Artifact 12

The DRTA is an informal assessment done while a class or individual students are reading. It is made up of several content questions on the story that the students are reading. This assessment gives the teacher the opportunity to see if the student is comprehending what he/she is reading.

Context
This was created during my internship experience while in at Beech Mountain Elementary School. I was given the opportunity to work one-on-one with a second grade student in reading. We read Little Bear and while she was reading I did a DRTA with her. I asked her questions and she answered them. Most of the questions came directly from the book. After we finished reading the book, I asked her to write her own story about what she would wish for.

Impact
I created this DRTA so I could see if she was understanding what she was reading. It is a little easier on the student because she does not think of it as a test and she is simply talking to the teacher. Because of the casual atmosphere it creates, students can begin to answer questions that are similar to end of grade testing, but do not suffer the stress.

Alignment
I will be using this form of assessment in my classroom on a regular schedule. It will be part of the students learning and reading. Because it is not in the form of a test, students are not put under as much stress. (INTASC #8). By using this type of evaluation, I will be able to determine whether or not students are ready to move on to another level of understanding, or if we need to spend more time on a particular book.