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- Tools for Formative Assessment -
- Techniques to Check for Understanding -
- Processing Activities -
1. Index Card Summaries/ Questions
Periodically, distribute index cards and ask students to write on both sides, with these instructions: (Side 1) Based on our study of (unit topic), list a big idea that you understand and word it as a summary statement. (Side 2) Identify something about (unit topic) that you do not yet fully understand and word it as a statement or question.
2. Hand Signals
Ask students to display a designated hand signal to indicate their understanding of a specific concept, principal, or process: - I understand____________ and can explain it (e.g., thumbs up). - I do not yet understand ____________ (e.g., thumbs down). - I’m not completely sure about ____________ (e.g., wave hand).
3. One Minute Essay
A one-minute essay question (or one-minute question) is a focused question with a specific goal that can, in fact, be answered within a minute or two.
4. Analogy Prompt
Present students with an analogy prompt: (A designated concept, principle, or process) is like _________________ because _________________________________________________.
5. Web or Concept Map
Any of several forms of graphical organizers which allow learners to perceive relationships between concepts through diagramming key words representing those concepts. http://www.graphic.org/concept.html
6. Misconception Check
Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a designated concept, principle, or process. Ask them whether they agree or disagree and explain why. The misconception check can also be presented in the form of a multiple-choice or true-false quiz.
7. Student Conference
One on one conversation with students to check their level of understanding.
8. 3-Minute Pause
The Three-Minute Pause provides a chance for students to stop, reflect on the concepts and ideas that have just been introduced, make connections to prior knowledge or experience, and seek clarification. ͻ/ĐŚĂŶŐĞĚŵLJĂƚƚŝƚƵĚĞĂďŽƵƚ͙ ͻ/ďĞĐĂŵĞŵŽƌĞĂǁĂƌĞŽĨ͙ ͻ/ǁĂƐƐƵƌƉƌŝƐĞĚĂďŽƵƚ͙ ͻ/ĨĞůƚ͙ ͻ/ƌĞůĂƚĞĚƚŽ͙ ͻ/ĞŵƉĂƚŚŝnjĞĚǁŝƚŚ͙
9. Observation
Walk around the classroom and observe students as they work to check for learning. Strategies include: ͻŶĞĐĚŽƚĂůZĞĐŽƌĚƐ ͻŽŶĨĞƌĞŶĐĞƐ ͻŚĞĐŬůŝƐƚƐ
10. Self-Assessment
A process in which students collect information about their own learning, analyze what it reveals about their progress toward the intended learning goals and plan the next steps in their learning.
11. Exit Card
Exit cards are written student responses to questions posed at the end of a class or learning activity or at the end of a day.
12. Portfolio Check
Check the progress of a student’s portfolio. A portfolio is a purposeful collection of significant work, carefully selected, dated and presented to tell the story of a student’s achievement or growth in well-defined areas of performance, such as reading, writing, math, etc. A portfolio usually includes personal reflections where the student explains why each piece was chosen and what it shows about his/her growing skills and abilities.
13. Quiz
Quizzes assess students for factual information, concepts and discrete skill. There is usually a single best answer. Some quiz examples are: ͻDƵůƚŝƉůĞŚŽŝĐĞ
ͻdƌƵĞͬ&ĂůƐĞ ͻ^ŚŽƌƚŶƐǁĞƌ ͻWĂƉĞƌĂŶĚWĞŶĐŝů ͻDĂƚĐŚŝŶŐ ͻ džƚĞŶĚĞĚZĞƐƉŽŶƐĞ
14. Journal Entry
Students record in a journal their understanding of the topic, concept or lesson taught. The teacher reviews the entry to see if the student has gained an understanding of the topic, lesson or concept that was taught.
15. Choral Response
In response t o a cue, all students respond verbally at the same time. The response can be either to answer a question or to repeat something the teacher has said.
16. A-B-C Summaries
Each student in the class is assigned a different letter of the alphabet and they must select a word starting with that letter that is related to the topic being studied.
17. Debriefing A form of reflection immediately following an activity. 18. Idea Spinner
The teacher creates a spinner marked into 4 quadrants and labeled “Predict, Explain, Summarize, Evaluate.” After new material is presented, the teacher spins the spinner and asks ƐƚƵĚĞŶƚƐƚŽĂŶƐǁĞƌĂƋƵĞƐƚŝŽŶďĂƐĞĚŽŶƚŚĞůŽĐĂƚŝŽŶŽĨƚŚĞƐƉŝŶŶĞƌ͘&ŽƌĞdžĂŵƉůĞ͕ŝĨƚŚĞ spinner lands in the “Summarize” quadrant, the teacher might say, “List the key concepts just presented.”
19. Inside-Outside Circle
Inside and outside circles of students face each other. Within each pair of facing students, students quiz each other with questions they have written. Outside circle moves to create new pĂŝƌƐ͘ZĞƉĞĂƚ͘
20. Reader’s Theater &ƌŽŵĂŶĂƐƐŝŐŶĞĚƚĞdžƚŚĂǀĞƐƚƵĚĞŶƚƐĐƌĞĂƚĞĂƐĐƌŝƉƚĂŶĚƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝƚ͘ 21. One Sentence Summary
Students are asked to write a summary sentence that answers the “who, what where, when, why, how” questions about the topic.
22. Summary Frames
Description: A ___________ is a kind of____________ that ... Compare/Contrast: ͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺĂŶĚͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺĂƌĞƐŝŵŝůĂƌŝŶƚŚĂƚƚŚĞLJďŽƚŚ͙͘ďƵƚ ͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺ͕ǁŚŝůĞͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺ͙͘͘ Problem/Solution: ͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺǁĂŶƚĞĚ͙͕͘͘ďƵƚ͙͙͕͘ƐŽ͙͙͘͘ Cause/Effect͗ͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺͺŚĂƉƉĞŶƐďĞĐĂƵƐĞ͙͘
23. One Word Summary
Select (or invent) one word which best summarizes a topic.
24. Think-Pair- Share/ Turn to Your Partner
Teacher gives direction to students. Students formulate individual response, and then turn to a partner to share their answers. Teacher calls on several random pairs to share their answers with the class.
25. Think-Write-Pair- Share
Students think individually, write their thinking, pair and discuss with partner, then share with the class.
26. Talk a Mile a Minute
Partner up – giver and receiver͙ Kind of like “Password” or “Pyramid.” Both know the category, but the receiver has his back to the board/screen. A set of terms will appear based on the category – giver gives clues, while receiver tries to guess the terms. &ŝƌƐƚŐƌŽƵƉĚŽŶĞ stands up
27. Oral Questioning - How is __________ similar to/different from ________________? - What are the characteristics/parts of _______________________? - In what other ways might we show show/illustrate ___________? - What is the big idea, key concept, moral in _________________? - How does ________________ relate to ____________________? - What ideas/details can you add to _________________________? - Give an example of ____________________________________? - What is wrong with ____________________________________? - What might you infer from ______________________________? - What conclusions might be drawn from ____________________? - What question are we trying to answer? What problem are we trying to solve?
33. Quick Write
The strategy asks learners to respond in 2–10 minutes to an open-ended question or prompt posed by the teacher before, during, or after reading.
34. Directed Paraphrasing
Students summarize in well-chosen (own) words a key idea presented during the class period or the one just past.
35. RSQC
In two minutes, students recall and list in rank order the most important ideas from a previous day's class; in two more minutes, they summarize those points in a single sentence, then write one major question they want answered, then identify a thread or theme to connect this material to the course's major goal.
36. Writing Frames
Problem/Solution Paragraph
______________present (s) a dilemma that is___________. The problem is _______________. This has/have occurred because
_____________________________. A resolution is/was possible. To solve it/this , it will be/has been necessary to _______________ ____________________________________________. The solution (s) include (s) _____________________________________________________________________________.
Compare and Contrast Paragraph
There are several differences between ______________ and _____. They
. In contrast to , has . Unlike _____, does not _________ __. On the other hand,
Description Paragraph
Have you ever _________________? has/have very interesting characteristics. It/they has/have. &ŽƌŝŶƐƚĂŶĐĞ͕ it/they has/have which enhances
. It/they also ͘&ŽƌƚŚĞƐĞƌĞĂƐŽŶƐ͕ .
Cause and Effect Paragraph
_________________ is influenced by ___. Since happened, then ___________________. Therefore,______________________________. This provides explanation for ______ ___and ____ ___________. The impact is.
Sequence Paragraph
The events/process of __________ is __________________. The first ____ ___. Then,
. Next, ______ ________________________. &ŝŶĂůůLJ,__________________________.
37. Decisions, Decisions (Philosophical Chairs)
Given a prompt, class goes to the side that corresponds to their opinion on the topic, side share out reasoning, and students are allowed to change sides after discussion
38. Somebody Wanted But So
Students respond to narrative text with structured story grammar either orally, pictorially, or in writing. (Character(s)/Event/Problem/Solution)
39. Likert Scale
Provide 3-5 statements that aren’t clearly true or false, but are somewhat debatable. The purpose is to help students reflect on a text and engage in discussion with their peers afterwards. These scales focus on generalizations about characters, themes, conflicts, or symbolism. There are no clear cut answers in the book. They help students to analyze, synthesize and evaluate information) One question on a Likert Scale might look like this:
- The character (name) should not have done (action).
strongly agree disagree agree strongly agree 40. I Have the Question, Who Has the Answer?
The teacher makes two sets of cards. One set contains questions related to the unit of study. The second set contains the answers to the questions. Distribute the answer cards to the students and either you or a student will read the question cards to the class. All students check their answer cards to see if they have the correct answer. A variation is to make cards into a chain activity: The student chosen to begin the chain will read the given card aloud and then wait for the next participant to read the only card that would correctly follow the progression. Play continues until all of the cards are read and the initial student is ready to read his card for the second time.
41. Whip Around
The teacher poses a question or a task. Students then individually respond on a scrap piece of paper listing at least 3 thoughts/responses/statements. When they have done so, students stand up. The teacher then randomly calls on a student to share one of his or her ideas from the paper. Students check off any items that are said by another student and sit down when all of their ideas have been shared with the group, whether or not they were the one to share them. The teacher continues to call on students until they are all seated. As the teacher listens to the ideas or information shared by the students, he or she can determine if there is a general level of understanding or if there are gaps in students’ thinking.”
42. Word Sort Given a set of vocabulary terms, students sort in to given categories or create their own categories for sorting 43. Triangular Prism (Red, Yellow, Green)
Students give feedback to teacher by displaying the color that corresponds to their level of understanding
44. Take and Pass
Cooperative group activity used to share or collect information from each member of the group; students write a response, then pass to the right, add their response to next paper, continue until they get their paper back, then group debriefs.
45. Student Data Notebooks
A tool for students to track their learning: Where am I going? Where am I now? How will I get there?
46. Slap It
Students are divided into two teams to identify correct answers to questions given by the teacher. Students use a fly swatter to slap the correct response posted on the wall.
47. Say Something Students take turns leading discussions in a cooperative group on sections of a reading or video 48. Flag It
Students use this strategy to help them remember information that is important to them. They ǁŝůů͞ĨůĂŐ͟ƚŚĞŝƌŝĚĞĂƐŽŶĂƐƚŝĐŬLJŶŽƚĞŽƌĨůĂŐĚŝĞĐƵƚ͙
