The English Teacher.

I've conducted a lot of ELA trainings, and while the content often varies, student portfolios always make an appearance. I cannot express how powerful they can be, in terms of formative assessments, student ownership, and overall classroom culture. I've taught ELA to grades 6th-12th, and my students maintained portfolios in varying degrees in each grade level. I try to conference with each student twice a month, and their portfolios provide the points of discussion and review. I could not teach well without them.

Many folks ask...

• Do the students keep them, or do they stay in the classroom?

  • Yes, the students keep the portfolios with them, unless their IEP or other plan requires otherwise.

• Do you assess the portfolios, and if so, how?

  • Yes, I assess the portfolios each semester. See rubric below.

• What actually goes in them?

  • That requires a little more explanation, so here goes....

On the first day of school, I ask my students to look squarely at the garbage can and repeat after me, "I WILL NOT THROW ANYTHING AWAY IN THIS CLASS" (unless okay'd by me). In my first few years of teaching English, I noticed that after spending up to an hour thoughtfully responding to each student's essay the night before, my students would take one look at the grades and toss the essays in the trash. Um...I don't think so. So for the last fifteen years in my class, every single piece of writing must remain in their portfolios for us to review, revisit, even admire!

I normally taught 160-180 students a day on a 7-period schedule. There is no way I could keep those portfolios in my room, nor did I want to do so. I wanted my students to be responsible for keeping up with the portfolios themselves, and in all my years in the classroom, it was rarely an issue. The students receive a 100-point Test Grade each 9 weeks for keeping these portfolios in order. I'm sure that helped a bit. Even my at-risk or SPE students maintained organized portfolios, albeit I did offer some assistance from time to time.

Contents of the ELA Portfolio (in a Nutshell)

• Syllabus

• Writing Log

• Reading Log

• Spelling Log

• Grammar Section

• Literature Section (with Literary Devices first)

• Spelling/Vocabulary Section

• Writing Section

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In the front of the portfolio (a 2-inch binder), the students kept these forms:

• 1) 36-Week Syllabus (or Course Outline )

  • 6th Grade 

  • 8th Grade 

• 2) Writing log

  • On this log, students kept a record of every major writing assignment (Title, Genre, Self -Assessment on a scale of 1-10).

  • I always maintained a log for each class, so I could keep up with what we'd completed. Sometimes, I'd display it on the screen, so the students could make sure they'd not forgotten a writing piece to add. Here, you'll see our writing assignments over the course of a school year.

  • 6th Grade

  • 8th Grade 

  • Actual Student-Completed Log ​

• 3) Reading Log 

  • Students kept a record of all books read (Title, Genre, Rating), I referred to these a lot in our conferences too.

• 4) Spelling Log 

  • Each grading period, I test the students on their OWN misspelled words. Click here to see how I do that.

Following the logs, students add four dividers, labeled this way:

1. Grammar

2. Literature

3. Spelling/Vocabulary

4. Writing

EVERY item that is placed in the portfolio has to be labeled (G, L, S/V, or W) for each of the dividers. That way, there is no question as to where the work belongs. After two weeks of class, my students were highly trained in this portfolio protocol. If I forgot to label a handout, they would quickly ask me how it should be labeled. Many lessons overlap the four areas, so I'd just pick the one it most represented.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a general breakdown of what each section held:

Grammar 

• Grammar/Mechanics Worksheets, HW, Activities, and Tests

Literature

• In the front of this section, my students maintained a running list of literary devices as we encountered them in our readings. Beyond that, there were assignments and tests directly related to the poetry, short stories, informational texts,and novels we read in class.

• My 6th Grade Literary Devices over the Course of the Year 

• My 8th Grade Literary Devices over the Course of the Year

Spelling/Vocabulary

• Spelling and/or vocabulary lessons and tests (more so in younger grades), Spelling Log Tests, Brainstreams/Sponges

Writing

• The mcdaddy of all the sections...EVERYTHING, even quick writes, brainstorms, and rough drafts go in this section, from the beginning of the year to the very end. Students are often shocked in May by the AWESOMENESS and AMOUNT of their work. Much easier to appreciate than if they'd thrown it in the trash.

Just a few other perks of ELA Student Portfolios

• IEP/SPE Meetings - Super handy when called to an IEP meeting at the last minute, and the team asks for "student samples." I'm able to provide samples and progress from all ELA areas (Grammar, Writing, Vocabulary, Literature) from August to May.

• Parent Meetings - These portfolios are invaluable when I meet with parents. I can easily demonstrate growth, points of pride, and areas of concern.

• Response to Instruction (RtI), Progress Monitoring, and Formative Assessments - These portfolios tell me more than any canned computer assessment will. It's authentic assessment at its best.