Launchpad Solo for Literature comes fully loaded with many types of assessment—from formative activities that support close and collaborative reading to comprehension quizzes and grammar exercises. Here’s an overview of the types of assessment available to you and your students.
Pre-built Modules
Interactive modules appear in the main contents of LaunchPad Solo for Literature, organized by reading. The first of these is “Anne Bradstreet, ‘The Author to Her Book.’” Within each of these units you’ll find 3-5 common assessment types.
Respond to a Reading
Through marginal questions that refer to specific moments in the publisher-provided selection, students are asked to read carefully and think critically about important issues raised by the text. Once submitted, the student’s responses report to the instructor grade book.
Draw Connections
For this assignment, students are asked to read and compare two publisher-provided texts that illuminate each other. Each of the texts has been annotated to highlight key moments and helpful contextual information. Students are able to open both of the texts to facilitate comparison. Students are asked to respond in writing to a series of questions that highlight important similarities and differences between the two texts. Once submitted, the student’s responses will report to the instructor grade book.
Collaborate on a Reading
For this instructor-led assignment, instructors can upload their favorite text or choose from publisher-provided texts in order to create a customized lesson on close reading. Using the highlighting tools and the notes feature in LaunchPad, the instructor can post notes or questions about specific moments or issues in a text, prompting students to respond with their own comments, questions, or observations. Students can also respond to each other, further contributing to this collaborative reading, and deepening their understanding of the text.
Listen to a Reading
Select modules, such as “Gwendolyn Brooks, ‘We Real Cool,’” include audio clips of the selection being read aloud. Listening can engage different learning styles and illuminate different elements of the text. Students are asked to listen carefully and respond to a series of questions that focus on the reader’s delivery and other aural considerations. Once submitted, the student’s responses will report to the instructor gradebook.
Author videos on the elements of literature are perfect for the YouTube generation and include T.C. Boyle on comedy in fiction, Anne Rice on transitions in fiction, and Frank McCourt on voice. Using the video editing tools in LaunchPad, instructors can annotate, assign, and add questions or comments to these videos, as well as apply these tools to videos that they upload themselves.
Quiz
Auto-scored multiple choice quizzes report to the instructor gradebook and help students test their understanding of a specific literary selection in the module.
If you see anything you’d like to assign, click to open it and review the content. If you want to assign it, click the Add to course button in the upper right corner of your screen. The item will appear at the top of the unit, and you can drag to reposition it wherever you’d like. Assign it as you would any other asset in LaunchPad.
To learn more about adding content, including quizzes, to your LaunchPad unit, see Adding Content to a LaunchPad unit.
Reading Quizzes
You can assign auto-scored reading comprehension quizzes for close to 500 commonly taught stories, poems, plays, and essays. Like other pre-made assessments, you can find these quizzes by accessing the Resources panel from within any LaunchPad unit and locating the quiz for any reading you’ve assigned.
Thinking Aloud about Literature Videos
Three “Thinking Aloud” videos feature student writers using several reading and analysis strategies to understand and interpret literary texts. Students are asked to watch the videos and respond to two prompts about writing strategies. Once submitted, the student’s responses will report to the instructor grade book.
Exercises on the Elements of Literature
Quizzes on fiction, poetry, drama, figurative language, and more give students practice with common literary devices. Many ask students to write short-answer responses; once submitted, the student’s responses will report to the instructor’s gradebook for evaluation. Others, such as “meter” and “rhyme” provide automatic feedback to students.