Assessment

(This is the assessment for Crystal Boulton-Scott and Joseph Scott‘s curriculum, “Tribal Tongues along the Trail: American Indian Languages, Histories, Values, and Cultures Encountered by the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.”)

 

Essential Question

• How can the words of a People communicate basic needs and go beyond to shape understanding of unfamiliar ways of knowing?

 

Assessment Rubrics and Guides for 8th Grade

• 08.01 Tribal Tongues Cultural Activity Rubric
• 08.02 Tribal Tongues Story Response Rubric
• 08.03 Tribal Tongues Writing Rubric
• 08.04 Tribal Tongues Active Listening and Projects Guide
• 08.05 Tribal Tongues Cultural Universals Menu
• 08.06 Tribal Tongues Essential Questions
• 08.07 Tribal Tongues Core Concepts: The Four Cardinal Directions.
• 08.08 Tribal Tongues Core Concepts: The Four Seasons.
• 08.09 Tribal Tongues Core Concepts: The Four Elements.
• 08.10 Tribal Tongues Additional Standards
• 08.11 Tribal Tongues Enduring Understandings Assessment Rubric

08.01 Tribal Tongues Cultural Activity Rubric

	0 Points Unacceptable	1 Point Poor	2 Points Fair	3 Points Good	4 Points Excellent
Review: Is the learner generally successful in creating a final product and/or answer?	The learner does not meet the criteria at all.	The learner makes a weak  attempt to meet the criteria.	The learner meets the activity’s basic expectations.	The learner meets the assignment’s expectations with a solid effort.	The learner goes above and beyond the criteria with effort that goes beyond expectations.
Participation: Is the learner taking part and contributing to the project’s success?	The learner does not participate.	The learner does practically nothing.	The learner participates but may ignore most instructions.	The learner participates well, and meets expectations.	The learner participates and follows instructions independently.
Completion: Is the learner able to finish what they started?	The learner never starts and never finishes.	The learner makes an attempt but never completes anything.	The learner starts and makes an attempt but leaves the cultural activity project incomplete.	The learner starts and mostly completes the cultural activity.	The learner starts and works hard on the project to expected completion.
Effort: Is the learner making an earnest attempt to succeed?	The learner makes no effort.	The learner makes a bare minimum effort.	The learner puts in a little effort.	The learner demonstrates the expected effort.	The learner demonstrates excellent effort.
Oral and/or written  answers: Does the learner demonstrate successful learning through written and/or verbal expression?	The questions are not answered.	An attempt to answer the question(s) is evident.	The learner does not complete the answer(s).	The learner answers the question(s) accurately.	The learner answers all parts of the question(s) and offers evidence.

08.02 Tribal Tongues Story Response Rubric

	0 Points Unacceptable	1 Point Poor	2 Points Fair	3 Points Good	4 Points Excellent
Characters Who are the main characters?	The learner is unable to identify the characters. The response may not make sense.	Direct questioning may be necessary for the learner to remember the main characters. There are few or no details included.	Some of the characters are identified. A few details are included in the character description	All main characters are covered and most of the details are included in the character description.	All main characters are identified and described.
Sequencing What happens in the beginning, middle, and end?	It is fairly clear that the learner did not read the text at all.	Direct questioning may be needed for the learner to describe the beginning, middle, and end of the text. There are few or no details included. The sequence may be wrong.	The learner can recall parts of the story, but their description includes minimal details. Sequencing is not perfect, but has some details.	The learner can recall what happens in the beginning, middle, and end with little or with some details included. There is logical sequencing.	The learner can recall what happens in the beginning, middle, and end and includes many interesting details. There is logical sequencing.
Setting Where and when does the story happen?	What setting?	Direct questioning may be needed for the learner to remember the setting. There are few or no details included.	The learner gives an idea of the setting but some details are missing or incorrect.	The learner can describe the setting with some details included.	The learner described the setting. With good details included.

 

08.03 Tribal Tongues Writing Rubric

Ideas & Content The overall skill the tribal language writing shows – how interesting it is, how well the details work together, and how well the writing fits with the intended audience.
4.  The writing is very clear. It is focused and interesting. The main ideas stand out and have strong support and rich details. The writing matches the audience and purpose.	3. The writing is clear. The main ideas are understandable. Support for the main ideas there, but may be limited.
2.  The main idea is present, but overly simple. Details are overly general or off-topic.	1.  The writing lacks a central idea or purpose.

 

Organization The structure and flow of a tribal language-writing sample.
4.  The central ideas of the sample are enhanced by the writer’s organization. The structure makes it smooth and easy to read.	3.  The sample has a clear order and structure, but it may be simplistic.
2.  The writing is disorganized. It is hard to read and/or too short to show any organization at all.	1.  The sample is completely confusing, disjointed, and messy.

 

Word Choice How skillfully the tribal language writer uses words in the sample.
4.  Dee NI words are interesting and very precise, and they are appropriate to the reader and the reason the sample is written. The words have an impact.	3.  The writer uses a variety of words that are functional, and work for the reader and the sample’s purpose.
2.  The language is dull, and some of the words are incorrect. Mistakes make the sample hard to read.	1.  Mistakes in the sample make it nearly impossible to read. The writing barely conveys any meaning.

 

Conventions Punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage of the language in a tribal language-writing sample.
4. The writing is essentially perfect. The writer uses conventions in a way that enhances the meaning and readability of the sample.	3. The Dee Ni writing sample has a few errors, but they do not make the sample hard to read.
2.  The sample has a lot of significant errors that make it difficult to read.	1. Mistakes with conventions make the sample very difficult to understand. The reader may give up.

08.04 Tribal Tongues Active Listening and Projects Guide

• Question: Learners should be able to take a glance at a story; the title, the setting, pictures, a page or two, and then formulate one or two questions to be thinking about as they listen to that story unfold.
• Connect: Making connections among details of the story or project and the life of the learner who has experienced the process of listening and/or building their story and/or project.
• Visualize: Encourage listeners to create an image related to their experience in hearing the story. Listeners can draw, paint, act, describe, or use any method of visual expression.
• Review: Learners go over the details of the story and/or the process of executing their project. Whether it is on paper or in their heads, it is a way of understanding steps in the process of creation.
• Evaluate: Learners should take a look at what has been accomplished by either the author or project designers and builders, and decide whether or not they like what they’ve seen or heard. If they did like it or if they did not, they should share their reasoning. They should explain why they like the end result, or why they do not!
• Predict: A good storyteller will leave listeners wanting to know more about what might happen next, or what the outcome will be.

08.05 Tribal Tongues Cultural Universals Menu

Students should be able to identify the Cultural Universals focus of their Summative Assessment Project(s). This list below should be consulted as learners ask themselves questions about their objectives, predict the outcome of their work, and make connections to other projects, experiences, and feelings. When they are finished with projects and/or other evaluations, learners should examine their outcome, review the list of universals, and determine how well their outcome aligns with their original goals.

• Food: All cultures eat food, both as basic sustenance and as a statement of social status.
• Clothing: All cultures regularly cover themselves, some more than others. The vast majority of students’ projects focused on clothing will describe something other than nudity.
• Shelter: Whether seasonal/temporary, permanent, or intermittent, all cultures seek shelter at some point, or all points, in their seasonal round.
• Medicine/Healing: In all cultures, healing and medicine is driven by tradition, academic science, spirituality, or some combination of these.
• Fun: Throughout the world, peoples gather in small numbers or large and engage in entertaining activities.
• Communication: All cultures communicate with other individual members of that culture, and/or members of other cultures.
• Rules: Rules are often manifested as a form of government in which rules are established and enforced through an organized social structure, although sometimes rules are established and enforced through social norms.
• Tools: Tools are used by cultures to solve problems. Many of the cultural universals are closely tied to this ability, and this ability often requires the utility of an object.
• Ways of Knowing: Cultures explore the unfamiliar. Individuals and/or groups may pursue academic science; groups may understand their place in the world, their ways of behavior, and the workings of their surroundings through trial and error, traditional belief, or any combination of these things.
• Transportation:  All cultures move around, whether this takes the form of a walk around their shelter or a long journey by jet liner.
• Money: Trade of goods, and/or symbols representing goods, often establish and describe social status, basic needs, or anything in between these things.
• Family: Everyone has a mother and a father. This is a genetic mandate beyond any socially defined phenomenon. Interrelations beyond this are highly variable.
• Beauty: Whether it’s appreciating the desirable qualities of a member of the opposite sex, intricate details included in forms of shelter or clothing, ceremony or appeals to creation, or paintings and sculpture, all cultures include a group and/or individually defined ability to appreciate the aesthetically pleasing.

08.06 Tribal Tongues Essential Questions

• Who: The characters, human or otherwise.
• What: The desired outcome.
• Where: The setting in which the characters, methods, and outcomes develop.
• When: The timing of events and methods.
• Why: The motivation of characters, the relative success of desired outcomes, the choice and timing of settings, and the reasoning of characters.
• How: The method(s) used by characters to achieve the desired outcome.

08.07 Tribal Tongues Core Concepts: the Four Cardinal Directions.

• North
• South
• East
• West

 08.08 Tribal Tongues Core Concepts: the Four Seasons.

• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
• Winter

08.09 Tribal Tongues Along the Trial Core Concepts: the Four Elements.

• Earth
• Air
• Water
• Fire

08.10 Tribal Tongues Additional Standards:

Honoring Tribal Legacies “Eleventh Standard”, NMAI “Native Knowledge 360*” Essential Understandings, local requirements for tribal education, and supplemental science, technology, engineering, arts, and math recommendations

Honoring Tribal Legacies “Eleventh Standard”
“Demonstrate environmental stewardship and a sense of service achieved through acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of humanity in historical, cultural, scientific, and spiritual contexts.”

NMAI (National Museum of the American Indian) Essential Understandings
(https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/about/understandings)

NMAI “Native Knowledge 360 Framework for Essential Understandings about American Indians
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/pdf/NMAI-Essential-Understandings.pdf

It is also important to consult local/state requirements regarding integration and implementation of Native American curriculum.

STE(A)M Standards (https://artsintegration.com/what-is-steam-education-in-k-12-schools/)

By the end of eighth-grade students will be able to:

• Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
• Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
• Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved. 

08.11 Tribal Tongues Enduring Understandings Assessment Rubric

	0 Points Unacceptable	1 Point Poor	2 Points Fair	3 Points Good	4 Points Excellent
People	The learner is unable to identify the lesson’s tribal focus and makes no attempt at recollection.	The learner is able to identify the lessons’ key tribal focus but misses important details.	The learner is able to properly identify the lessons’ tribal focus but may miss some details.	The learner is able to accurately identify the lessons’ tribal focus.	The learner is able to identify tribal focus, use additional tools to enhance expression, and provide specific  details.
Place	The learner is unable to identify tribal homelands, and makes no attempt at recollection.	The learner is able to identify tribal regions but is unable to specify tribal homelands.	The learner is able to identify tribal homelands using a provided map.	The learner is able to accurately describe tribal homelands using a provided map.	The learner is able to generate accurate maps and identify important features of tribal homelands.
Language	The learner is unable to identify the tribal language and makes no attempt at recollection.	The learner is able to identify minimal tribal vocabulary and may mispronounce and/or misidentify the words.	The learner is able to properly identify and pronounce the lesson’s tribal vocabulary	The learner is able to properly identify all of the lesson’s tribal vocabulary.	The learner is able to properly identify the lesson’s tribal vocabulary and offer elaborate details on individual words.
Tribal Pronunciation	The learner is unable to pronounce or recognize any of the tribal words.	The learner may be able to recognize a few  of the tribal words.	The learner is  able to pronounce and recognize several of the tribal words.	The learner is unable to pronounce or recognize all of the tribal words.	The learner demonstrates mastery of the tribal words.