Assessment Spotlight, Issue 211
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) email update, November 11, 2022.Focusing on the CAASPP System and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California’s other statewide assessments. For questions related to test administration, coordination, and trainings, visit the CAASPP website
and the ELPAC website
.
November’s Featured Resource in Tools for Teachers—Explore World Climates with Climatograms
Engage your students in climate research! Teachers can use this month’s Tools for Teachers science instructional resource, Explore World Climates with Climatograms
(account required), to help grade-three students research climate data for different climate regions around the world. This activity-rich lesson is aligned with the California Next Generation Science Standards and focuses on the Science and Engineering Practice: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information.
In this lesson, students differentiate between weather and climate using the Notice/Wonder formative assessment strategy. Next, students discover the characteristics of the five climate regions and analyze climatograms—or climographs—during a gallery walk. Later, students work in pairs to practice the skills of locating and accessing online resources to gather weather and climate data for a specific city. After obtaining and evaluating climate data, the student pairs communicate their learning by reporting on their assigned city’s climate using a climatogram.
“Explore World Climates with Climatograms” includes step-by-step instructions, graphic organizers, and climatogram templates that can be printed or used digitally. The lesson’s embedded formative assessment and accessibility strategies ensure that all learners can engage with the content.
To access this resource and other instructional resources,local educational agency (LEA) staff will need a free Tools for Teachers account, which can be obtained either through the self-registration web page (PDF) or through their LEA CAASPP coordinator.
Please share this email with any educators in your LEA who would be interested in or benefit from this information. To join the email list, send a blank email message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Are you a new subscriber? Visit the California Department of Education Assessment Spotlight web page to find previous issues.
