Ideas
The “hunt” aspect of this project and the possibility of having their names appear on the website should provide enough incentive for your students find as many objects as possible. Grading should be based on group participation, careful consideration of classification, and recording accuracy rather than the number of objects found. However, it is reasonable to expect students to find and record at least one object every five minutes, once they understand the task and can use the Navigation Tool. The homework assignment given in Follow-up activities may also be used for assessment.
Rubrics
Possible rubrics for grading the project and the peer review activity at the end are given below. Each rubric includes an evaluation of the individual student’s contribution to the accomplishments of the group as well as an evaluation of the group’s work. To use these rubrics, you will have to observe your students throughout the project. To improve performance, give each student a copy of the rubric before starting the activity and ask students to grade themselves. If you disagree with a student’s self-evaluation, meet with the student to discuss the differences and how to improve future grades.
The group participation evaluation is adapted from Judith Arter and Jay McTighe, Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom. Corwin Press, California, 2001. (ISBN 0-7619-7575-6)