Hello colleagues, I started teaching a new class today with beginning ELLs. Here's an activity I developed many years ago to assess listening skills. Since this was our first class, we spent some time getting acquainted. A routine I use daily is a conversation grid for students to interview each other. This conversation grid was designed to help students get acquainted. Students asked each other their names, where they were from, how long they've lived in the US, if they were married or single, and if they had children. Each student interviewed three classmates and wrote their partners' answers to the questions on the grid..
For the listening assessment activity, at the end of class, I handed out lined paper and asked the students to number their paper 1 to 5. I asked students the same questions from the conversation grid, plus a couple of additional questions from the reading we did in class. They needed to write the answers to the questions on the lined paper. I collected all the papers and will provide feedback to students on their writing. In this way, I am able to assess who understands the questions as well as who is able to write and how well the students can write.
This activity serves as a formative assessment strategy because it guides my next steps in teaching. I can readily see who needs extra support and who needs to be challenged more. I can also see which questions we may need to repeat as a group.
Each day we repeat some of the same questions on the conversation grid and we add new ones related to the themes we are studying. And at the conclusion of each class, I ask questions related to our class content, including the grid activity, to assess listening skills.
Please share your thoughts on this listening assessment strategy. What are some other ways to assess ELLs' listening skills?
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, AELL & Assessment CoPs
Comments
Hi Susan, I was looking for a good "first day" conversation grid, searched on LINCS, and found this post. Just wanted to let you know that even 6 years later, your post is here and much appreciated. Thanks for all you do!
Dear Susan and All,
Thank you for sharing the listening and writing assessment.
The conversation grid at the beginning of a new class is great, for it gets the students to get to know each other more. With three Ss on the first day, three more on another day, and so on, that by the end of the week, most students would be more comfortable with each other.
The writing part is also a great follow-up. The Ss always appreciate the instructor's comment on their writing. It is something that Ss look forward to....Both the conversation and the writing are evolving as new questions are added according to the theme of the week. The students will also have the option to write longer paragraphs based on the topic from the first week or from the following weeks.
I second Jana's comment, thank you for all you do.
Hope you have a great term!
Best to all,
Margaret Ibasco