2. White
board
Small, personal-sized white boards are inexpensive and if each student has them at their desk they can provide answers and information by simply raising them. Teachers can quickly grasp student
understanding and adjust how they move forward.
As technology makes its way into classroom environment, tools such as the iPad™ or iPod™ can act in a similar fashion – providing real-time understand of subject matter. Or it can be as low tech as a plastic
page protector with white paper inserted. But, as Dylan Wiliam has said, “The greatest modern invention for learning might well be the personal whiteboard.” It doesn’t have to be fancy, so long as teachers are
able to solicit evidence of student understanding and comprehension of the lesson at hand.
Corners While this idea can take on a number of different iterations, the foundation of it is consistent; each classroom corner represents a different answer or view on a different question or theory. When a question or
topic is being discussed, each student goes to the corner that best represents his or her answer. Based on classroom discussion, students can move from corner to corner adjusting their answer or opinion.
Corners don’t have to represent answers. They can also represent students’ comfort with or understanding of the topic. If they don’t understand the topic being discussed, they can go to one corner with
students of a similar level of understanding. Corners can then be paired with other corners for student discussion.
Think-Pair-
Share
The teacher asks a question of the class. Each student is given time to write down their answer. Once they have their answers written down they pair-up with another student in the class, where they can
discuss their answers. After they have had a chance to discuss their answers amongst themselves, they share their answers with a larger group or the rest of the class.
Teachers can circulate through the class, as students are paired in discussion, to determine comprehension of the subject matter, and with each team presenting their answer any lack of subject matter
understanding will be identified. Beyond the minute-to-minute formative assessment benefits that the Think-Pair-Share technique provides, it also helps put the students at the center of their own learning.
If you’ve followed our blog, you’ll know that research has shown that self-regulation of learning leads to student performance improvement.
Two Stars
and a Wish
Designed to provide student feedback via peer- and self-assessment.
In short, it solicits Two Stars – areas where the student’s work excelled – and one Wish – an area where there can be some level of improvement. It can be administered in several ways, and ideally all three
over time:
1. Review an anonymous piece of work with the entire class and have all students provide feedback
2. Break the class into pairs and have them review each other’s work
3. Have each student assess their own work
Two Stars and a Wish helps activate students and empower them as owners of their learning, and research suggests that self-regulation of learning leads to student performance improvement.
Carousel
Brainstorm
ing
The class is split up into groups of four to five students. Each group gets their own chart and colored marker. The idea is to have each group write down what they know about a sub topic or possible answers to
an open-ended question. Place a time limit on each group and when the time is up, have each group pass their chart along to another group, or move to the next chart. Students must read what the other
groups have recorded for answers and then add to the list. They can also circle or highlight answers that they feel hit the mark or add question marks to answers they feel missed the mark.
When the charts have been with each group they can be reviewed as a class and used by the students to write essays that note relationships, make comparisons, or summarize the information. Teachers can
walk the classroom while the charts are being completed and note engagement levels for student understanding, which can be used to adapt instruction accordingly.
Jigsaw The class is broken into groups ranging in size from four to six students. Each student is given an index card with a different question and reads their question aloud to the group. One student in each group is
assigned to be a record keeper, keeping track of the number of students that a) get it, b) sort of get it, c) aren’t quite sure, or d) just don’t get it. Once each question has been read, the groups reassemble so
that the groups are comprised of students who all had the same question. They then work collaboratively as a team to prepare one answer. The groups then reform to their original members where the answers
are shared and the record keeper rescores.
This formative assessment idea is quite collaborative, giving students the ability to self- and peer-assess their work, something that really helps drive formative assessment success.
ABCD
Cards
While students can use the thumbs up or down technique to provide answers with one answer, the ABCD Cards can be used for questions that have one answer, multiple answers, or no right or wrong answer
at all.
Each student is given a set of cards. When there’s a question or problem posed, they can signal the correct answer by holding up the appropriate card. By interspersing answers that are common
misconceptions, the teacher will also be able to identify areas of student need. If you find that students tend to want see what other classmates are raising as a letter before answering on their own, you can
employ other formative assessment techniques, like randomly selecting a Popsicle™ Stick and having that student help provide the correct answer.
This formative assessment idea does require a limited set of answers, and the teacher may need to write down what answer corresponds to what letter. As a result this idea is often best suited for teaching
subject matter like math, versus something where opinion can (and should) form part of the answer.
Basketball
Discussion
s
The teacher uses a “basketball-style” approach to student engagement. Why basketball style? Traditional student-teacher engagement is much more Ping-Pong in nature, where a teacher asks a question, a
student answers, the teacher may add comment or more questions, the student elaborates; more one-on-one from student to student.
With Basketball Discussions, the conversation moves from teacher to student to student to student and so on. Students are often more comfortable engaging in a discussion that is not entirely teacher led, and
this also engages more students than the usual hand-raisers who dominate discussion. You can also encourage participation – particularly with younger students – by actually tossing a small bean bag or soft
ball from student to student as a means of signaling discussion; the one with the ball is the one who is allowed to speak.
Entrance
Tickets
Here the teacher asks a question at the start of a lesson and students write their responses on index cards or strips of paper. She uses them to assess initial understanding of something to be discussed in that
day’s lesson or as a short summary of understanding of the previous day’s lesson. The teacher designs the lesson around the fact that information on student learning will be coming in at the start of the lesson
and can be used to improve the teaching and learning in that lesson. She designs the question so it is easily interpreted and analyzed, allows time for herself and/or the students to analyze the responses, and
adjusts the lesson accordingly (if needed).
Keep the
Question
Going
Yhe teacher asks one student a question and then asks another student if that answer seems reasonable or correct. Then, he asks a third student for an explanation of why there is an agreement or not. This
helps keep all the students engaged because they must be prepared to either agree or disagree with the answers given and provide explanations.