Ideas for Formative Assessment K-12

Strategy

3-2-1 Exit Slips

Description
3 things you found out

3 important facts

2 interesting things

2 interesting ideas

1 question you still have

1 insight about your learning

3 key words

3 differences between ____

2 new ideas

2 effects of ____ on ____

1 thought to think about

1 question you still have
Students stop, reflect, make connections, and seek
clarification by answering a question such as: I changed my

3 Minute Pause

attitude towards . . .I became more aware of . . .I was

surprised about . . .I felt . . . I related to . . . I empathized

3 Misunderstandings

with . . .
Have students list and explain three things that a fellow

Caption This!

student might misunderstand about the topic.

Choose 2 or 3 photos that represent the content of the

Circle, Triangle,

In a triangle write something pointed in the lesson that stood

Square

out in your mind. In a square, write something that squared

lesson. Students create captions and write a short summary.

In a circle write something that is going around in your head.

with or agreed with your thinking.

Students work in groups of 4. Each group has a large piece
of paper divided into 4 sections with a topic/question in the

Graffiti

center. Students each write their ideas for two minutes.

They then move as a group to the next paper. Continue until
all students have contributed to all topics/questions. As a
whole class, review everyones contributions to identify
patterns and categories in what has been written.
Ask students questions and have them answer them
WITHOUT putting their names on the papers. The teacher

Hand in, Pass out

immediately distributes them randomly to the students.

Students check the work on the paper they receive without
knowing whose it is. Review questions and poll whose paper
they checked got it correct.
Students use signals to communicate to teacher their
understanding. Thumbs up, thumbs to the side, and thumbs

Hand signals

down. Show 1 to 5 fingers to indicate understanding with

five being maximum understanding and one finger minimal
understanding.
Make sets of cards containing questions or math problems

I have ____.

that do not contain the answer to that question, but contains

Who has _____?

an answer to another question. One student starts and reads

the question. The student with the answer to that question
says the answer and then says I have (fills in their
question). Who has the answer? Play continues until all

RSQC2

recall the lesson, write a summary, write a question they still

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cards are read.

During or after a lesson, stop and ask students in 2 minutes,
have, and write a connection to prior learning/experience.
Squirt a small amount of shaving cream on each students

Shaving Cream (use

desk. Students spread it out and write answers in the

like finger paint)

cream. Spelling words, sight words, mental math answers,

words in another language, etc. At the end when student
clean up the shaving cream, the desks are all clean!
Put a problem on the board or post a question. Students

Snowball fights

write the answer but do NOT put their names on the paper.
Then they wad up the paper and toss the snowball in a

designated spot or box. Each student gets a tossed

snowball. The teacher explains the problem/answers the
question and asks student to look at the snowball they
received. If the snowball has the correct answer, the
student sits down. The teacher can quickly see how many
students dont get it and can adjust the lesson accordingly.
Post a traffic light by the door. As students leave the class

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3
1
4
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Traffic Light

they place a sticky note (with a name or not) by the light

that corresponds with their level of understanding. Green

Tricolor Triangle

got it! Yellow halfway there. Red clueless!

Students give feedback to their teachers by displaying the

(with red, yellow, and

color that corresponds to their level of understanding of the

green corners)

lesson.
At the end of class, students write on a sticky note the most

What stuck with

important thing they learned. As they leave they post it on a

you?

board labeled What stuck with you? A second area can be

added to address Where are you stuck?

Give students an incorrect math problem, a poorly

You be the teacher!

constructed sentence, misused concept, etc. and have then

correct the mistakes.

Print a question on the front of an envelope. Put the answer

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Youve got mail!

inside the envelope. Students write their answer on a slip of

paper, compares it to the correct one, and puts theirs inside
the envelope. Pass the envelope to the next person. The
next person does the same.