Assessments for the first two lessons of the unit took place through a singular means. During the first lesson, students completed a worksheet answering questions about a weekly weather forecast. In the second lesson, students were assessed verbally. While the first assessment was successful, I quickly realized during the second assessment that relying solely on verbal assessment is not appropriate or productive for these students.
To respond to this, I modified assessments to rely on non-verbal communication. I tested the waters by incorporating physical movement (Total Physical Response – TPR) into our third lesson. We learned a motion for each of the three major climate zones. For example, to identify Polar, students would rub their arms as if they were cold and shivering. Students did the appropriate motion to signify the human experience in that climate when I called out its name.
After testing the waters by implementing total physical response, I planned my fourth lesson to assess student understanding of the three major climate zones through more flexible means (physical movements, words, labels, or pictures). Students used physical movements representing each of the major zones or their words to categorize different images shown on the board. During independent practice, students were asked to show what someone would wear during April in each of the major climate zones. Students could write words from an anchor chart with visuals and/or draw clothing items on the outline of a person.
During our final lesson of the unit, students worked in partnerships/small groups to research and present the local climate of Worcester during different times of the year. Groups were each assigned a season – summer, fall, winter, or spring. Students collaborated to write and draw about the climate of Worcester during a specific season and shared recommendations for clothing based on their research.