Assessment for Learning in the primary classroom – the what, why & how. Sarah Priestley British Council Italy Bilingual Project coordinator, teacher & trainer. @Sarah_TTrainer sarah.priestley@britishcouncil.it www.britishcouncil.org
AfL in the primary classroom Talk aims : Discussion of definition of AfL (Assessment for Learning) Examples of AfL with primary learners & benefits Brief reflection and question time @Sarah_TTrainer sarah.priestley@britishcouncil.it www.britishcouncil.org
Poll on Assessment for Learning Choose the best answer for you on AfL and vote! Know about it & use it. Know about it but don’t use it. Never heard of it. www.britishcouncil.org
A definition of AfL What is AfL? www.cambridge-community.org.uk www.britishcouncil.org
What are the benefits of AfL? Students are more involved and aware of their learning. Confidence and sense of progress. Achievements and standards. Closing the gap www.britishcouncil.org
Examples of AfL with primary learners Questionning Popcorn technique Think-Pair-Share Pop! www.britishcouncil.org
Examples of AfL with primary learners Feedback “Feedback functions formatively only if the information fed back to the learner is used by the learner in improving performance.” ― Dylan Wiliam, Embedded Formative Assessment www.britishcouncil.org
Examples of AfL with primary learners Feedback Task : writing an adventure story Success criteria : paragraphing, time phrases, ending Example of feedback : Your story is organised into 3 clear paragraphs. I like the exciting ending! But you only used 2 time phrases. Next time try to use more time phrases. www.britishcouncil.org
Examples of AfL with primary learners Who gives the feedback? Teacher Peer assessment Sentence starters for feedback ‘I really like …. because …. The …. was good, too. I think you could …. next time because ….’ www.britishcouncil.org
Examples of AfL with primary learners Self-assessment Sentence starters for feedback I like …. in my story and also …. but I think I need to …. next time. Traffic lights Thumbs up/down www.britishcouncil.org
AfL in the primary classroom Brief reflection on the talk www.britishcouncil.org
AfL in the primary classroom Question time @Sarah_TTrainer sarah.priestley@britishcouncil.it www.britishcouncil.org
Further reading Acknowledgements Black & Wiliam (2006) Inside the black box:raising standards through classroom assessment. Granada learning. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/assessment-learning for an overview of AfL and more AfL reading suggestions. https://itilbury.wordpress.com/2016/11/06/what-is-the-dialogue-pattern-in-your-classroom-if-talk-be-the-foundation-of-learning-how-are-you-encouraging-it/ for more info. on popcorn questioning and think-pair-share. Acknowledgements All images are taken from www.pixabay.com www.britishcouncil.org
Assessment for Learning in the primary classroom – the what, why & how. Sarah Priestley British Council Italy Bilingual Project coordinator, teacher & trainer. @Sarah_TTrainer sarah.priestley@britishcouncil.it www.britishcouncil.org