AssessmentsNicole Redmond

SCED 401

Motivational Activity

1.Take out a piece of paper.2.Silently write 4 sentences describing the image you see.3.After you write, you will be given time to discuss this image

with your group.

Lesson Overview• Third lesson on Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief• Students have studied characterization and made predictions

about the text• Lesson will center on perspective to prepare students to

understand why the author chooses to write this novel from the perspective of “death” in a future lesson

Objective• Students will…

1. Understand the importance of “perspective” as it applies to the novel and make conclusions about why the author chose to write this novel from death’s perspective instead of from a different character’s perspective by seeing what different viewpoints can bring to a story

2. Collaborate with one another about the novel in discussion groups to gain understanding through one another’s perspectives

Motivational Activity (Rorschach Test)

• How did this get students thinking about perspective in the novel?• Key student responses• What is this already informally assessing?

Group Discussion

• Assessed…1.Verbal Participation2.Written discussion worksheet provided a hard-copy of the

data3.Students’ abilities to collaborate and recognize different

readers’ perspectives

Novel Excerpt (Closure)“On the footpath, Liesel stood with her papa and Rudy. Hans Hubermann wore a face with the shades pulled down. In the night, Liesel dreamed like she always did. At first, she saw the brownshirts marching, but soon enough they led her to a train, and the usual discovery awaited. Her brother was staring again. When she woke up screaming, Liesel knew immediately that on this occasion, something had changed. A smell leaked out from under the sheets, warm and sickly. At first, she tried convincing herself that nothing had happened, but as Papa came closer and held her, she cried and admitted the fact in his ear. ‘Papa,’ she whispered, ‘Papa,’ and that was all. He could probably smell it. He lifted her gently from the bed and carried her into the washroom. The moment came a few minutes later.‘We take the sheets off,’ Papa said, and when he reached under and pulled at the fabric, something loosened and landed with a thud. A black book with silver writing on it came hurtling out and landed on the floor, between the tall man’s feet.

He looked down at it. He looked at the girl, who timidly shrugged.Then he read the title, with concentration, aloud: ‘The Grave Digger’s Handbook.’So that’s what it’s called, Liesel thought. A patch of silence stood among them now. The man, the girl, the book. He picked it up and

spoke soft as cotton.”

Closure/Writing Activity

• Assessed student ability to…1.Consider what may have been different had the novel been

narrated from a different perspective2.Recreate a situation through a different perspective3.Make comparisons about differences in perspectives

Students are thinking about…

• What could have been different if “death” wasn’t the narrator?• Would readers miss anything if the perspective had been

subjective instead of objective?

Assessment Results• 76% of students were very successful scoring 8/10 or higher• Students understand perspective as it applies to The Book

Thief and how to recreate it• Group discussions indicated that some students are not

reading, causing them to be unsuccessful in the classroom• A follow-up assessment will be given to track improvement

Student Work

The End