1. Formative Assessment
Writing a Folktale and Creating a Movie to Share
30 minutes, four times a week, 31 proficient to advanced third graders meet in my room
for reading and writing. The first part of the students’ project, for writing a folktale, is to
brainstorm ideas and then put pencil to paper. They will write their folktale with the elements
we have discussed. They will create three different paragraphs: one for beginning, middle, and
end. All this will be done in the classroom as I walk around and help remind students of the
elements we have discussed.
The writing will take anywhere from 2 to 4 days, depending on the students’ ability.
Once all students are done writing they will meet, individually, with me. While I am meeting
with students and discussing the elements of their folktale, others will finish writing or read a
variety of folktales. Once we’re done editing, I will show the students how to create their
folktales on the program Pixie. They’ve all had experience with the program at our school
computer lab.
Once we get to the lab I will have the students access the Pixie program. I will have
them start with creating a title page and then show them how to add pages to their project.
Once they have created their title page they will continue to add a page for each paragraph.
They will use their edited paper copies to type. After typing they will add illustration to show
what they wrote. As students are spell checking their projects and coming to an end I will have
them begin recording for each page. I will stagger who records so that there isn’t too much
background noise.
After the students create their folktale I will ask them to share with me. I will collect all
the students’ stories, by class, so that I can create a collection of their stories for them to share
with their own teacher and class.