Revised curriculum evaluation rubric.

Module #7 Course Evaluation Rubric

When I teach children, I enjoy using story books as a teaching material. Teaching materials include anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language. They can be linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic, and they can be presented in print, through live performance or display, or on cassette, CD-ROM, DVD or the internet (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 66). Tomlinson(2001) also mentioned that teachers should have needs and wants to be satisfied too. Personally, I am very interested in designing lesson plans using WebQuest.

Tom(2004) mentioned in his article “The Learning Power of WebQuest” that WebQuest is inquiry oriented cooperative learning activities through internet resources. There should be no reinforcing what students already know. Web Quest can break authentic problems and tasks into small steps. So the lesson format should be well organized including knowing, comprehending, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. In a real Web Quest, new information need for transformation within learners themselves.

When developing criteria for material evaluation, Tomlinson(2001) suggested that it is extremely useful to develop a set of formal criteria for use on a particular evaluation and them to use that set as a basis for developing subsequent context-specific sets. One way of developing a set of criteria is as follows:

 1. Brainstorm a list of universal criteria
 2. Subdivide some of the criteria
 3. Monitor and revise the list of universal criteria
 4. Categorize the list
 5. Develop media-specific criteria
 6. Develop content-specific criteria
 7. Develop age-specific criteria
 8. Develop local criteria (p. 31)

Before making rubrics for grading the material, I would like to mention briefly what is material evaluation. Material evaluation is a procedure that involves measuring the value of a set of learning materials ( Tomlinson, 2001, p.15). When we evaluate the course, we need to take some aspects into considerations such as who evaluate the course, what can be evaluated, why evaluate the course, how can you evaluate it, when can you evaluate it, what is done with the results of evaluation(Graves, 2000, p.214). Graves(2000) also explains seven criterion which are to be evaluated and I would like to use them when I make rubrics.

 1. The goals and objectives
 2. The course content
 3. The needs assessment
 4. The way the course is organized
 5. The materials and methods
 6. The learning assessment plan
 7. The course evaluation plan (p.214)

Now, I would like to evaluate teaching material based on the information what I learned from the course. I found very interesting WebQuest and the URL is
http://questgarden.com/author/create/preview.php?u=72601&l=93105-091206131201.

This WebQuest is designed for 1st grade of elementary school by Ana Castillo who is working at elementary school. She used the story of “ The Little Red Hen.” Through this WebQuest, she wanted students to enjoy listening to a story, completing art/crafts activities, speaking, coloring and writing.



Evaluation result



There are additional information regarding the most effective way of conducting an material evaluation by Tomlinson (2001).

 1. Make sure that there is more than one evaluator.
 2. Discuss the criteria to make sure there is equivalence of interpretation;
 3. Answer the criteria independently and in isolation from the other evaluators.
 4. Focus in a large evaluation on a typical unit for each level.
 5. Give a score for each criterion.
 6. Write comments at the end of each category.
 7. At the end of the evaluation aggregate each evaluator’s scores for each criterion, category of criteria and set of criteria and then average the scores.
 8. Record the comments shared by the evaluators.
 9. Write a joint report (p.32)

Tomlinson(2001) mentioned that material evaluation is initially a time-consuming and difficult undertaking. However, doing evaluations formally can contribute to the development of an ability to conduct principled informal evaluations quickly and effectively when the occasion demands. Also, I hope to be more open-minded what criteria I need to satisfy when I write the course book or activity book for children someday.

References
Graves, K. (2001). Designing language courses. Boston,MA: Heinle.
March, T. (2004). The Learning power of webquest. New Needs, New Curriculum, 61(4), 42-47.
Tomlinson, B. (2001). Are Materials development?. What is material development, 2(3), 1-40.

Module #6: Blog reflection of Chapter 5, Formulating Goals and Objectives.

When teachers prepare lesson plans for class, we are thinking what is going to be an objectives and what kind of goals are needed to be planned. Studies on teacher’s planning processes in the 1970s and early 1980s showed that teachers are primarily focused on the concretes of the classroom: What they will teach, how they will teach it, the students in the classroom.

Aspects of planning which were not immediately tied to the here and now of the classroom, such as goals and objectives or how the class fit into the curriculum as a whole were not in the foreground of their thinking (Graves, 2000, p.73). When I read this sentence, I was confused as I have thought goals and objectives are very important. However, it does not mean that teachers don’t have goals and objectives but rather that these are implicit in what they do rather than explicitly stated, or that they are a later part in the planning process (p.73). This chapter is explaining what goals and objectives are and the relationship between them as well as a variety of ways to formulate and articulate them.

What are goals and objectives and what is their relationship?

Goals
The author is describing the goals are a way of putting into words the main purposes and intended outcomes of your course (p.75). This is easily explained if we use the comparison of a journey, the destination is the goal; the journey is the course.

Objectives
Objectives are statements about how the goals will be achieved. Through objectives, a goal is broken down into learnable and teachable units. By achieving the objectives, the goal will be reached. Another aspect of the relationship between goals and objectives is that of cause and effect. If students achieve A B, C objectives, then they will reach Y goal (p.77). When I read this statement, I was not very clear about the relationship between the goal and objective but Figure 5.2 helped me to understand the relationship clearly.



Objectives are in a hierarchical relationship to goals. Goals are more general and objectives more specific. Some teachers have found it helpful to have three layers of goals and objectives. The important point is that each layer is more and more specific. One objective may serve more than one goal (p. 78). Formulating goals and objectives helps to build a clear vision of what you will teach. A clear set of goals and objectives can provide the basis for your assessment plan (p.79)

This chapter introduced four kinds of skills how to set the goals. Among them I am interested in two kinds of goal organizations. One is KASA and the other one is Stern’s organization. David has used a framework which he calls “A TASK,” which is derived from the KASA( knowledge, awareness, skill, attitude) framework (p.83).
*Knowledge goals address what students will know and understand. These goals include knowledge about language and about culture and society.
*Awareness goals address what students need to be aware of when learning a language. These include areas of self-knowledge, understanding of how the language works, and understanding of others’ use of language.
*Skills goals address what students can do with the language. This is perhaps the broadest area, encompassing the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as the functions and tasks one accomplishes through language.
*Attitude goals are those that address the affective and values-based dimension of learning.

On the other hand, Denise uses Stern’s 1992 framework ( p.83)
*Cognitive goals includes explicit knowledge, information and conceptual learning about language and about culture.
*Proficiency goals includes what students will be able to do with the language.
Affective goals include achieving positive attitudes toward the target language and culture as well as to one’s own learning of them.
*Transfer goals include learning how what one does or learns in the classroom canbe transferred outside of the classroom in order to continue learning.

This is the time to see how to formulate goals.
*The first step is to list all the possible goals you could have for your particular course, based on your conceptualization of content, your beliefs, and/or your assessment of students’ needs.
*Next step is to look for redundancies, and to identify priorities based on your beliefs and your context. One way to organize your goals is to use the categories you have used for conceptualizing content. These categories might include communicative functions, topics, grammar, tasks, reading, writing, interpersonal skills, etc. For example, if your course integrates the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, then you can have four major goals, each one related to a skill (p.83).

This time, let’s study how to formulate objectives. Mager suggests that for an objective to be useful, it should contain three components: performance, condition, and criterion.
Performance describes what the learners will be able to do, condition describes the circumstances in which the learners are able to something, and criterion, the degree to which they are able to do something (p. 86). Brown (1995) added subject, who will be able to do something, and measure, “how the performance will be observed or tested.”

From now on, let’s review the summary of guidelines to consider when formulating goals and objectives (p.94,95):
1. Goals should be general, but not vague.
2. Goals should be transparent.
3. A course is successful and effective if the goals have been reached.
4. Goals should be realistic.
5. Goal should be relatively simple.
6. Goals should be about something the course will explicitly address in some way.
7. Objectives should be more specific than goals.
8. Objectives should directly relate to the goals.
9. Objectives and goals should be in a cause-effect relationship.
10. Objectives should focus on what students will learn and/or processes associated with it.
11. Objectives are relatively short term. Goals are relatively long term.
12. There should be more objectives than goals.
13. Don’t try to pack too much into one objective.
14. The goals and objectives give a sense of the syllabus or the course.
15. A clear set of goals and objectives provides the basis for evaluation of the course and assessment of student learning.
16. Both goals and objectives should be stated in terms of the learner.
17. Your course may have two or three layers of goals and objectives.

During reading of this chapter, I could have more clear picture on making goals and objectives. I hope this could be applied when I make my own curriculum.

Module #5 : Annotated Bibliography.

This assignment was conducted by Sooyeun Kim, Sujin Kim and Youngran Song. The target learners are elementary students.



Citation 1:
Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2003). Put reading first: the research building blocks for teaching children to read. Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy.

Summary:
This paper was published by the Partnership for Reading. It is a collaborative effort of the National Institute for Literacy, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Services. This scientific reading research was studied to be available for educators, parents, policy-makers, and others with an interest in helping all people learn to read well.

This paper gives a guidance to teachers how to teach children the reading successfully. It describes the findings of the National Reading Panel Report and provides analysis and discussion in five areas of reading instructions: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension covering from kindergarten to the grade three.
Phonemic awareness instruction. It shows various example activities to build phonemic awareness. Identify and categorize phonemes, blend phonemes to form words, segment words into phonemes, delete or add phonemesto form new words, and substitute phonemes to make new words. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words. This paper suggests various activities in blending and segmenting words.

Phonics instruction
Along with phonics instruction, young children should be solidifying their knowledge of the alphabet, engaging in phomenic awareness activities, and listening to stories and informational texts read aloud to them. They also should be reading text (both loudly and silently), writing letters, words, messages, and stories. This paper suggests to use practice materials such as short books and use in practicing writing and workbooks.

Fluency instruction
Reading to children is not the only benefit of fluency but also increase their knowledge of the world, their vocabulary, their familiarity with written language, and their interest in reading. Through reading aloud, children also can learn listening and speaking. This paper suggests the activity of perform a play to teach fluency.

Vocabulary instruction
Vocabulary is very important. It describes how to teach vocabulary indirectly and directly by illustrate examples of classroom instructions.
Text comprehension instruction
It shows the effective comprehension strategies for teacher : Explanation, thinking aloud, guided practice, application, and for students : Asking questions about the text they are reading; summarizing parts of the text; clarifying words and sentences they don’t understand; and predicting what might occur next in the text.

Review:
This paper concluded by key finding from the scientific research and answers the questions form. This paper made a conclusion based on huge amounts of scientific researches, this make this paper credible. In addition, questions and answering form made readers to understand the message very quickly and precisely.
This paper suggests many topics to ponder in English education for Korean students in EFS environment, where only the phonics are taught not for phonemic awareness. We can see the precise and step-by-step curriculum how to teach young children literacy. This can be one of supporting article that EFL context such as Korea should start English by reading and in the class, amount of education between speaking, listening, writing and reading should be balanced for young children .

Citation 2:
Chard, D. J., & Osborn, J. (1999). Phonics and Recognition instruction in early reading program:guidelines for accessibility. Learning disabilities research and practice, 14(2), 107-117.

Summary:
This article investigated school and classroom factors related to primary-grade reading achievement, using quantitative and descriptive methods. Fourteen schools across the United States with moderate to high numbers of students on subsidized lunch were identified as most, moderately, or least effective based on several measures of reading achievement.
A combination of school and teacher factors was found to be important in the most effective schools. Significant factors included: (1) strong links to parents; (2) systematic assessment of pupil progress; (3) strong building communication; (4) a collaborative model for reading instruction, including early reading interventions; (5) time spent in small group instruction; (6) time spent in independent reading; (7) high pupil engagement; and (8) strong home communication.
The most accomplished teachers were frequently observed teaching word recognition by coaching as children were reading, providing explicit phonics instruction, and asking higher level questions after reading. In all of the most effective schools, reading was clearly a priority at both the building and classroom levels.
The author outlines a non-categorical approach to reading disability, describes the reading intervention program they have developed for older low-progress readers and seeks to demonstrate how students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can, and do, make substantial progress when offered effective reading instruction based on the available scientific research evidence.

Review:
In this paper, the most interesting part is that the author considers family background and reading performance. To accomplish literacy to the students teachers have to coach them. Facilitate how to sound the letter and how to think during and after reading. Additionally, the students’ family background should be considered.

Citation 3:
Sun, G. Y. (2000). A Case Study of Communicative Language Teaching in China. TESL canada, 3(1), 67-86.

Summary:
This paper discussesd the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT) methodology within the English as a foreign language (EFL) context in the Peoples’ Republic of China. It suggests investigating the context of an English language teaching program first, and then adapting the program to the Chinese context in order to more effectively implement the communicative methodology. Key questions regarding curriculum design are used as a case study of an EFL context in China.
It is concluded that there must be a compromise between CLT methodology and the EFL context, because CLT is at root a curriculum development. Three principles are judged to be helpful in understanding this problem: (1) in EFL teaching, the impact from the context on a program is more significant than in the English as a second language (ESL) context. The more that is known about the context, the better the new methodology can be adapted into the program: (2) Introducing methods of classroom activities is helpful, but not sufficient; adaptation should start from the beginning of the curriculum design; and (3) Adaptation of teaching methodology will be more successful if the theory of learning and teaching where CLT methodology is derived from is reviewed and studied with the characteristics of the program context in mind.
In this paper, a preliminary stage of context assessment of curriculum design in an EFL context in China was suggested. A framework of context is provided for developing a communicative language teaching program in China. In trying to integrating context into curriculum, three fundamental questions are raised and discussed. The situation and practice of adapting communicative language teaching methodology in Private Pui Ching Commercial College is discussed as a case study. There has to be compromise between CLT methodology and the conditions and provisions of the context in which it is to be implemented. The adaption of CLT in the EFL context is first of all a curriculum development.

Review:
The following principles that mentioned in this article will be helpful in understanding the adaptation of communicative language teaching methodology in not only China problem but also Korea:
1. In EFL teaching, the impact from the context on a program is more significant than that in an ESL context. The more they know about the context the better we can adapt this new methodology into the program.
2. Introducing methods of classroom activities is helpful, but not sufficient. The adaptation should start from the beginning of the curriculum design. Conditions of the context should be taken into account throughout the whole process of program development.
3. Adaptation of teaching methodology will be more successful if the theory of learning and teaching where CLT methodology is derived from is reviewed and studied with the characteristics of the program context in mind.

Citation 4:
Bock, R. (1995). Why Children Succeed or Fail at Reading. NICHD's program in learning disabilities, 10(3), 120-126.

Summary:
Most children will learn to read, no matter what method is used to teach them. But unless they receive special help, at least 20 percent of them cannot master this simple task that the rest of us take for granted. Their difficulty is painfully obvious when they try to read out loud. Children with reading difficulties stop and start frequently, mispronouncing some words and skipping others entirely. The first casualty is self esteem: they soon grow ashamed as they struggle with a skill their classmates master easily. In the later grades, when children switch from learning to read to reading to learn, reading-impaired children are kept from exploring science, history, literature, mathematics and the wealth of information that is presented in print. In America, about 10 million children have difficulties learning to read. From 10 to 15 percent eventually drop out of high school; only 2 percent complete a four-year college program.

The words we speak are made up of individual pieces of sound that scientists refer to as phonemes. The word “bag,” for example, has three phonemes. The problem arises in converting the natural process to print. NICHD studies have found that at least 20 percent of children must be taught English letter-sound system directly in order to learn to read successfully. The greatest possibility for success lies in identifying and treating these children before they reach third grade.

Instructors, usually working in small groups, can explicitly show children that words are made up of tiny sound segments. There are many ways to impart this knowledge. One way is to have children clap in sequence as each speech sound in a word is slowly pronounced. Other methods may involve having children move a small plastic tab or other marker as each sound is made. After the students master this step, instructors can teach them that the letters in words stand for the tiny sounds in speech. This teaching technique, commonly referred to as “phonics” instruction, is usually again introduced slowly at first, perhaps in combination with putting plastic markers beneath letters on a page in sequence with each letter the student “sounds out”. After this phase of instruction is completed, and when children can read the words on the page in an accurate and rapid manner, the student can then be exposed to teaching methods that emphasize immersing children in good literature.

Review:
Early results of other studies suggest that key areas of the brains of people with reading disabilities function differently than in people who read easily. NICHD-funded scientists are also taking advantage of powerful new technologies that allow them to observe the inner workings of the brain. One such method, functional magnetic resonance imaging, uses a computer-directed, magnetic device to obtain brain images. Using this technique, researchers are comparing the brain function of people with reading disabilities to the brain functioning of skilled readers. It is hoped that the technique will allow them to observe the changes that that take place in the brain as individuals learn to overcome their reading impairment. These research projects may one day provide the basis for effective new treatments for reading disabilities.