• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

January 16, 2015 Elementary School

Differentiating your Formative Assessments

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Lori H Rice

Lori Rice is a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary in Wamego, Kansas, who has taught K-2 reading as well as kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade since 1996. She has a passion for creativity, learning, questioning and the whole child. Her classroom is a place of acceptance and celebrating differences.
  • Bringing Project Based Learning to our Classroom - August 12, 2018
  • Keep the Engagement Alive: Start the Year with Purpose - August 5, 2018
  • It's Our Fault: A Teacher's Confession - March 18, 2018
  • Keeping Your Teaching Real: A Teacher's Role - March 11, 2018
  • Sketch Notes in the Elementary Classroom - February 15, 2017
  • Teach From the Heart - February 9, 2017
  • Who is the Teacher: School or Family? - January 11, 2017
  • Dear President Elect Trump, From Your Teachers - November 17, 2016
  • Let them Be Children - October 21, 2016
  • Print Resources: Great Tools for Kids - October 17, 2016

DifferentiatingThe point of teaching is to learn.  Each student comes to us with different experiences and this impacts how and when they master the various concepts and skills presented in the classroom.  Part of teaching is understanding where students are in a lesson, skill, and unit.  Exit tickets have become the buzz, but there are many ways, beyond a ticket out, to check for understanding during your teaching.

Creativity:  Allow students to express their knowledge of the concept or idea in a creative way, through art. Some of these activities can be done quickly, others will take a little more time; but they will represent what your students have taken away from the content and lesson you are teaching.

1.Write a poem about the topic/subject
2.Draw a picture of the main idea
3.Create an icon to represent the information
4.Draw a map
5.Make a collage
6.Make a 3D model
7.Create a word cloud
8.Make a poster
9.Design a postcard (then write a letter to someone about the subject on the back)

Writing:  Teachers have been asking students to journal and write reflections for eons.  Use short and long writing prompts to allow students to explain their thinking and show their knowledge and understanding of a unit.  Use their work to guide the next step in your classroom.

1.Write a summary
2.Write a notecard that could be used for a speech
3.Write a tweet
4.Make a table of contents about the subject listing the main ideas in chapter format
5.Create a glossary with important vocabulary words
6.Write interview questions for an expert on the subject
7.Write an obvious question about this subject, write a thought-provoking question about this subject and write a question that has no answer on this subject

Technology:  There are many resources today available for quick formative assessments.  You can use these resources to quiz your students and then have immediate data available.  Using iPads, tablets, smart phones and computers, classrooms have access to "clickers" and can gather data in minutes.

1.Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers by engaging their classrooms with a series of educational exercises and games. The apps are super simple and take seconds to login. Socrative runs on tablets, smartphones, and laptops. ENGAGING.*

2.Geddit is a new web-based app for the 1:1 classroom that lets students give instant feedback about their understanding. This information is visible in real-time so that teachers can identify needs as they occur, allowing for quick and easy differentiation.

3.Kahoot is a classroom response system which creates an engaging learning space, through a game-based digital pedagogy.

4.Google Forms is a free Web-based application in which document s and spreadsheets can be created, edited and stored online. Files can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a full-featured Web browser.  You can create surveys, polls, quizzes or collect information.  To learn more check out this article.  

Teachers are constantly observing and making decisions in the classroom.  There are things you can do, however, to provide you with evidence of how your students are learning as the lessons and unit progresses.  Gone is the day of checking for understanding at the end.  To help students find success in this summative assessment, gather formative data along the way.  This will allow you to adapt your lessons, make cooperative groups, and use your time focusing on what your students need.  Gathering this information should occur within lessons.  It allows your pacing to match what students need. Formative assessments show you where to form your next lesson.  Use the ideas above or for more ideas about gathering information about student learning check out this link.   What is your go to way to gather information about your teaching?

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

5 Ways to Use Emojis in the Classroom Default ThumbnailAssessments—Using Incentives to Change the Image Default ThumbnailField Trips are Better with iPads Students Need "Specials"
« Teaching with Controversial Topics
Literature Circle Roles in New Wrappings »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • My Union Showed Up for Me, and I'll Never Forget It
  • Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here's How to Set It Up.
  • You Don't Have to Watch the Tyre Nichols Video, But Be Ready to Talk About It
  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.