part 1
journal
Guess the Meaning
As you have discovered throughout this first week, “assessment is an essential educational tool that complements curriculum and instruction” (Howard, V. F., & Aiken, E., 2015, p. 11). In order to effectively utilize this essential tool, it is helpful to have an understanding of the language most commonly used in assessment. To begin this journal you will need to complete “The Language of Assessment” interaction that is located within the Summary and Resources in Chapter 2 of “Assessing learning and development in young children.” After completing the activity, reflect on the following questions:
- How did the activity help to increase your knowledge of vocabulary related to assessment?
- What assessment terms are you still confused about?
- How did completing this activity help you to feel more confident about the content you will be learning in this course?
Suggested Assignment Length: One to two double-spaced pages (not including title and reference pages).
part 2
Determining the Observation Site
For Weeks Two and Five of this course, you will be asked to complete an assessment as well as a developmental screening on a young child. For this Learning Activity, you will find a child to observe for both of these assessments. Before selecting a child to work with, ensure he/she will be available during the next five weeks, as you will need to observe them on more than one occasion. If you are currently working with children, you may request permission to observe and work with a child in your class or center.
If you are not currently working with children, or do not have children of your own (one to eight years of age), you will need to use the videos provided below for your observations. To access the videos, go to The Colorado Department of Education’s Results Matter Video Library and scroll down the list to find the titles of the videos for the child you choose from the table below. To locate transcripts for these videos, please click HERE. Please make sure to watch all of the videos listed in the table below for your chosen child.
| Child to Observe | Video(s) to Watch |
| Davana | Davana and Sidney Painting TogetherDavana and Jozlynn at the Sand Table |
| Kyrill | Kyrill and Kira at the EaselKyrill and Dylan at the Water Table |
| Austin | Austin and Sander at the Breakfast TableAustin and the Broken Bridge |
| Alicia | Alicia in Several Activities |
You must ensure that you can observe and assess the child on multiple occasions. You will need a minimum of two different assessment times, three is preferable. You also must ensure that you are working with the same child for all required assessments during this course.
For this activity you will need to complete the Determining the Observation Site document. Once you have completed the document, you will need to submit to Waypoint for evaluation no later than Day 7.
