Beyond the KWL GridASE Annual Conference07.01.21

Kathryn Horan

K-horan@out look .com

@SciKathryn

What I KNOW What I WANT to know

What I have LEARNED

Planning Pre-Assessment Tasks

How?Why?

Why?• To identify any children who are likely to need extra support

or extra challenge

• To establish a baseline for measuring progress

• To gather data for accountability measures

• To find out how much of the planned topic children already know

• To find out how much of the prerequisite knowledge children have

• To identify any misconceptions children have

Misconceptions

Common misconceptions• Nuffield Primary Science SPACE materials (Science Processes and

Concept Exploration)

Images from Nuffield Primary Science Living Processes: Teachers’ Guide (Ages 5-7) 1996, accessible here: https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/27024/living-processes-teachers%E2%80%99-guide-ages-5-7

Collection accessible here:

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/3059/nuffield-primary-science

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/27024/living-processes-teachers%E2%80%99-guide-ages-5-7https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/3059/nuffield-primary-science

Common misconceptions• PLAN Assessment Matrices)

Collection accessible here:

https://www.planassessment.com/plan-knowledge-matrices

https://www.planassessment.com/plan-knowledge-matrices

Planning Pre-Assessment Tasks

How?Why?

Pictures• Accessible for most children

• Takes relatively little time

• Asking children to label/describe pictures gives opportunities to check understanding of vocabulary

• Can be revisited & annotated again after each lesson or at the end of a topic

• Information gathered is relatively limited

• Activity only applies to some topics

• Children may worry about their drawing skills!

Models

Posters

Posters

• Low stakes method of assessment

• Many children enjoy creating posters

• Can be done with pen and paper or using ICT (PicCollage is a great free app for this)

• Posters can be revisited and ‘corrected’ at the end of a topic

• Without structure, information gathered can be limited

• If done on paper, this activity can take a lot of time

Concept Maps

mammalsanimals

Are kinds of

have

fur

amphibiansAre kinds of

eggs

laybirds

Are kinds of

have

life cyclesplants have

sexual reproduction

reproduce via

can reproduce via

asexual reproduction

lay

Concept Maps

• Allow for a lot of discussion

• Asking children to identify links between concepts helps to make misconceptions clearer

• Children need to be taught this approach

Quizzes

Quizzes

• Quick, ‘low stakes’ and can be tailored to gather the specific information you want to gather

• Work for all primary science topics

• Can be repeated at the end of a topic to check on progress

• Can be carried out on paper or using ICT

• Closed questions can lead to limited responses

• Reading may be a barrier for some children

Card Sorts

In a dark room you cannot see anything.

We see things because light is reflected from objects and travels to our eyes.

We cannot see things if there is no light.

Carrots help us to see in the dark.

We see things because light travels from our eyes to the objects.

In a darkened room you will be able to see after a while because your eyes will adjust.

Card Sorts

• Quick and easy

• Allow for discussion

• Easy to identify misconceptions

• Working in pairs or groups can make it difficult to get insight into individual children’s thinking

Word Sort

satellite

Word Sort

• Quick and easy

• Allow for discussion

• Easy to identify misconceptions

• Without discussion with the child, more specific information is limited

Word Grids

Word Grids

• Gathers a lot of information about individual children’s ideas

• Good record of progress if carried out as a ‘before and after’ activity

• Take a lot of time

• Writing can be a barrier for younger children or reluctant writers

• Can be intimidating if a lot of words are unknown

Concept Cartoons

Concept Cartoons

• Children feel safer giving an answer as their idea is already on display

• Great for identifying misconceptions

• Easy to prepare and gather verbal or written feedback from

• If done as a discussion activity, evidence of children’s initial ideas may be difficult to capture and record

Discussion

https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/

https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/

Discussion

https://pstt.org.uk/resources/resources-available-through-tts/see-through-science

https://pstt.org.uk/resources/resources-available-through-tts/see-through-science

Discussion

• No writing barrier

• Children build on each others’ ideas

• Easy to prepare

• Can be difficult to gather information on individual children

Activities

https://www.tts-group.co.uk/explore-engage-extend/1019177.html

https://www.tts-group.co.uk/explore-engage-extend/1019177.html

Activities

• Children enjoy them!

• Depending on the activities planned, there is lots of scope for gathering different kinds of information

• Children feel safer carrying out practical activities than completing written tasks

• Can be time-consuming to plan and set up

• Some information can be ‘lost’ due to the nature of this activity

Pre-Assessment

How?Why?

Speaker Contact Details

Kathryn Horan

Email: K-horan@outlook.com

Twitter: @SciKathryn

Website: thatsciencelady.com

mailto:K-horan@outlook.comhttps://thatsciencelady.com/