Test conceptual understanding through ‘doodling’
7th grade Life Science, like all subjects, the ability of students to successfully show their knowledge on a test is closely tied to their
ability to comprehend the meaning of the questions asked and answer choices given. This assessment menu, which includes
doodling, allows students to deconstruct and interpret content knowledge that presents itself as vocabulary and chronological
development of knowledge in science. Students will demonstrate their understanding both of the meaning of the vocabulary and the
development of the cell theory.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
Students are introduced to
vocabulary and cell theory
through graphic organizers
and diagrams.
Students are shown
how science content
of all levels can be
simplified and
depicted through
various mediums,
including song. In this
case, it was for cell
theory.
Students work with a matching
game that shows definitions,
words, and microscopic
pictures of cell organelles.
Students are introduced to the
Google doodle, shown examples
that exemplify science content
knowledge, and reminded of the
drawing skills they have acquired
in the past two years.
http://youtu.be/BTicXXx
zQA4
(Several examples out of many)
STEP 5
STEP 6
STEP 7
STEP 8
Students work with an
assessment menu to
select alternate ways of
showing content
knowledge, one of
which must be a
Google doodle. Other
choices include poems
and one-man plays, all
requiring lyrical
qualities like the songs
earlier viewed and
heard.
The teacher must circulate throughout the
room while all of this is being done to
assess student comprehension, modify
understanding & review.
Students reveal their
understanding of the
content and the
question through their
Google doodles and/or
other alternate
assessment choices.
Students are able to critique
and compare Google
doodles through display.
Teacher Name: Michele Lombard and Heather Akpata
Kenmore Middle School
Grade Level / Subject: 7th Grade Life Science
7th Grade Life Science standards
Student Reflections
LS.2
“This is not easy.”
The student will investigate and understand that
all living things are composed of cells. Key
concepts include
a) cell structure and organelles;
b) similarities and differences between plant and
animal cells;
c) development of cell theory; and
d) cell division.
Student: “Ms. Lombard, does this drawing make sense?”
Me: “Well, explain to me how that fits the word and the
definition.”
Student: [Able to explain how the drawing represents the
function of the cell organelle]
Me: “Then yes, it makes sense.”
In regards to showcase display:
“There’s mine!”
“Those look so cool!”
Virginia Art Standards of Learning
Teacher Reflection
Visual Arts
7.4
The student will communicate ideas, experiences,
and narratives through the creation of works of art,
using traditional and contemporary media
Sometimes, as I go through this process, I don’t want to do
it again, because there is so much resistance from
students. Students often seem complacent to take a paper
and pencil quiz, but they really struggle to represent
information in alternate ways. At first, they resist so much
that it makes it easier to revert to traditional methods.
However, as students get more and more practice and
experience representing learned information in alternate
ways, it gets easier for me to ask it of them. I am expecting
more of them, and sometimes it takes a while for them to
reach for that distance. There are some students who shine
with alternative ways of showing what they know, and I
have come to know them as excellent artists with drawing
or video creation. Some of their talents are amazing.
7.19 The student will describe personal responses to
visual qualities of works of art.
Music
7.7
The student will explore historical and cultural
aspects of music by
6. examining the relationship of music to the
other fine arts and other fields of knowledge;