The Power of Assessing: Guiding Powerful Practices

The Power of Assessing will show you how to use authentic assessments as a dynamic teaching tool. But this book doesn’t just describe ways to evaluate your students’ learning. Through colorful photographs and over 30 minutes of video footage you can actually see and hear teachers and students in action as they use preassessments and formative, summative, and metacognitive assessments to make instructional decisions. You can also explore new strategies for developing a rich variety of assessments to implement in your own elementary classroom. These features will help you use the assessments right away in your own classroom: • Photographs, videos, and text packed with authentic assessment options to add to your teaching toolkit. • Practical advice from the authors―veteran educators who know the demands on elementary teachers. • Instructions for building an assessment plan with a backward-mapping guide. • Instructions for designing assessments for all learners by applying elements of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Multiple Intelligences (MI). • Sound guidance on how to use metacognition to make decisions about instruction and design new learning adventures. Like the first two books in the Powerful Practices series―The Power of Investigating and The Power of Questioning ― this book is based on a three-part instructional model. The Power of Assessing can work as a stand-alone reference to help you develop assessments across disciplines and guide deeper thinking. The three-book series can also be used as part of a professional development program or preservice class in elementary science or integrated instruction. No matter how you use this pedagogical picture book, its practical, powerful strategies can help you assess your students’ understanding in multiple ways, help you make instructional decisions, and help all children be successful learners.