Formative (Informal) Assessment Strategies

Most of these actives can also be thought of as engagement strategies in addition to assessing what
students know and can do.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
Quick Write Student writes for 2-3 minutes about what he heard from a lecture or
explanation/read/learned. Could be an open ended question from teacher
12 Word In 12 words or less, have students summarize important aspects of a particular
Summary chunk of instruction or reading.
3-2-1 Students jot down 3 ideas, concepts, or issues presented.
Students jot down 2 examples or uses of idea or concept.
Students write down 1 unresolved question or a possible confusion.
Muddiest Students are asked to write down the muddiest point in the lesson (up to that point,
Point what was unclear)
Quick class Give students paper plates, index cards, whiteboard, or large sheets of paper when
check they enter. When asking a question have ALL students write the answer and at
your signal, have ALL students hold up the plate (or whatever) so that you can see
who/ how many got the answer. Discussion to elaborate can follow.
Class vote Present several possible answers or solutions to a question or problem and have
students vote on what they think is best.
Idea Wave Each student lists 3-5 ideas about the assigned topic. One volunteer begins the
“idea wave” by sharing his idea. The student to the right of the volunteer shares
one idea; the next student to rights shares one idea. Teacher directs the idea wave
until several different ideas have been shared. At the end of the formal idea wave,
a few volunteers who were not included may contribute.
Tickets to Teacher asks students a specific question about the lesson. Students then respond
enter and exit on the ticket and gives to teacher, either on their way out or on their way in the next
day. Teacher can then evaluate the need to re-teach or questions that need to be
answered.
Four Corners Teacher posts questions, concepts, or vocabulary words in each of the corners of
the room. Each student is assigned a corner. Once in the corner, the students
discuss the focus of the lesson in relation to the question, concept, or words.
Students may report out or move to another corner and repeat. After students have
moved, as a writing assignment they should be encouraged to reflect on changes in
opinion or what they have learned.
Give One/Get Students are given papers and asked to list 3-5 ideas about the learning. Students
One draw a line after their last idea to separate his/her ideas from classmate’s lists.
Students get up and interact with one classmate at a time. Exchange papers, read
your partner’s list, and then ask questions about new or confusing ideas.
Concept Explain/ model a concept map. After lecture, explanation, or reading, have
Mapping students fill in concept map (partner or individually). Report out.
Flash Cards After 10 minutes into a lecture or concept presentation, have students create a flash
card that contains the key concept or idea. Toward the end of the class, have
students work in pairs to exchange ideas and review the material.
Learning Cell Students develop questions and answers on their own (possibly using the Q-
Matrix). Working in pairs the first student asks a question and the partner answers
and vice versa. Each student can correct the other until a satisfactory answer is
reached. (Good way to encourage students to go back to the text book).
One Minute Teacher decides what the focus of the paper should be. Ask students “What was
Paper the most important thing you learned? What important question remains
unanswered? Set aside 5-10 minutes of next class to discuss the results.
May be used in the middle of a class also.
Signal Create cards to check for understanding. green means “I got it”, yellow means
Cards/thumbs “I’m not sure, Maybe”, and blue means “I’m lost. I have questions”
up-thumbs
down
Transfer and Students list what they have learned and how they might apply it to their real lives.
Apply Students list interesting ideas, strategies, concepts learned in class or chunk of
class. They then write some possible way to apply this learning in their lives,
another class, or in their community.
Circular Students in groups are given a problem with a definite answer (good for math &
check science). First students completes first step without contribution from others in
group and passes it to the next student. Second student corrects any mistakes and
completes next step, again with out input from the group. Problem gets passed to
next student and the process continues until the group has the correct answer.
Formative Assessment Strategies

Tools for Formative Assessment

Techniques to Check for Understanding
Periodically, distribute index cards and ask students to write on both
sides, with these instructions: (Side 1) Based on our study of (unit
Index Card
topic), list a big idea that you understand and word it as a summary
Summaries/Questions
statement. (Side 2) Identify something about (unit topic) that you do
not yet fully understand and word it as a statement or question.
Ask students to display a designated hand signal to indicate their
understanding of a specific concept, principal, or process: - I
Hand Signals 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).
A one-minute essay question (or one-minute question) is a focused
One Minute Essay question with a specific goal that can, in fact, be answered within a
minute or two.
Periodically, present students with an analogy prompt: (A designated
Analogy Prompt concept, principle, or process) is like _________________ because
_________________________________________________.
Any of several forms of graphical organizers which allow learners to
perceive relationships between concepts through diagramming key
Web or Concept Map
words representing those concepts.
http://www.graphic.org/concept.html
Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a
designated concept, principle, or process. Ask them whether they agree
Misconception Check
or disagree and explain why. The misconception check can also be
presented in the form of a multiple-choice or true-false quiz.
One on one conversation with students to check their level of
Student Conference
understanding.
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.
• I changed my attitude about…
3-Minute Pause • I became more aware of…
• I was surprised about…
• I felt…
• I related to…
• I empathized with…
Walk around the classroom and observe students as they work to check
Observation
for learning. Strategies include:
 •Anecdotal Records
•Conferences
•Checklists
A process in which students collect information about their own
Self-Assessment learning, analyze what it reveals about their progress toward the
intended learning goals and plan the next steps in their learning.
Exit cards are written student responses to questions posed at the end
Exit Card
of a class or learning activity or at the end of a day.
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
Portfolio Check 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.
Quizzes assess students for factual information, concepts and discrete
skill. There is usually a single best answer. Some quiz examples are:
• Multiple Choice
• True/False
Quiz
• Short Answer
• Paper and Pencil
• Matching
• Extended Response
Students record in a journal their understanding of the topic, concept
or lesson taught. The teacher reviews the entry to see if the student
Journal Entry
has gained an understanding of the topic, lesson or concept that was
taught.
In response t o a cue, all students respond verbally at the same time.
Choral Response The response can be either to answer a question or to repeat something
the teacher has said.
Each student in the class is assigned a different letter of the alphabet
A-B-C Summaries and they must select a word starting with that letter that is related to
the topic being studied.
Debriefing A form of reflection immediately following an activity.
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 students to answer a
Idea Spinner
question based on the location of the spinner. For example, if the
spinner lands in the “Summarize” quadrant, the teacher might say, “List
the key concepts just presented.”
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 pairs. Repeat.
Each student is assigned a number. Members of a group work together
Numbered Heads
to agree on an answer. The teacher randomly selects one number.
Together
Student with that number answers for the group.
One Sentence Students are asked to write a summary sentence that answers the
Summary “who, what where, when, why, how” questions about the topic.
One Word Summary Select (or invent) one word which best summarizes a topic.
Students think individually, then pair (discuss with partner), then share
Think-Pair- Share
with the class.
Closing activity where students respond in writing or verbally to short
Ticket to Leave
assignments.
Teacher gives direction to students. Students formulate individual
response, and then turn to a partner to share their answers. Teacher
Turn to Your Partner
calls on several random pairs to share their answers with the class.

- 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 ______________________________?
Oral Questioning - What conclusions might be drawn from ____________________?
- What question are we trying to answer? What problem are we trying
to solve?
- What are you assuming about ____________________________?
- What might happen if __________________________________?
- What criteria would you use to judge/evaluate _______________?
- What evidence supports ________________________________?
- How might we prove/confirm ____________________________?
- How might this be viewed from the perspective of ___________?
- What alternatives should be considered ____________________?
- What approach/strategy could you use to ___________________?
AFRE – Keys to Instructional Excellence, 2008
AFRE – Standards-Based Instructional Planning and Designing, 2008