Definition: Learning experiences where students are asked to make meaning of terms, concepts, ideas, procedures, or processes.
What Makes Quality Tasks?
- Offers a personalized experience and choice.
- Has clear and modeled expectations, including directions, success criteria, examples, exemplars, or models to show what success looks like.
- Provides students a sense of an audience.
- Offers social interaction.
- Ensures emotional safety to ask questions, wonder, get stuck, and persevere through.
- Engages students in learning through inquiry, engaging scenarios, discrepant events, scientific phenomena, games, puzzles, or challenge.
- Connected to authentic topics, real world examples, or local cases.
- Includes reflection, summarization, and other ways for students to share their learning and request feedback.
Guiding Questions for Developing Tasks:
- What learning tasks would tell me how learners are progressing related to the Learning Intention(s), Success Criteria, and standards?
- What tasks would offer choice and a personalized learning experience for students?
Resources:
Almarode, J. & Vandas, K. (2018). Clarity for learning: Five essential practices that empower students and teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Formative Assessment Lessons in Math. (n.d.). from https://www.map.mathshell.org/
Also Known As:
Formative Tasks, Performance Tasks or Assessment,
Assessment Products or Performances,
Authentic Learning Experiences, Alternative Assessments
