General definitions
Formative assessment is an estimation method used by teachers in the learning process. It includes multiple test options designed to calculate each student’s performance in a specific subject. As a result, the teacher can understand problem areas and help students eliminate them based on the results. Moreover, the professor may start using alternative teaching methods if the overall score of interim testing is low. For children, intermediate testing most often takes place in a game format to better understand the topic.
Summative assessments are tests at the end of a module, academic year, or course completion. Its purpose, compared with formative, is not to correct trajectory and provide feedback. Formative assessment is a performance item that is compared to the overall standard. Its grades usually go into a private matter and are essential for children when entering school.
Learning activity 1. Civil rights
K 3 standards apply to kindergartens and junior groups aged three years. They must gain fundamental knowledge about the world around them. The social sciences include citizenship and government, economics, geography, and history. Three further examples of tasks will be presented to form interest and children’s positive attitudes. This slide shows the first method.
Civil rights and responsibilities and the democratic system of the United States can be shown to children by explaining the principle of interaction with each other. Kemple (2017) offered an interesting case study on resolving conflicts; it talks about two toddlers who want to play with one attractive toy.
The teacher should offer the group a toy for the assignment and ask who wants to play with it. Surely many will raise their hands and desire to get it right now. Then it is worth explaining that everyone cannot take this toy at once, and the children will need to find a compromise and play in turn.
Learning activity 2. Geography
The second educational task will help to gain geography knowledge. Children need to build a route from kindergarten to the park and back differently. It will attract attention and interest since these places are already familiar to kids. Understanding space occurs better when a person has already had the experience of interacting with certain areas (Castro, 2018). Now is the time to show the children the map from above to complement the picture of the space in their heads.
To begin with, the teacher needs to recall specific memories, such as the path from home to kindergarten and from house to park. Next, the teacher should show them a map with the location of both objects. Finally, kids need to look and understand where and when to turn. It can be a group activity where the instructor points to a turn and asks to the right or left.
Learning activity 3. Economics
For the last task, the teacher needs to show the children all the cool toys and offer them to choose from. Surely many will want both, but according to the assignment, they can select only one. Someone might wonder why he should choose only one. If no one asks, the teacher should explain that this is not his prerogative but the life structure. It is at the heart of the economic principle. Parents work to buy toys, food, and clothes for children to pay for travel, and the child should understand this. They cannot accept all the toys he wants, being there are many more expenses. Children usually do not understand the value of money, but they are aware of the right and necessity of choice.
Questioning strategy 1
The first survey strategy is to ask open-ended and closed-ended questions randomly. It will increase the audience’s involvement since they must be attentive and periodically think about the details. Clarifying questions can also substantiate the answer and explain it to the whole group (Aimah and Purwanto, 2019). An example of an open-ended question is a request to describe what the child is wearing today. Then he may begin to say that there is a yellow jacket, black pants, and boots with red laces. The closed question is, “did you wear anything red today”? If the child answers no, he can be asked a clarifying question, whether he thought well. Moreover, it is necessary to involve a group to see if the kid is wearing something red. Someone will notice the laces, and then everyone else will understand the logic of the correct answer.
Questioning strategy 2
The funnel of questions helps build relationships between objects, their characteristics, and purposes. It is an educational game for all groups since they can learn something new in their everyday actions. Consecutive questions such as “where were you last weekend? what did you see there? Which animal did you like best? why?” allow the child to relive what he saw and remember the minor details. It is necessary for the development of imagination and memory. Additionally, the teacher can ask the whole class questions, like what we talked about in class last week? (about traffic) What are the colors of traffic lights? Is it possible to cross the road without parents? And other related questions.
Questioning strategy 3
Truth and falsehood questions can be asked to understand students’ perceptions. The teacher can discuss something happening in the class now or the past and ask questions about the students to the rest of the group to increase interest. For example, last week we talked about animals, is that true? (No, they spoke about the traffic the previous week). The teacher explained animals the week before last, which may become a clarifying question, if not final, then when?
Furthermore, this method can be included in the study of geography. For example, the teacher shows the path from the kindergarten to the park and asks, should I turn right here? Children say yes. The professor can display a map from above and ask kids, “here we need to go up?
Assessment task
Choosing a characteristic will help check how the children have assimilated another creature’s external data, space, and lifestyle. The more parameters the teacher puts in the task, the more interesting it will be for the child to choose. For example, from the beginning, use the external signs of the animal, such as color, size, and features (long neck, trunk, long hair). The second may be its habitat, for example, a country or climate, hot, dry, humid, and more. Then the parameters of lifestyle, nutrition, sleep schedule, and other addictions. A similar task can be done by considering many animals and parameters.
The child will have to think about what animal eats, where it lives, and what color and size. For correct results, all these topics should be discussed in the class earlier and checked on intermediate tests since the different mentality of the parents can enrich the child with other knowledge.
References
Aimah, S., & Purwanto, B. (2019). The use of teachers ‘questioning strategies to stimulate students ‘critical literacy: A case of two english lecturers in Indonesia. Indonesian EFL Journal, 5(1), 27-36.
Castro, M. (2018). Experiencing and teaching–a pedagogical experience within the specific didactics of geography. European Journal of Education Studies, 5(1), 28-41. Web.
Kemple, K. M. (2017). Social studies, social competence and citizenship in early childhood education: Developmental principles guide appropriate practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(5), 621–627. Web.