Formative Assessment Strategies Quick Reference Guide

Note: Remember that a strategy is not considered formative unless the teacher takes the information gained from the assessment to
inform instruction in order to better meet the needs of his/her students. Also, remember that the true purpose of any formative
assessment is not to assign a grade but to assess student learning of your intended daily learning targets. tudent learning is the
purpose of formative assessment ! not the grade.
Name of Strategy Description of Strategy How does it work?
Written Assessments
Pre-testing Pre-testing conducted prior to a unit allows the teacher to know which students have already mastered the standards to be taught
as well as those students who may need more intensive instruction and interventions
!"it Slips !"it slips allow the teacher to formatively assess the daily learning targets by giving them an activity to complete before they leave
the class #he teacher takes the information and uses it to modify or ad$ust instruction based on student misconceptions
Surveys Student surveys are valuable yet often overlooked tools for teachers to use to formatively assess #o use these effectively%
teachers design &uestions that gauge student interest% determine student prior knowledge and potentially identify misconceptions
and errant thinking post-instruction
'hain Notes
#he use of 'hain Notes is an effective way to formatively assess students by having them reflect on a &uestion% compose some
sentences(statements that answer the &uestion ) paper is passed around the room on which students write their statements
*hen the paper comes to you% read the statements and add something new
+uddiest Point +uddiest Point is typically used as an e"it slip activity Students are given a slip of paper and are asked to write the concept,s-
that they are having the most difficulty understanding% thus the .+uddiest Point/ #he teacher reads these and ad$usts instruction
to clear up these misconceptions and address the needs of the students
0-1-2 0-1-2 is a strategy that is typically used as an e"it slip activity but can be used in other conte"ts Students are given a graphic
organi3er consisting of a triangle )t the three points of the triangle are individual content specific vocabulary words Students
indicate on the lines between the corners of the triangle% the relationship that the pairs of words have with each other
0 +inute Pause #he #hree-+inute Pause provides a chance for students to stop% reflect on the concepts and ideas that have $ust been introduced%
make connections to prior knowledge or e"perience% and seek clarification
4 5 changed my attitude about6
4 5 became more aware of6
4 5 was surprised about6
4 5 felt6
4 5 related to6
4 5 empathi3ed with6
7ui33es(Homework(#ests #he easiest form of information to collect or analy3e about your student8s learning is their
regular work in the form of homework% &ui33es% and tests
9ne +inute Papers #he teacher gives students an open-ended &uestion and one to three minutes to write their answers
Some good &uestions include: *hat is the most important thing we discussed today? 9r *hat was the most confusing idea
presented today?
9ne Sentence Summary Students are asked to write a summary sentence that answers the .who% what where% when% why% how/ &uestions about the topic
)-;-' Summaries !ach 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
)necdotal Notes Notes can be created by the teacher about what students are struggling with Notes can be made during class discussions%
reading groups% observations during group activities% or times when students are working on independent seat work #hese
anecdotal notes can be used for future planning and interventions
<irst *ord =ast *ord #his strategy is a variation of acrostics Students construct statements about a concept or topic before and after instruction that
begins with a designated letter of the alphabet #he acrostic format provides a structure for them to build up their idea statements
off different starting letters that make up the topic word
<ocused =isting #his strategy asks students to recall ideas and e"periences related to a topic they encountered in a prior instructional unit or
grade Students list as many concepts% facts and ideas as they can recall from prior instruction
#en - #wo )fter 2> minutes of instruction that involves a large amount of information% students take two minutes to reflect on and summari3e
what they have learned thus far
5 ?sed to #hink 6 ;ut Now
5 @now
#his strategy asks students to compare verbally and in writing their ideas at the beginning of a lesson or instructional se&uence to
the ideas they have after completing the lesson 5t differs from @-*-= because both parts of the reflection occur after instruction
P9+S Point of +ost
Significance
P9+S is the opposite of +uddiest Point 5n this &uick techni&ue% students are asked to identify the most significant learning or
idea they gained from a lesson
7uestion Aenerating #his techni&ue switches roles from the teacher as the generator of &uestions to the student as the &uestion generator #he ability
to formulate good &uestions about a topic can indicate the e"tent to which a student understands ideas that underlie the topic
Bournal !ntry Students record in a $ournal their understanding of the topic% concept or lesson taught #he teacher reviews the entry to see if the
student has gained an understanding of the topic% lesson or concept that was taught
Self Assessment/Reflection
Hand Signals #he use of hand signals is a low prep method of formatively assessing Students are taught to reflect their varying levels of
understanding during instruction by using hand signals #wo e"amples of this are Fist of Five and Thumb It.
Fist to Five: )fter presenting a lesson% or part of a lesson% the teacher asks students to use their hand to signal their depth of understanding
) fist means% .5 don8t understand any of it%/ while all five fingers out means% .5 understand it completely/ Students can signal by raising 2% 1% 0% or
C fingers also #he teacher can read$ust the ne"t lesson or section of the lesson as needed based on student response #o hold students more
accountable for their .truthfulness/ the teacher can call on someone who signaled a D to e"plain the concept to the class% or partner students
who understand ,D- with those who don8t ,>- and let them teach each other for a few minutes
Thumb It: )fter presenting a lesson% or part of a lesson% the teacher asks students to use their hand to signal their depth of understanding )
thumb up means .5 have a good understanding/ ) thumb to the side means .5 still have some &uestions/ ) thumb down means .5 don8t get it/
#he teacher can read$ust the ne"t lesson or section of the lesson as needed based on student response #o hold students more accountable for
their .truthfulness/ the teacher can call on someone who signaled a thumb up to e"plain the concept to the class% or partner students who
understand with those who don8t and let them teach each other for a few minutes
#raffic =ights During group work% student groups are given sets of colored cups(paper to place at their workstations #o signal levels of
understanding or levels of support needed% students display certain colors of cups )s the teacher facilitates the activity% he(she is
able to ascertain group confidence in the work and identify potential problems by glancing around the room and looking at the
cups and the color they have displayed <or e"ample% Areen 'up E )ll8s *ell% Fellow 'up E *e have a &uestion for the teacher%
Ged 'up E *e have reached an impasse and need help immediately
'oncept 'artoons Students are posed a &uestion and then shown cartoons with individuals representing the various possible opinions #he teacher
then has them answer the following two &uestions after moving to the area in the room with the choice they picked displayed
there:
*hich child do you agree with?
*hy?
Self
Geflection(Bournals(=ogs
Self Geflection is a process in which students collect information about their own learning% analy3e what it reveals about their
progress toward the intended learning goals and plan the ne"t steps in their learning
5nde" 'ard
Summaries(7uestions
Periodically% distribute inde" cards and ask students to write on both sides% with these instructions: ,Side 2- ;ased on our study of
,unit topic-% list a big idea that you understand and word it as a summary statement ,Side 1- 5dentify something about ,unit topic-
that you do not yet fully understand and word it as a statement or &uestion
Visual Assessments
Araphic 9rgani3ers Araphic organi3ers are effective tools in helping students organi3e their thinking Some e"amples include: Henn Diagrams and #-
'harts #here are a number of sources for different free graphic organi3ers available on the web
@-*-= @-*-= is a specific type of graphic organi3er that allows the teacher to determine three ideas: *hat do my students already
K!" about the sub$ect? *hat do 5 "AT to know more about? *hat have 5 #$AR$% from the instruction?
Sticky ;ars #he use of Sticky ;ars consists of students being posed a &uestion either to individual students or to groups of students )s
students determine their answer% they post their answer on chart paper using post it notes #he sticky notes are placed on the
chart% creating a simple bar graph No names are put on the post it8s% allowing the teacher to get a &uick visual idea of their
students8 level of understanding
'oncept +apping #he teacher provides small groups of students with a list of about 2D related words that might fit well in an outline #he teacher
gives them small sticky notes to write the words on #he teacher then asks them to create a concept map by moving the sticky
notes around on a piece of paper until they
have them in the right place +odel for them on the board how to draw connections between words and emphasi3e that the
connections should be labeled with words describing the nature of the relation ,leads to% is an e"ample of% sometimes goes with%
can8t happen without% etc-
9bservation #eachers walk around the classroom and observe students as they work to check for learning Strategies include:
4)necdotal Gecords
4'onferences
4'hecklists
!"amples I Non-!"amples Students &uickly understand understanding of content by drawing or identifying e"amples and non-e"amples of key
topics(vocabulary from the day8s lesson #his could easily be accomplished through the following steps: ,2- Draw a #-chart% ,1-
=abel the left column .!"amples/% ,0- =abel the right side .Non-!"amples/% ,C- Draw pictures or make a list of e"amples on the left
side% ,D- Draw pictures or make a list of non-e"amples on right side
)nnotated Student
Drawings
)nnotated student drawings encourage students to access their prior knowledge and visually represent their thinking #he act of
drawing to e"plain a concept or phenomenon encourages sense making and awareness of one8s own ideas
Verbal Assessments
'horal Gesponse 'horal response is a type of &uestioning strategy in which students call out answers to specific &uestions in unison ,choral-
5 #hink *e #hink 5 #hink - *e #hink is an interpersonal formative assessment strategy that puts a group of students together% poses them a
&uestion or task% and then has them craft individual responses first and afterwards a collective response taking into consideration
the thoughts of all group members *hen sharing% a selected student from the group shares both their individual response ,5
#hink- along with the group response ,*e #hink-
#hink-Pair-Share
#hink-Pair-Share is an interpersonal formative assessment strategy activity that puts two students into a group and gives them the
opportunity to think individually about a &uestion and then pair up to share thoughts as a pair #hrough sharing out% the teacher is
able to determine if students understand the content
Partner Speaks Partner Speaks is an interpersonal formative assessment strategy that puts two students into a group% poses them a &uestion%
and then gives them time to share with each other their individual thoughts in regard to the &uestion #he difference between
Partner Speaks and the other interpersonal strategies is that in Partner Speaks% during sharing out time% a student shares his(her
partner8s thoughts instead of their own
)nalogy Prompt #he teacher present students with an analogy prompt: ,) designated concept% principle% or process- is like JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
because JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ #his allows students to see the relationships between vocabulary or other instructional
concepts(standards
9dd 9ne 9ut #o use 9dd 9ne 9ut% the teacher gives the students a list of concepts(vocabulary words 9ne or more of them do not match the
others Students must be able to identify the words that do not match the others and e"plain why +ultiple correct answers are
possible when using this strategy
Numbered Heads #ogether !ach student is assigned a number +embers of a group work together to agree on an answer #he teacher randomly selects
one number Student with that number answers for the group
+isconception 'heck #he teacher presents students with common or predictable misconceptions about a designated concept% principle% or process
#he teacher then asks them whether they agree or disagree and e"plain why #he misconception check can also be presented in
the form of a multiple-choice or other constructed response &ui3
Student 'onference #he use of student conferences allows teachers to sit down with individual students and determine if any gaps e"ist in student
understanding #he value of the student conference is only as good as the &uestions posed by the teacher
9ral 7 I ) #eachers asking students &uestions is a regular part of almost any classroom instruction #o be truly formative assessment%
teachers should take the information gained from the 7I) to inform and ad$ust instruction #hese &uestions should also reflect
varied levels of rigor
-How is JJJJJJJJJJ similar to(different from JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - *hat might happen if JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ?
- *hat are the characteristics(parts of JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - What approach/strategy could you use to ___________________?
- 5n what other ways might we show show(illustrate JJJJJJJJJJJ? - What alternatives should be considered ____________________?
- *hat is the big idea% key concept% moral in JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - How might this be viewed from the perspective of ___________?
- How does JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ relate to JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - How might we prove/confrm ____________________________?
- Aive an e"ample of JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - *hat ideas(details can you add to JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ?
- *hat might you infer from JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ? - *hat is wrong with JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ?
- *hat conclusions might be drawn from JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ?
- *hat are you assuming about JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ?
- What criteria would you use to judge/evaluate _______________?
- What evidence supports ________________________________?
- *hat &uestion are we trying to answer? *hat problem are we trying
to solve?
Debriefing Debriefing is a form of reflection immediately following an activity
5dea Spinner #he teacher creates a spinner marked into C &uadrants and labeled .Predict% !"plain% Summari3e% !valuate/ )fter new material
is presented% the teacher spins the spinner and asks students to answer a &uestion based on the location of the spinner <or
e"ample% if the spinner lands in the .Summari3e/ &uadrant% the teacher might say% .=ist the key concepts $ust presented/
<an-N-Pick Students are given pre-made cards with lesson content ,vocabulary% discussion &uestions- to review Student K2 fans cards and
says% .Pick a card% any cardL/ Student K1 picks a card% reads the &uestion aloud% and allows D seconds of think time Student K0
answers the &uestion Student KC responds to answer and checks right(wrong answers% praises or tutorsM praises(paraphrases
open-ended &uestions #he roles then rotate clockwise
)gree I Disagree
Statements
Students use ) I D statements to analy3e a set of .fact or fiction/ statements 5n the first part of ) I D statements% students may
choose to agree or disagree with the statement or identify whether they need more information 5n addition% students are asked to
$ustify their thinking about why they agree or disagree
<act <irst 7uestioning 7uality &uestions provide insight into students8 ideas and growing knowledge base <act <irst 7uestioning is a higher order
&uestioning techni&ue used to draw out student knowledge beyond recall level 5t takes a factual .what/ &uestion and turns it into
a deeper .how/ or .why/ &uestion because you are stating the fact first and asking students to elaborate
<ishbowl #hink )loud #he <ishbowl #hink )loud is a techni&ue used to listen in on the thinking of a sampling of students in the class <our or five
students are selected to be in a .fishbowl%/ sitting together in a cluster or the front of the room #he rest of the class and teacher
face or surround the students who are in the .fishbowl/ and listen attentively to their conversation #he conversation is a response
to a prompt in which the students .think aloud/% discussing and defending their ideas as the teacher and other students listen in
and reconcile their own thinking with that of their peers in the .fishbowl/
Aive +e <ive #his techni&ue is to used to promote and publicly share personal reflections that collectively provide feedback from the group
Students are given a prompt and take a minute or two for a .&uiet think/ <ive students then volunteer to publicly share their
reflection
9ne *ord Summary Select ,or invent- one word which best summari3es a topic
5nside-9utside 'ircle 5nside and outside circles of students face each other *ithin each pair of facing students% students &ui3 each other with &uestions
they have written or share important information learned 9utside circle moves to create new pairs Gepeat
5dea *ave !ach student lists 0-D ideas about the assigned topic 9ne volunteer begins the .idea wave/ by sharing his idea #he student to
the right of the volunteer shares one ideaM the ne"t student to rights shares one idea #eacher directs the idea wave until several
different ideas have been shared )t the end of the formal idea wave% a few volunteers who were not included may contribute
Kinesthetic Assessments
<our 'orners <our 'orners is a formative assessment strategy that appeals to the kinesthetic as well as interpersonal learner #he teacher
poses a &uestion to the students with multiple possible answers Students then move from their seats to respective parts of the
rooms corresponding to one of the possible answers 5t gives the teacher a &uick visual perspective on student understanding
'ard Sort #he use of 'ard Sort activities% either 9pen or 'losed sorts% allow students to classify content specific vocabulary into categories%
given either provided criteria or student generated criteria #his is closely aligned with Gobert +ar3ano8s .5dentifying Similarities
and Differences/ strategy
)greement 'ircles
5n )greement 'ircles% students form a circle in the classroom #he teacher gives a statement #hey are asked to respond to the
statement ,)gree or Disagree- 5f they agree% they move to the center of the circle Students who disagree stay on the outside of
the circle Aroups(pairs discuss the statement and why they either agree or disagree )fter they discuss% students are allowed to
switch positions and move either to the outside or inside of the circle
'ommit and #oss #his is another highly kinesthetic formative assessment strategy Students are posed a &uestion by their teacher #hey then write
the answer to their &uestion on a piece of paper Students then stand up and toss their response to another student Students
then toss it one additional time #he teacher gives an opportunity for the students to share out with the group what the paper that
they ended up with has on it #his is a non-threatening strategy and allows the teacher to gauge student learning and possible
misconceptions
Human Araphs(Scatterplots #he classroom teacher gauges learning by posing students a multiple choice &uestion #he students then move to an area of the
room where they line up and form a visual representation of what the various answers were that the class had #he teacher is
provided a visual idea of what the students know and do not know about the sub$ect
Aive 9ne(Aet 9ne Students are asked to list 0-D ideas about the learning Students draw a line about their last idea to separate his(her ideas from
classmate8s lists Students get up and interact with one classmate at a time !"change papers% read your partner8s list and then
ask &uestions about new or confusing ideas Students move to ne"t partner