how to assess literature reading?

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cheese cake
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:38 am

how to assess literature reading?

Post by cheese cake » Fri Aug 12, 2005 7:00 am



hello! i am a new EFL teacher who needs some help! i am to prepare some test papers on literature readings, can anyone give some advice on how literature can be assessed??

joshua2004
Posts: 264
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 7:08 pm
Location: Torreon, Mexico

Post by joshua2004 » Fri Aug 12, 2005 1:36 pm

If the students level of English is low, I would use simple comprehension questions such as: what was the name of the boat and where is it located? How many characters were in the story and where do they live? Questions that don't require critical thinking is better. If the students are very high in their English, it would be best to provide higher order questions since simple comprehension questions would be too easy and it wouldn't be a good assessment.
I think it is good to have two or more parts to the questions and make the students have to respond with complete sentences. Do a practice assessment with them so they understand the expectation and when you give the real assessment they will do a much better job.

cheese cake
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:38 am

Post by cheese cake » Sat Aug 13, 2005 5:33 am

thanks a lot!!

my students are some new college students at the intermediate level, and the test is set to take around 1 hour's time. what i am thinking about is to adopt some test formats like multi-choice, True or Faulse , and opening questions. currently what troubles me most is how to select the testing points from the work, as it is such a long story. should i focus on one or two themes of the work, and ask the questions on them? or should i ask general questions all through the book? thanks!

cheers :)

MsLit
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Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: Georgia

Literature

Post by MsLit » Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:13 pm

I teach British and Amercan Literature to high school students. My students are not native speakers although they are immersed in English like native speakers. For juniors we do the following texts: Brave New World, Lord of The Flies, Macbeth, The Quiet American, Great Gatsby, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I would like to refresh this list. Can any of you think of the books you enjoyed reading in high school and send the title?
Thanks in advance,
MsLit

markwelch
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 5:00 pm
Location: Pleasanton, CA
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Re: Literature

Post by markwelch » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:53 pm

MsLit wrote: Can any of you think of the books you enjoyed reading in high school and send the title?
Try the list of "favorite and frequently-recommended books for adolescents" at http://www.welchenglish.com/top-books-for-teens.htm

stevemcgarrett
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Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:05 pm

Post by stevemcgarrett » Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:52 am

When assessing literature, you're walking into quicksand. But suffice it to say that the first question any teacher should ask himself is: "What do I wish to ascertain about student knowledge from this test?" Or, more importantly, "What is worth knowing about what students have learned from their reading?"

Horse before the proverbial cart.

mvr_moorthy
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:28 pm
Location: India

Post by mvr_moorthy » Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:48 pm

MsLit wrote"
Can any of you think of the books you enjoyed reading in high school and send the title?"

The books I enjoyed at school are :

" The Three Muskteers" by Alexander Dumas
" The adventures of Tom Sawyer "by Mark Twain
" David Copperfield "
" Around the World in 80 days" by Jules Verne

Senorita Daniels
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Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:11 pm

Post by Senorita Daniels » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:11 pm

For themes for the questions, I would stick to themes that were discussed in class. Then lower level students could have a chance at making a good point in the essays or short answer questions.

mesomorph
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:04 pm

Re: Literature

Post by mesomorph » Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:56 pm

MsLit wrote:I teach British and Amercan Literature to high school students. My students are not native speakers although they are immersed in English like native speakers. For juniors we do the following texts: Brave New World, Lord of The Flies, Macbeth, The Quiet American, Great Gatsby, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I would like to refresh this list. Can any of you think of the books you enjoyed reading in high school and send the title?
Thanks in advance,
MsLit
It would depend on the age and ability of your students.

Can't say I enjoyed reading it but my high school students loved it: 'Holes' by Louis Sachar, there is a modern movie too that the kids love.

Lots of free lessons plans (which I found needed modification) here http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/livea ... /main.html

My kids that did this were 14/15 years old.

If you are going for classic/intellectual stuff there are a million and one books you could choose.

What about 1984, Animal Farm, Hamlet, Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island... blah blah blah etc etc etc...

Some classic stuff puts kids to sleep though, just depends on their age and interests.

Why not find out the types of books/subjects THEY like?

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