Another Meeting

Click this Grendel
Today our PLC had another meeting. Our members discussed ways that we could coordinate both our testing and our Senior Exit Projects.

And here I include a sample from our Final Test:

Senior Final 2008

From Beowulf :

Then, when Darkness had dropped, Grendel
Went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors
Would do in that hall when their drinking was done
He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting
Nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monster’s
Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws:
He slipped through the door and there in the silence
Snatched up thirty men, smashed them
Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies,
The blood dripping behind him, back
To his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter.

1.When did Grendel approach Herot ?
a) At night b) At dawn c) At noon

2. Why were the warriors easy targets for the monster ?
a) They were weaklings. b) They had been drinking.
c) There were only a few of them.

3. How was the monster Grendel described ?
a) Clumsy b) Weak c) Quick

4. True or False : The men screamed in pain.
a) True b) False

5. True or False : The men had prepared a trap for Grendel.
a) True b) False

6. How do we know that Grendel was particularly evil ?
a)He was happy to have killed so many.
b)He had quick claws.
c) He waited until they slept.

Senior Final

Mr. Corwin and I chose selections we had studied in class, and then built comprehension questions referring to those selections. We tried to develop a realistic assessment that was usable for all of our students, even if they had entered class after our starting date. Consequently, we chose Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Macbeth, "Ozymandias" and a sonnet by Shakespeare. In addition, we used selections from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker,Dubliners by James Joyce and Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Each selection had five to ten questions following its printed text. We felt that this construction was more like the testing that our students would encounter in FCAT makeups and SAT testing.

We were pleased with the results. Most students scored in a middle range, with few high grades, but also few outright failures.