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=Level 3 English=


 * Facilitator: Iain McGilchrist**
 * Writers: Tim Watson, Hamish Chalmers, Liz Dench, Sarah Frost**


 * Added during writing workshop on Tuesday 26th April by Iain McGilchrist**


 *  Task ||  Key words to summarise the AS  ||  Writer  ||  Notes- developing the assessment task  ||
 *  3.4A ||  crafted and coherent writing  ||  Liz Dench  ||   ||
 *  3.4B ||  crafted and coherent writing  ||  Liz Dench  ||   ||
 *  3.5A ||  construct and deliver oral text  ||  Sarah Frost  ||   ||
 *  3.5B ||  construct and deliver oral text  ||  Hamish  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.6A || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> create visual text  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Hamish  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.6B || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> create visual text  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Hamish  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.7A || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> significant connections  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Tim Watson  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.7B || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> significant connections  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Sarah Frost  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.8A || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> use critical texts...informed understanding of lang and/or lit  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Liz Dench  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.8B || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> use critical texts...informed understanding of lang and/or lit  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Sarah Frost  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.9A || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> close reading of visual/oral text(s)  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Tim Watson  ||   ||
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> 3.9B || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> close reading of visual/oral text(s)  || <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Tim Watson  ||   ||

Apologies for being out of action for a few days. Tim added to the discussions with two concerns. I'll copy them here and try to answer them. Questions: 1. Do we have to provide exemplar responses (a small paragraph etc) like they have on the L1 resources? Or, are we going to just complete more detailed assessment schedules like the L2 resources?
 * Added on Tuesday 19th April by Iain McGilchrist**

We're not expected to write exemplar responses. Full exemplars will come later, after trials of these assessment tasks have been done. We are expected to come up with detailed assessment schedules which do more than copy the criteria and "see exemplar A." The writing of the assessment schedule will be trickiest of all, I suspect. It needs to contain "unpacked" assessment criteria which will include details from the explanatory notes as well as excerpts/examples of what is expected from the students. I see these as being no more than a sentence or two and only to guide markers as to the difference between the grades. Eg. in 3.5 oral presentation, the exemplar response might show more clearly the move from "coherent" in A to include "convincing" in M.

2. The L2 resources are VERY sparse (much more so than the L1 tasks). They all feel a wee bit like B tasks and the difference between A and B is not huge. The L1 A tasks seem to be more directive than the B. Which are more like the tasks that we will have to create? I guess the major query I have (before I sit down and create loads of detailed materials) is: do we want generic, non-specific resources that ask more questions than they answer? Or, do we want resources that provide a clear directive to teachers and suggest a 'plan' that they could follow? My understanding was that this is why there was a difference between A and B - B being more generic and A being an examples of how the assessment could be used in a programme. I may be wrong.

No, you are not wrong, and I agree with your observations about the L2 tasks being similar. The writing process for L1 and 2 so far has been used to evaluate the whole process and so our instructions for L3 are a development of the L1 and 2. It was felt that the old tasks were very long and were pretty much a whole teaching and learning package. During L2 writing last year, we were pretty much doing the same - several preparatory tasks, leading to one assessment product. Our brief now is to write assessment tasks without a lot of directive to teachers about how to prepare students for the assessment (ie we don't need to suggest a plan for them to follow). I see it as being like externals: in the exam for current 3.2 there are essay questions but no structured preparatory activities (Task 1: Plan. Task 2: Select your evidence etc)

The challenge for us is to come up with 2 assessment resources per standard. The A task should be more specific than the B. For example, the task for 3.4A might specify the type of writing - an obituary of a famous and long dead writer - but the B task might not be so specific as to text type. Eg. it may be a creative piece that allows students to choose poetry, narrative, screenplay etc and also allow teachers to restrict, adapt or add to the suggestions in the assessment.

The L2 tasks on this wiki do seem very sparse and stripped back. The first drafts of these resources were much longer and included step by step instructions/prep activities. They were edited to be clearer about what students had to do. It was felt that with many existing tasks, when you asked the question, "Precisely what is being assessed?" from a student's point of view it was quite unclear at times. (...and for those students with weaker literacy skills, do they really need 18 pages of dense detail which hinders them rather than helps them?) The document called "Anatomy of an Assessment Resource" in the "material..." page is worth having a look at several times as we go through the writing. Essentially, our tasks need to: 1 Name the product (exactly what will be assessed) 2 Explain how students' work will be judged. 3 Specify any conditions 4 Describe and structure the task. However, we are not to give lots of detail, nor provide any formatted templates with space for students to write in. 5 Include a specific assessment schedule. 6 Include any notes to teachers. Eg interpolated notes to teachers specifying that they are to modify.adapt part of the assessment.

I hope that addresses Tim's questions. I can recommend that you keep thinking of ideas and maybe posting hem here for feedback/discussion. I'd also recommend that you don't go charging ahead and write huge documents to bring with you. We will receive a briefing session, I expect, in which many of the principles of assessment writing will be reinforced and I'd hate for anyone to think that they sweated blood over a resource that now needs to be drastically revised.

This week, it will really be worthwhile reading the "Guidelines for Writers" document. I have tried summarising its key points but really, it is already concise and easy to understand, so I don't think it's worth simplifying it any more. As you start thinking through your ideas for tasks this week, it might be worth re-reading the sections called innovative assessment. There are some good ideas there that could be craftily adapted for English. Eg. I liked the "prepare a briefing paper" and thought that this could be adapted to a good oral activity in which one survivor at the end of a story has to hold a press conference to explain to the wider public what happened - what did Lodovico relate with heavy heart to the Venetian media? This same idea could be done in writing for 3.4. Anyway, similar ideas might occur to you, so if you're running low on ideas, maybe start there.

Heather at Learning Media has added a page to this wiki with examples of L2 assessment resources. They are still in the draft stage and may undergo some minor changes. You are welcome to have a look at them and see the types of tasks the L2 writers came up with. Maybe they could be used as a source of inspiration - you may see a good way to develop or build on the skills assessed at L2. On the other hand, you may not want to be too influenced by L2, in which case, don't feel obliged to look at them. If you are opting to do both the A and the B task, then the L2 samples may be worth looking at so you can see the distinction. The distinction is more marked at L2 than with the new L1 tasks. We are not bound to follow one or the other but our brief is still that the B tasks should be more easily adapted to suit teachers' programmes.
 * Added on Tuesday 12th April by Iain McGilchrist**

There are a number of details that I need to mention with respect to the finer points of the assessment writing. These are detailed in the "Material for Writers" page (link on the left) but I will highlight the points that are particularly pertinent to English. I'm working on it this week - this week of woe in the term that will not die - so check again later in week. At this stage, one key thing to realise is that the tasks can't be a unit of work, or a detailed process. Looking at some of the current tasks such as 3.1 "Chapter One," it is really a process that takes several lessons or even several weeks. The new tasks should be assessments that stand alone and we don't need to provide a range of preparatory exercises for teachers to use. The thinking here is that in some cases, teachers have, for a variety of reasons, treated the tasks like a unit of work and that they started by "doing" 3.2 and then "doing" 3.1. It has been, understandably, easy to plan a year's programme by joining a series of TKI tasks together, much like Lego. Philosophically, now, the idea is to let teachers plan the content that best suits their school and their students, then choose how to assess students' learning. Personally, I'd hope that students also have some say in their internal assessment - eg within any particular class, some students may select to be assessed against 3.7 while others select to be assessed against 3.8. (Obviously, teachers will need to have input here as well.) The L2 tasks, therefore, will look a little bald compared with what we're used to, and I expect you'll find your L3 tasks a bit bald too. I've a few strategies around this and we can discuss these later.

Thanks for the info about who'd like to write what. I've updated the chart below. I'm guessing/hoping that, Hamish, you're happy with what's left. We can still change things around, if you want. As the planning and writing process gets underway, even in the Welly workshop, we can always negotiate changes.

I'm checking the discussion here a couple of times a day, but I'm always available by email or phone too. iain.mcgilchrist@mcglashan.school.nz 03 467 6620 x 248 school 03 473 8459 home

The next step for us is to decide on who is going to write what resource(s). There are 12 tasks to be done in total. That's either three each, or if one of you wants only to do two, another could pick up an extra. The table below summarises the requests you have indicated to me already. Can we try and fill in some gaps over the next few days. There's no urgency (yet) with this but as you think through the standard and start developing an idea for a task, then you could opt in to an A or a B task, or both. I've taken your indications so far and added them in the table below. You could think about A or B tasks or both and add your name beside the relevant AS. Maybe it will help the planning process to add a note or two in the final column to share the briefest of summaries about any ideas you have. Eg. 3.4A - the notes/ideas might read "Turn one text type into another eg convert Act V, scene ii of //Othello// into a novel."
 * Added on Wednesday 6th April by Iain McGilchrist**


 * Task || Key words to summarise the AS || Writer || Notes/ideas about a possible assessment task ||
 * 3.4A || crafted and coherent writing || Liz Dench || turning facts/real events to fiction ||
 * 3.4B || crafted and coherent writing || Liz Dench ||  ||
 * 3.5A || construct and deliver oral text || Sarah Frost ||  ||
 * 3.5B || construct and deliver oral text || Hamish ||  ||
 * 3.6A || create visual text || Hamish ||  ||
 * 3.6B || create visual text || Hamish ||  ||
 * 3.7A || significant connections || Tim Watson || something about texts in time (choosing a time and looking at texts and context) ||
 * 3.7B || significant connections || Sarah Frost ||  ||
 * 3.8A || use critical texts...informed understanding of lang and/or lit || Liz Dench ||  ||
 * 3.8B || use critical texts...informed understanding of lang and/or lit || Sarah Frost ||  ||
 * 3.9A || close reading of visual/oral text(s) || Tim Watson || close reading a documentary ||
 * 3.9B || close reading of visual/oral text(s) || Tim Watson || ???? ||

Welcome to this wikispace for writers of internal assessment resources for NCEA level 3. Here you will find:
 * the draft achievement standards
 * materials designed to assist writers with their writing.

Please read these materials carefully – the resources we are looking for differ in significant ways from many of the resources currently on TKI and/or in use in schools.

Use this space to:
 * discuss the draft standards with your writers. Try and identify any issues with the standard by early April; lodge them in the file on the reporting page. We will refer all issues to the Ministry, hopefully for resolution prior to the writing workshop in April.
 * identify which writer will be writing resources for which standard(s). Writers will then post their ideas for resources and, with your help, flesh them out into concepts.

During March, provide support and feedback for your writers as they explore ideas, settle on the best ones, and flesh these out into working concepts. In mid April, an editor will review concepts and provide feedback.

If you have any questions, please contact any of the LML team: Heather Kirkman Claire Redman Jo McCready We are all members of this space so you can communicate via the wiki discussion or our joint email is ncea@learningmedia.co.nz.

**Added on Friday 1st April by Iain McGilchrist:** Next week, I would like to get some discussion going on this wiki about some of the issues we'll face as writers. I have been briefed on what the Ministry and Learning Media are looking for in the assessment tasks. I'm in the middle of writing up these notes and I'll post them here early next week. I'll keep things as brief as possible. I'd also like us to think about who will write for which standard. Sarah, I think has put her hand up for AS 3.8 already. Can I ask you to start becoming familiar with the standards and suggesting which you'd like to do. Having written for L1 and L2, I can offer the following observation - writing both the A and B task is sometimes useful: you get a really solid understanding of the AS and its demands. Then again, I felt that writing both A and B did hinder me a bit because I found that the second task I worked on tended to become very similar to the first. So, I suppose I'd recommend doing both if you manage to come up with quite different ideas/contexts for the tasks.

Can I also ask you to read the documents on the "Material for Writers" page. The link is on the LHS of this page. It has the template and some general information for writers. This may answer some questions and, no doubt, raise others. I'll be in touch early next week to advance this discussion.

Iain