One of the first types of tests that a teacher should give students while introducing poetry is a preassessment. Preassessments are tests or simple activities designed to see what the student knows before instruction takes place. A poetry preassessment may include questions on vocabulary, how well the student can determine tone, mood and theme and questions to determine if the student can identify elements of figurative language. Ian Byrd stresses the importance of focusing preassessment questions, saying, “Pick a reasonable sized topic to preassess. An entire unit is too large.”
When learning poetry, vocabulary is critical to a student’s understanding and analysis. There are subtle differences between mood and tone as well as between simile and metaphor. When developing this type of poetry test, it is important to build questions that focus on higher levels of Blooms taxonomy to ensure students have a stronger understanding than the recall level. Students can be asked to create their own similes, metaphors and examples of personifications.
Another opportunity a teacher has to assess their students understanding of poetry is to give a quiz or a test after the whole class has read a poem. This gives the student an opportunity to engage in conversations about a poem sharing vocabulary and analyzing tone, mood and theme. Students are more likely to be successful on this type of poetry test, which can build student confidence.
Allowing a student to take a test after reading a piece of text as a class will not address whether or not the student can apply all they have learned collaboratively to a new text. To test a student’s ability to apply skills to a new situation, teachers can ask a series of questions about a poem that a student has never read before. When determining test questions, Indiana University recommends making sure you know what you are measuring and how you plan to score the test.