How do we gather ongoing data to inform our instruction? How can we ensure what we are teaching is making sense for our students? Here are 7 ideas to consider for formative assessment:
- Use mini whiteboards. Prompts followed by a “1-2-3 Show!” enable you to do a quick scan of who gets it and who doesn’t.
- Diamond Sheet Assessment: Fold a paper into 4 quadrants. Then fold the centre over into a triangle. When you open the paper, it should have 4 quadrants and a diamond in the middle. Place the concept in the middle. Each of the four boxes around the outside could show a different way of understanding/representing the concept. (See photo for example)
Diamond Math - Big Four: Split your page into four boxes. Choose one concept and write 4 questions (one per box) that get incrementally more complex. Collect and scan for understanding
- Exit Slips: Fast and easy way to figure out who needs more support. Choose the big idea from that day’s lesson.
- Write a letter: Write a letter to a friend explaining the big idea from the lesson
- Interview assessment: Meet with the child and have them orally explain the key concepts. See Edutopia’s “60 Second Interview Assessment” Video for more.
- Show your understanding with materials like loose parts and write an “artist’s statement” that explains what you created
