Crossing Borders Assessment Ideas

About This Assessment

Over the course of this text set, students have explored various reasons why people move and the ways in which migrating—whether fleeing, leaving, or moving—can shape our sense of who we are and where we belong. Students encountered multi-genre literature and personal stories that may have affirmed and validated some of their own migration experiences or, perhaps, provided them with a glimpse into someone else’s world. Through close analysis of texts and interactive learning experiences, students had opportunities to practice perspective-taking, build empathy, and explore strategies for creating inclusive communities rooted in kindness and care.

To help students apply key concepts from the text set to their own lives and the world around them, we offer two summative assessment options:

1. Design a “Bridges of Empathy” Infographic: Students use insights gained from the text set to design an infographic that motivates their school community to foster empathy and inclusiveness. Then they write a personal reflection that connects the ideas on their infographic to lessons they learned from this unit’s texts.
2. Write a “3 Whys” Personal Reflection: Students write a reflection that explores the personal, communal, and global significance of one of the text set’s essential questions, developing their critical and empathic thinking skills and understanding for our interconnected global society.

We recognize that you teach in different contexts and have different learning goals for your students. These assessment options are starting places from which you can create a culminating experience and materials that feel authentic and relevant for your students.

Options

Overview: Design a “Bridges of Empathy” Infographic

In this unit, students considered the power of literature and storytelling to build what poet Richard Blanco calls “bridges of empathy,” for ourselves and between one another, for the experience of migration. As they observed in Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Gate A-4,” small acts of kindness, like answering a call for help, sharing stories, and accepting offerings of food, can build these bridges in small but impactful ways. These metaphorical bridges help us cultivate community and belonging across differences in the most unlikely of places.

For this assessment idea, students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to identify five ways they can build bridges of empathy through small acts of kindness in their school. They will seek inspiration from the unit materials and present their ideas on an infographic that they share with their peers. Then, individually, students will write a short reflection that explains how each idea on their infographic connects to or extends something they learned during the unit from a text, discussion, journal reflection, or classroom experience. 

Infographic Procedure

1. Introduce the Assessment
   • Remind students that early in the unit, poet Richard Blanco introduced the idea that poems can be “bridges of empathy” that create understanding in ourselves for our own experiences as well as the experiences of others. When we build a bridge of empathy, we are trying to understand how another person may be feeling, which in turn can strengthen our communication and relationships. Building bridges of empathy requires curiosity, active listening and thinking, and a willingness to see the world from another’s perspective, even if it is different from our own. 
   • Explain that for this assessment, students will create a “Bridges of Empathy” infographic. An infographic combines words and images to express one or more ideas quickly and clearly in a creative manner. For their infographics, students will identify five ideas or lessons from the Crossing Borders text set for small steps or actions they can take to build bridges of empathy that foster kindness and belonging at their school. They will use words, color, images, symbols, and design to present their five ideas or lessons on an infographic. 
   • Let students know that they will be presenting their infographics to the class and submitting a short piece of individual writing that explains their learning. 
2. Collect Ideas from the Unit Materials
   • Instruct students to take out their materials from the text set—the texts, handouts, journal responses, and class notes—so they are prepared to reference them for their infographics. Then have students work on their own to generate a list in their journals of 8 to 10 ways that people can build bridges of empathy in their school. Tell them that they should draw on the unit materials, which they can refer to as they create their lists, to generate ideas.
   • If students are working in pairs or small groups, have them move into those configurations at this time. Then have them share their lists, adding any new ideas that come up to their own lists. Finally, instruct students to place a star by their five strongest ideas, which they will develop for an infographic. If students are in pairs or groups, they should come to a consensus to determine their top five.
3. Analyze Models of Infographics
   Show two or three models of infographics and discuss what makes each infographic effective or ineffective. Identify the purpose of each infographic (what message the designer wants to convey) and its audience. Then consider how the designer develops their message with text, images, color, fonts, spacing, etc. Invite students to make suggestions for how a designer could improve the infographic to make it even stronger. 
4. Create Infographics
   • In their notebooks or journals, have students draft the text for their infographics. When they are happy with their written statements, they should generate a list of possible images or symbols, as well as colors that they would like to incorporate into their final product. 
   • Then they should create their infographics using an online tool, Google Slides, or paper and markers (see Teaching Note 1). 
5. Present Infographics and Reflect on Learning

• Have students present their infographics and explain the inspiration from the text set for each idea. For their presentations, they can project their infographic from a computer or, if your school has a color printer, print them for a gallery walk. “Bridges of Empathy” infographics make powerful bulletin board or hallway displays to educate and inspire others in the school. 
• Finally, ask students to write a paragraph that explains how each idea on their infographic connects to or extends their thinking about a text in this text set. Alternatively, you could use the 3-2-1 strategy for the final reflection with the following prompts: 
  • How do three of the ideas on your infographic connect to or extend ideas or concepts from this unit?  
  • What two ideas on your infographic are you most committed to embodying so that you can be a bridge of empathy at your school? Why did you choose these two ideas? 
  • What is one aspect of this project that makes you proud? It might be an idea you had, a connection you made, a contribution, a design or content detail, something about the process, etc. 

Option 2

Overview: Write a “3 Whys” Personal Reflection

Core to Facing History’s approach is providing students with opportunities to make personal and global connections to what they are learning. Earlier in this text set, we introduced Project Zero’s “3 Whys” thinking routine, which invites students to consider why a question or topic may matter to them, their community, and the world. The more students use the “3 Whys,” the more opportunities they have to internalize the steps and apply them independently, fluidly, and flexibly to their own lives. This is a powerful habit of mind for them to carry with them into our interconnected global society. 

For this individual assessment, students use the “3 Whys” routine to respond to one of the text set’s essential questions, drawing evidence from the text set and their own experiences for their reflections. This assessment can culminate with a whole-class discussion or Fishbowl if you would like students to process their reflections as a group. 

The “3 Whys” Procedure

1. Introduce the Assessment
   • Have students take out their materials from the Crossing Borders text set—the texts, handouts, journal responses, and class notes—so they are prepared to incorporate ideas into their reflections. 
   • Then pass out the handout The “3 Whys” Personal Reflection and read the instructions as a class. Remind students that there is no one “right” answer to the questions. You are looking for thoughtful and authentic responses that incorporate ideas that students have explored during the unit and from their own experiences. Every student may have a different response, and that’s okay!
2. Provide Thinking and Writing Time
   Give students ample time to review their materials and craft their reflections. You might distribute sticky notes and/or highlighters so they can annotate ideas that they would like to incorporate into their reflections. Circulate as they work to respond to clarifying questions and support students as needed. 
3. Facilitate a Class Discussion

• First, instruct students to put their pens and pencils down for the discussion. Let them know that they will have time after the discussion to add any new ideas to their reflections.
• Then facilitate a class discussion in which students share their ideas for each question. You could also use a discussion strategy like Fishbowl, in which you have one round for each question. 
• After the discussion, give students five minutes to add any new ideas to their handouts. Encourage them to give credit where credit is due by naming who gave them the new idea or insight. Then collect the handouts.