.
Each assignment is accompanied by two rubrics, one completed by the student as a self-assessment, and one filled out by a teacher during one-on-one interviews with the students. You can download and view the Scratch assessment handout below.
In this video, Colin and Jennifer share their reflections after using the assessment for the first time this year -- what worked, what didn't, what surprised them, what was challenging -- and discuss revision plans for the next iteration.
