Checking in on understanding: inquiry based formative assessment strategies

© Kath Murdoch 2014

The following tasks can be used as ‘reflective pauses’. They are relatively brief moments within a teaching
journey but they can provide very rich data to inform both assessment of learning and evaluation of
teaching. Once students are familiar with the techniques, they can be used even more efficiently. I
describe them as ‘understanding check ups’ …. A moment to stop and think and share what we are
learning and how our thoughts and learning skills are evolving. As you use these techniques, ask
yourself….”what is this student revealing to me? And what do I need to do/say next?” Many of the
techniques can be repeated throughout the unit and used to track PROGRESS so the focus becomes on
assessing growth over time for each student. Use video, work samples, anecdotal notes, photos,
journals etc to keep a record of these assessments.

Think Pair Share

Provide students with a question/challenge/problem related to your targeted concept/skill. For example “ What are
some of the things you think we could do to help animals that are endangered?” Give students some time to think on
their own – no talking to others, no hands up. They may wish to jot some ideas down. Now have them turn to a partner
and share their thinking. I often suggest that they look for patterns/connections as they share. Finally, select a few
pairs to share with the group. Or have pairs share with another pair and again look for connections. Move amongst
students and listen to students as they share.

I used to think, but now I think

A simple structure for helping students think about how their understanding of something has changed. It can be done
at any stage in an inquiry. Students can stand in a circle and take it in turns to share their thinking, for example.
Changes in thinking may also be written and displayed throughout the inquiry.

1st/2nd/3rd thinking
At the beginning of a lesson or unit have the students record a snapshot of their thinking about the concept – this may
be written, by way of a graphic organizer or an oral recording that can be reviewed later. Students repeat the task 2-3
times during the unit and reflect on the growth in their thinking or understanding as they do.

CSI
This technique stands for “colour, symbol, image”. Students are asked to the concept or topic you are working on.
They then attribute a colour, symbol and image (or picture) to that idea. There are obviously no “right” answers to
this….rather, it is an opportunity for students to share and explain their thinking using a very visual technique. As
students share and discuss their CSI with each other – further insight into their understandings are possible. This
technique has added value when repeated later in a unit to show changes in thinking. A final CSI can also act as a
useful, brief summative task.

Confidence continuum
Create a continuum along the wall/board/ground. At one end…place a sign “very confident” at the other end…”not at
all confident”….or something to that effect! At the beginning of a lesson/unit share the learning intentions with
students. Have them stand/place their names along the continuum according to how confident they feel about their
understanding of what these intentions. A quick scan of the continuum will help you adjust questioning and
differentiate more effectively as you each Return to it during and at the end of the lesson/unit and have students re-
position themselves if appropriate

5 whys

© From untitled manuscript – to be published by Seastar Education 2015

A powerful thinking strategy that helps students dig deeper into their understanding and demonstrate their grasp of a
concept along the way. Give students a ‘Why question’ that is central to your teaching focus , eg: ‘Why is water such
a precious resource?’ Students then work with a partner to ask and answer a further 4 WHY questions that stem from
this first one. The conversation pathway can be recorded and shared. Always ask students to reflect on what they
noticed about their questions, their responses and their thinking during the strategy.

See, think wonder

This can be done in response to a text or some specific experience or may be a more general reflection on a topic at
any given time in the unit. The students may write, draw or say their response to the questions…what did I see? What
did this make me feel? What did this make me wonder?

Make a connection
The ability to connect one idea or experience with another is fundamental to understanding and an excellent way to
assess the development of thinking. When students can make connections, they are more likely to have a deeper and
more sustained grasp of the concept. Making connections can be prompted through simple teacher prompts such as
‘Can you tell me something else that this reminds you of?’ ‘How is this like what we have just been learning about
in….” Can anyone make a connection to ….’s idea? This check up may be formalized through visual organizers such
as concept maps, word webs or through having students make physical connections with arrows, wool, etc between
words or pictures on cards.

Forced association
This is a more creative way of making connections. Having students consider how a concept they are learning is like
something that might seem completely unrelated. For example “How is the human body like this apple?’ – the ensuing
discussion quickly reveals understanding. As the unit progresses – have the students come up with their own metaphor
for the topic/concept and share it with others.

Speed teach
This can be a fun and energizing task within a lesson and is a great way to get a quick glimpse of how students are
understanding something. Simply ask students to form pairs or small groups. One students is ‘the teacher’. In a short
period of time (2 minutes0 Ask them to explain something they have learned to the others as clearly as they can –
imagining that the others do not understand it. As students ‘speed teach’ each other, their own understanding
develops and there is an opportunity to ‘listen in’ to their thinking and assess accordingly.

Agree/disagree
Provide students with some ‘controversial statements’ about which they need to form an opinion – whether they agree
or disagree. They can form a line, make a ‘human graph’ go to corners of the room or any other means by which they
can identify and then justify their point of view. Their justifications can give you an important insight into their
understandings and their misconceptions.

3-2-1
Ask students to write down three words that are important to them about the topic. They then work in pairs to reduce
the list of 6 words they have together, to 2. Pairs then join to make groups of 4 and reduce their combined 4 words to
1. The words can then be chanted around the class, performed as a ‘freeze frame’ or written on signs to be posted
around the room.

Stand by me
In this strategy, understanding goals or skills intentions are written up on posters around the room. Ask the students to
walk around the room and read them. They then move to the one they believe they understand the best and explain
the reason why they have chosen to stand by that statement to others around them. The technique can be repeated

© From untitled manuscript – to be published by Seastar Education 2015

asking students which statement/concept/word they LEAST understand. They then share their questions/uncertainties
with others

Thumbs up/down/sideways
This quick check strategy simply asks students to use hand signals to identify how confident they are with what they
have learned.

o Thumbs up: I understand!

o Thumb sideways: I get some of it but need help on other things
o Thumbs down: I don't get it!

How is your thinking shaping up?

In this strategy, shapes represent a particular way of reflecting on a task/unit. Students can be given their own shapes
to write in or a class set can be made as a prompt.
o Square = what do you agree with? What did you already know?
o Triangle = what is new learning for you?
o Heart = How are you feeling about this/your learning?
o Circle = what questions do you have?

Ticket of leave
A very quick way to check understanding. At the end of a session, give students 2 post it notes each. On one they write
an important thing they have learned, on another, they write a question or something they are still confused about.
On the way out the door, they post the questions on charts or the whiteboard – they can be encourage to loosely group
them with others as they do so. This is their ‘ticket’ out the door! Use the comments and questions at the beginning of
the next session to help students see more connections in their learning.

Intention/reflection
This is a similar technique to the ticket of leave but it is something done at the beginning of a lesson/series of lessons.
Using various sentence starters, students identify something they hope they will understand more deeply or a question
they believe they need answering. This intention is verbalized or written. The intentions are specifically returned to
at the end of the session and students consider and share how well they have achieved that intention.

Sentence starters
Make a set of laminated sentence starters that prompt students to articulate their thinking and learning, for example.
‘An important thing I have learned is…” Something I could teach someone else about is….”, “I have a better
understanding of….” Distribute the sentence starters. They can be used for a round-the-circle share or in many other
ways.

Return to the question

Encourage students to regularly return to the compelling question and consider what they can add to the response
they made to it at the beginning of the unit. Keep some records of the new thinking that is evident as the inquiry
unfolds. I describle this process as “looping” throughout a unit of study. We loop back to the original question and
each time, pick up more understanding along the way.

Metaphors and analogies

When students can create a metaphor to explain something, it generally suggests a deeper understanding of the
concept. There are many ways to encourage students to work with metaphors. Having pictures or objects around the
room to stimulate their thinking, can be very powerful. Simply ask students to brainstorm all features that they
believe the concept and their selected metaphor have in common. Students can also be presented WITH an analogy
and brainstorm the connections in groups. For example “How is the brain like the engine of a car?”

© From untitled manuscript – to be published by Seastar Education 2015

Tic Tac Toe
This can be a very quick but powerful way to check in on understanding. Prepare a grid with 9 squares. The word in
the centre of the grid is the main topic/idea/concept you are working on. Students can quickly draw up their own – tic
tac toe style. Teacher or students fill the remaining squares with relevant terms connected to the central concept.
Students then draw a line through any three words – always including the central one. They must then create a
statement connecting all three words. This is made more fun/challenging when there is a time limit applied to the
creation of the statement.

Rocket write
Give students 1 minute to write down everything they think of when they think about this topic/concept/skill/idea.
After one minute – they can share with others or post and do a gallery walk to compare and contrast.

Speed teach
Students find a partner. Give them a challenge they need to ‘teach’ their partner in one minute then swapover with
either the same or a new challenge. Eg: OK – I want you to teach your partner what you understand about how a
narrative text differs from a persuasive text….GO!! As you rove amongst students you will quickly hear a snapshot of
where their thinking is at.

One word summary

At the end of a lesson or teaching sequence as students to identify ONE word that best captures what they have
learned. They can say them or write the word on a post it and share

6 word stories
This is fun, creative and challenging. Ask students to sum up their learning by creating a 6 word story. For example, a 6
word story at the end of an inquiry into refugees might be:
Displaced people may risk their lives
Examples of 6 word stories can be found at http://www.sixwordstories.net

Pipe cleaner gallery

Give each student a pipe cleaner. Ask them to create a symbol that represents what they understand. Hav them hold
up their pipe cleaners to make a ‘pop up gallery’ – call upon students to explain why they made what they made.

Collaborative quiz
If you need to assess students recall or knowledge of something then a quick, collaborative quiz can be energizing and
effective and much better than a tedious pen and paper test. Organise students into small groups. Read out the
questions and ask them to collaborate and agree on an answer – the team with the most correct answers wins each
round. You can assess individuals by listening in and observing while they negotiate. Invite students to come up with
their quiz questions for sections of the quiz

ABC summary
Have students pick a letter out of a hat – they then have 2 minutes to come up with a word that has SOME connection
to what they have been learning that begins with that letter. Quickly move around the room hearing each word.

Question me the answer

Provide small groups or individuals with a key word associated with what they have been learning. Small groups come
up with a question to which that word is an answer. They then put the question to the class to see whether the
response is their allocated word.

© From untitled manuscript – to be published by Seastar Education 2015