Caesar's Last Breath Assessment Teacher Sheet

Introduction

You can use the information on this sheet to help assess the students' presentations and essays.

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PRESENTATION

The student sheet for the presentations provides a general set of topics that the presentations should cover. You should determine the format and organization that best suits your class. The presentation will both demonstrate what the students have learned from their assigned section and communicate the key points of the chapters to their peers in other groups. In deciding the format and organization, consider the time available to both develop the presentations and give them, and what presentation formats students may already be familiar with.

For format, consider: How do you want the information presented; for example, a PowerPoint presentation, a Ted-style talk, a poster presentation, or an interview-style talk? Should the students include a Q&A or discussion section that will involve the rest of the class? Will students present in-class or create a video?

For organization, consider: Do you want to specify details like number of slides and specific sections for consistency, or give students flexibility in how they structure the presentation? How will the students in each chapter work together—all in one group or in smaller groups? Are there additional topics that should be covered?

In evaluating the presentations, consider both the content and the presentation skills. You may want to develop a rubric that relates to the format and organization that you asked the students to follow. Here is an example rubric, focused on the content. 

	4	3	2	1
Storyline summary	Presentation includes all relevant storylines	Presentation includes most relevant storylines	Only some of the storylines are presented	Includes few parts of the storyline in the summary
	Storylines are clearly communicated – what happened, who was involved, what was the context or background.	Most parts of the storylines are communicated. Some details or context may be missing or unclear	Some parts of the storylines are communicated, but may be missing important details. Storylines may have been presented but were unclear.	Storyline details were not presented or were difficult to understand, and details and context is missing
	Connections between the storylines, and between the chapter and interlude, are identified, and go beyond the connections explicitly made by the author	Most connections between the storylines, and between the chapter and interlude, are identified.	Few connections between the storylines, and between the chapter and interlude are identified, and may be limited to connections explicitly made by the author.	Few to no connections are made or are limited to superficial connections or those clearly identified in the book.
Scientific discoveries and technology advancements	All scientific discoveries and technology advances were identified and clearly explained	Most of the scientific discoveries and technology advances were identified and explained	Few of the scientific discoveries and technology advances were identified, or were explained poorly	Major scientific discoveries and technology advances were not identified, or were identified but not explained
Concept strands	All applicable concept strands have appropriate examples listed, including less obvious examples	The applicable concept strands have most of the appropriate examples listed	The applicable concept strands have only a few examples listed, or a concept strand is missing all applicable examples	Most concept strands are missing, or the examples used do not fit the strands.
	The connections between the concept strand and the story examples are clearly explained and may include connections to examples from outside the text, such as from the class textbooks or previous lessons	Most connections between the concept strand and the story examples are clearly explained	Only a few connections between the examples and concept strands are explained – most connections are unclear or the examples are only listed without the connection being explained.	Most connections between the examples and concept strands are unclear or the examples are only listed without the connection being explained.

 

When you evaluate the presentations, some things to consider are:

• Were the main topics and themes covered?
• Did the students identify relevant misconceptions? Did they clearly communicate the correct explanation?
• Did they identify and clearly explain connections between the stories and the concept strands?
• Did the students demonstrate appropriate presentation skills (speaking clearly, making eye contact, etc.)?
• Was the presentation well organized and provide the information in an understandable way? Were the students who read other sections able to follow and understand the information?

ESSAYS

If you assign students to write an essay, some questions to consider are:

• Will you assign specific discoveries for students to write about or let them choose?
• Do you want students to base their essay on the book contents alone or do additional research?
• What format should the essay follow? You may want to use an essay format that students have used in the past.

In evaluating the essays, consider both the content and the writing skills. You may want to develop a rubric that relates to the format and organization that you asked the students to follow.

When you evaluate the essays, some things to consider are:

• Writing skills: Is the essay well organized? Is it free of grammatical errors and typos?
• Does the essay accurately describe the advancement and the details about the discovery and application, based on the information in Caesar’s Last Breath (and from outside sources if requested)?
• Does the essay show understanding of the connections between the history of the discovery and the relevant concept strands?

This teacher sheet is a part of the Caesar's Last Breath lesson.