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Tapestry of Grace

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Evaluations:

Opening Page

Using Evaluations as PLANNING tools

SUGGESTIONS:

Grammar Level Evaluation Strategies

Dialectic Level Evaluation Strategies

Rhetoric Level Evaluation Strategies

STOCK TOOLS FOR EVALUATION:

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Published Tests: preparing for them and taking them.

Games!

Use a game to find out what your student has learned... he can learn making it and learn playing it!

For Grammar level students, and even for some delayed or tactile older students, having students make or play games can be a great evaluation tool.

You can make up quizzes for your younger students:

Brenda, one of our users, wrote: I wanted to pass along a great site to everyone...www.puzzlemaker.com You can put in a list of words,etc, and it will generate puzzles....everything from wordsearches, to crossword puzzles...codes, etc!!! They also have some really cool mazes which my younger ones love!! I have used it a lot for something fun to go along with what we are studying...
On our Arts/Activities pages (listed under links for each Year-Plan) you'll frequently find sites linked that are interactive. Why not send your child on a treasure hunt through such a site, looking for facts or concepts?

Occasionally, in the Tapestry of Grace Student Activity pages, we've designed a game your kids can make. Why wait for our suggestions? Use a common, familiar game format for "rules" and design a simple template for the "pieces." Then, have your child make the game (great learning tool!) and then have you or his siblings play it. A successful game is a successful evaluation! Here are some common "pre-designed" formats:

Design a "card" template, and have the child design an "Old Maid" game. This works well for information that links people and facts. Don't forget to have one odd person, or fact, as the Old Maid!
Lotto: especially good for Lower Grammar kids. Lotto is played with each player having a card, typically divided into 9 large squares. Each square has a picture or word. Each board is different in layout of squares' contents, but content is identical. The child creates these boards (after you design the grid). Then, using another template that you create, the child makes a deck of square cards that fit the squares on the players' boards. On these cards are pictures/words that match the players' boards. The deck is placed in the center of the table, face down. Each player draws in turn and matches the card to one of his squares, if he can. If not, the card goes to the bottom of the pile. First player to fill his card wins! This game is great for young readers' sight words, grammar labels, spelling words of the week, and any other word/picture, or picture/picture association.
Flash cards: a simple deck of flash cards can be made. Then, siblings can "flash" each other, quizzing until material is mastered. Good for all vocabulary, math facts, historical dates, etc.

For weeks, or units, where there are lots of people, places, and dates, (such as in Year 2, Units 2 and 3) a trivia-type game is useful:

For Grammar level students:

We are not looking for mastery of places, people, and dates. However, your child may be well served if, over the course of a unit, you ask him to develop a question and answer game (using a trivia game format). You can use simple index cards, and as you discuss his reading and bring out main points, you can ask him to write the information he learns in question form on one side of the card, and then the answer on the other side. As the unit progresses, the size of the deck will grow.

Each week, you can review the entire unit to date, if you so desire, by sitting down for an hour and playing this game with your child.

You can also use the game for evaluation purposes at the end of each week by having the child answer the questions in flash card format in a sit-down session.

For Dialectic and Rhetoric levels:

These students can make their own flash cards/trivia question cards. Because they will need to discern which information is important, and reformat that information into questions and answers, the very process of making the cards is valuable.

You can use them each week, or at a unit's end, as with Grammar levels above.

Siblings on all levels can join together to make one big trivia-type game. Simply tag the cards with colored circle stickers (or dots drawn with markers) or use colored cards to indicate level of difficulty. Each player should answer cards at their level and gain points for answering correctly. (Usually, Dad needs to choose the Grammar level! :-D)

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