inform

Formative(Informal)AsssmentStrategies

Mostoftheactivescanalsobethoughtofangagementstrategiesinadditiontoasssingwhat

studentsknowandcando.

ACTIVITYDESCRIPTION

QuickWriteStudentwritesfor2-3minutesaboutwhatheheardfromalectureor

explanation/read/eanopenendedquestionfromteacher

12Word

Summary

In12wordsorless,havestudentssummarizeimportantaspectsofaparticular

chunkofinstructionorreading.

3-2-1Studentsjotdown3ideas,concepts,orissuesprented.

Studentsjotdown2examplesorusofideaorconcept.

Studentswritedown1unresolvedquestionorapossibleconfusion.

Muddiest

Point

Studentsareaskedtowritedownthemuddiestpointinthelesson(uptothatpoint,

whatwasunclear)

Quickclass

check

Givestudentspaperplates,indexcards,whiteboard,orlargesheetsofpaperwhen

kingaquestionhaveALLstudentswritetheanswerandat

yoursignal,haveALLstudentsholduptheplate(orwhatever)sothatyoucane

who/siontoelaboratecanfollow.

ClassvotePrentveralpossibleanswersorsolutionstoaquestionorproblemandhave

studentsvoteonwhattheythinkisbest.

unteerbeginsthe

“ideawave”denttotherightofthevolunteershares

oneidea;rdirectstheideawave

ndoftheformalideawave,

afewvolunteerswhowerenotincludedmaycontribute.

Ticketsto

enterandexit

tsthenrespond

ontheticketandgivestoteacher,eitherontheirwayoutorontheirwayinthenext

rcanthenevaluatetheneedtore-teachorquestionsthatneedtobe

answered.

FourCornersTeacherpostsquestions,concepts,orvocabularywordsineachofthecornersof

thecorner,thestudents

discussthefocusofthelessoninrelationtothequestion,concept,orwords.

tudentshave

moved,asawritingassignmenttheyshouldbeencouragedtoreflectonchangesin

opinionorwhattheyhavelearned.

GiveOne/Get

One

ts

drawalineaftertheirlastideatoparatehis/herideasfromclassmate’slists.

gepapers,read

yourpartner’slist,andthenaskquestionsaboutneworconfusingideas.

Concept

Mapping

Explain/ecture,explanation,orreading,have

studentsfillinconceptmap(partnerorindividually).Reportout.

FlashCardsAfter10minutesintoalectureorconceptprentation,havestudentscreateaflash

theendoftheclass,have

studentsworkinpairstoexchangeideasandreviewthematerial.

LearningCellStudentsdevelopquestionsandanswersontheirown(possiblyusingtheQ-

Matrix).Workinginpairsthefirststudentasksaquestionandthepartneranswers

udentcancorrecttheotheruntilasatisfactoryansweris

reached.(Goodwaytoencouragestudentstogobacktothetextbook).

OneMinute

Paper

dents“Whatwas

themostimportantthingyoulearned?Whatimportantquestionremains

unanswered?Setaside5-10minutesofnextclasstodiscusstheresults.

Maybeudinthemiddleofaclassalso.

Signal

Cards/thumbs

up-thumbs

down

eans“Igotit”,yellowmeans

“I’mnotsure,Maybe”,andbluemeans“I’uestions”

Transferand

Apply

Studentslistwhattheyhavelearnedandhowtheymightapplyittotheirreallives.

Studentslistinterestingideas,strategies,conceptslearnedinclassorchunkof

enwritesomepossiblewaytoapplythislearningintheirlives,

anotherclass,orintheircommunity.

Circular

check

Studentsingroupsaregivenaproblemwithadefiniteanswer(goodformath&

science).Firststudentscompletesfirststepwithoutcontributionfromothersin

studentcorrectsanymistakesand

completesnextstep,mgetspasdto

nextstudentandtheprocesscontinuesuntilthegrouphasthecorrectanswer.

FormativeAsssmentStrategies

ToolsforFormativeAsssment

TechniquestoCheckforUnderstanding

IndexCard

Summaries/Questions

Periodically,distributeindexcardsandaskstudentstowriteonboth

sides,withtheinstructions:(Side1)Badonourstudyof(unit

topic),listabigideathatyouunderstandandworditasasummary

statement.(Side2)Identifysomethingabout(unittopic)thatyoudo

notyetfullyunderstandandworditasastatementorquestion.

HandSignals

Askstudentstodisplayadesignatedhandsignaltoindicatetheir

understandingofaspecificconcept,principal,orprocess:-I

understand____________andcanexplainit(e.g.,thumbsup).-Ido

notyetunderstand____________(e.g.,thumbsdown).-I’mnot

completelysureabout____________(e.g.,wavehand).

OneMinuteEssay

Aone-minuteessayquestion(orone-minutequestion)isafocud

questionwithaspecificgoalthatcan,infact,beansweredwithina

minuteortwo.

AnalogyPrompt

Periodically,prentstudentswithananalogyprompt:(Adesignated

concept,principle,orprocess)islike_________________becau

_________________________________________________.

WeborConceptMap

Anyofveralformsofgraphicalorganizerswhichallowlearnersto

perceiverelationshipsbetweenconceptsthroughdiagrammingkey

wordsreprentingthoconcepts.

/

MisconceptionCheck

Prentstudentswithcommonorpredictablemisconceptionsabouta

designatedconcept,principle,mwhethertheyagree

conceptioncheckcanalsobe

prentedintheformofamultiple-choiceortrue-falquiz.

StudentConference

Oneononeconversationwithstudentstochecktheirlevelof

understanding.

3-MinutePau

TheThree-MinutePauprovidesachanceforstudentstostop,

reflectontheconceptsandideasthathavejustbeenintroduced,make

connectionstopriorknowledgeorexperience,andekclarification.

•Ichangedmyattitudeabout…

•Ibecamemoreawareof…

•Iwassurpridabout…

•Ifelt…

•Irelatedto…

•Iempathizedwith…

Obrvation

Walkaroundtheclassroomandobrvestudentsastheyworktocheck

giesinclude:

•AnecdotalRecords

•Conferences

•Checklists

Self-Asssment

Aprocessinwhichstudentscollectinformationabouttheirown

learning,analyzewhatitrevealsabouttheirprogresstowardthe

intendedlearninggoalsandplanthenextstepsintheirlearning.

ExitCard

Exitcardsarewrittenstudentresponstoquestionspodattheend

ofaclassorlearningactivityorattheendofaday.

PortfolioCheck

Checktheprogressofastudent’olioisapurpoful

collectionofsignificantwork,carefullylected,datedandprented

totellthestoryofastudent’sachievementorgrowthinwell-defined

areasofperformance,suchasreading,writing,math,olio

usuallyincludespersonalreflectionswherethestudentexplainswhy

eachpiecewaschonandwhatitshowsabouthis/hergrowingskills

andabilities.

Quiz

Quizzesasssstudentsforfactualinformation,conceptsanddiscrete

izexamplesare:

•MultipleChoice

•True/Fal

•ShortAnswer

•PaperandPencil

•Matching

•ExtendedRespon

JournalEntry

Studentsrecordinajournaltheirunderstandingofthetopic,concept

cherreviewstheentrytoeifthestudent

hasgainedanunderstandingofthetopic,lessonorconceptthatwas

taught.

ChoralRespon

Inrespontoacue,allstudentsrespondverballyatthesametime.

Theresponcanbeeithertoansweraquestionortorepeatsomething

theteacherhassaid.

A-B-CSummaries

Eachstudentintheclassisassignedadifferentletterofthealphabet

andtheymustlectawordstartingwiththatletterthatisrelatedto

thetopicbeingstudied.

DebriefingAformofreflectionimmediatelyfollowinganactivity.

IdeaSpinner

Theteachercreatesaspinnermarkedinto4quadrantsandlabeled

“Predict,Explain,Summarize,Evaluate.”Afternewmaterialis

prented,theteacherspinsthespinnerandasksstudentstoanswera

mple,ifthe

spinnerlandsinthe“Summarize”quadrant,theteachermightsay,“List

thekeyconceptsjustprented.”

Inach

pairoffacingstudents,studentsquizeachotherwithquestionsthey

.

NumberedHeads

Together

sofagroupworktogether

cherrandomlylectsonenumber.

Studentwiththatnumberanswersforthegroup.

OneSentence

Summary

Studentsareaskedtowriteasummaryntencethatanswersthe

“who,whatwhere,when,why,how”questionsaboutthetopic.

OneWordSummarySelect(orinvent)onewordwhichbestsummarizesatopic.

Think-Pair-Share

Studentsthinkindividually,thenpair(discusswithpartner),thenshare

withtheclass.

TickettoLeave

Closingactivitywherestudentsrespondinwritingorverballytoshort

assignments.

TurntoYourPartner

tsformulateindividual

respon,r

callsonveralrandompairstosharetheiranswerswiththeclass.

OralQuestioning

-Howis__________similarto/differentfrom________________?

-Whatarethecharacteristics/partsof

_______________________?

-Inwhatotherwaysmightweshowshow/illustrate___________?

-Whatisthebigidea,keyconcept,moralin_________________?

-Howdoes________________relateto____________________?

-Whatideas/detailscanyouaddto_________________________?

-Giveanexampleof____________________________________?

-Whatiswrongwith____________________________________?

-Whatmightyouinferfrom______________________________?

-Whatconclusionsmightbedrawnfrom____________________?

-Whatquestionarewetryingtoanswer?Whatproblemarewetrying

tosolve?

-Whatareyouassumingabout____________________________?

-Whatmighthappenif__________________________________?

-Whatcriteriawouldyouutojudge/evaluate_______________?

-Whatevidencesupports________________________________?

-Howmightweprove/confirm____________________________?

-Howmightthisbeviewedfromtheperspectiveof___________?

-Whatalternativesshouldbeconsidered____________________?

-Whatapproach/strategycouldyouuto___________________?

AFRE–KeystoInstructionalExcellence,2008

AFRE–Standards-BadInstructionalPlanningandDesigning,2008