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Equality and Inequality

Strand: Patterns and Relations (Variables and Equations)
Outcomes: 4, 5

Step 4: Assess Student Learning

Guiding Questions

• Look back at what you determined as acceptable evidence in Step 2.
• What are the most appropriate methods and activities for assessing student learning?
• How will I align my assessment strategies with my teaching strategies?

Sample Assessment Tasks

In addition to ongoing assessment throughout the lessons, consider the following sample activities to evaluate students' learning at key milestones. Suggestions are given for assessing all students as a class or in groups, individual students in need of further evaluation and individual or groups of students in a variety of contexts.

A. Whole Class/Group Assessment

Note: Performance-based assessment tasks are under development.

Ask students to use manipulatives to solve the following problems. They should draw pictures and write an equation to show how they solved each problem.

• John saw five sparrows feeding at the birdfeeder. He went away and later he looked and counted 14 sparrows at the birdfeeder. How many more sparrows flew to the birdfeeder while he wasn't looking?
• There are seven children playing baseball. Six more children join them. How many children are there altogether?

B. One-on-One Assessment

Assessment activities can be used with individual students, especially students who may be having difficulty with the outcome.

Ask the student to tell you if the following sentences are correct. If they are not correct, ask the student how to make them correct.

4 + 7 = 9 + 2	18 > 7 + 9	8 + 7 = 10 + 6
3 + 6 = 7 + 2	11 + 7 = 16 + 2	5 + 1 < 7 + 4

C. Applied Learning

Provide opportunities for students to use their learning in a practical situation and notice whether or not the strategies transfer.

1. Using a pan balance from the science laboratory, have students determine what some very common items weigh. Have them compare items of similar weight to see how the balance reacts. Do the same with items that weigh different amounts so they begin to understand the idea of balance. Compare items such as a baseball and a tin of tuna.
2. A similar activity can be done using the playground seesaw. Have students of similar weight try to balance the seesaw. Then have them write sentences to describe what they saw; e.g., John has a greater mass than Betty.

Related Resources

• Assessment in the Mathematics