Students can learn a lot from formative assessments, as they give teachers a quick glimpse into how well they’re grasping the lessons and what needs to be addressed.
Here are some time-tested formative assessment examples to use when you need to monitor student comprehension during your classes. These techniques are easy to implement and provide helpful feedback for both you and your students.
Quizzes
Quizzes are a fun and engaging formative assessment example that can help you get a feel for how students are grasping concepts. They can also help you prepare your students for exams, which is a vhttps://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.htmlaluable tool for teachers to have in their arsenal of classroom resources.
One of the oldest methods of testing student knowledge, quizzes are a short-format exam. They often include multiple-choice questions, fill in the blanks, and short answers.
To make this type of formative assessment more fun, try incorporating some social media into the mix. Challenge students to sum up the lesson in 280 characters or less on a sticky note, or ask them to create three hashtags that describe the day’s lessons.
Polls
Polls are one of the most versatile formative assessment examples that teachers can use to collect information, activate learning, and check in on student progress. They work well with any learning format and can be used in person or online.
In classrooms, teachers can create simple polls students can answer on their phones or computers using apps such as Poll Everywhere, Socrative, or Mentimeter.
They are a great way to assess student understanding, as well as foster class discussion and clarify misconceptions. However, it is important to consider how you will grade responses with this type of tool and the purpose of the questions you ask before deciding to utilize this technique in your classroom.
Another effective way to use polls as formative assessment examples is by incorporating them into small group discussions. This allows the students to discuss and come to a consensus within their group on the correct answer.
Summaries
Summaries are a great way to evaluate students’ learning during a lesson. They can be completed by students individually or collaboratively.
They can be of varying lengths, from short (10-15 words) to medium (30-50 words), and long (75-100 words). The goal is for students to condense a larger work into its most important ideas.
Formative assessment examples like these help teachers monitor student learning, provide feedback, and give students a chance to improve before the end of a unit of study.
They’re easy to use and can be used with a variety of different tools, including Socrative and Quizlet. They’re also low-stakes and don’t have a huge impact on an individual student’s grade.
Check-Ins
The term formative assessment is often used to describe a process of regularly checking in with students and adjusting teaching as learning progresses. It’s different than summative assessment, which is typically the end of a unit of work and usually consists of exams.
Formative assessments are aimed at gauging student understanding and identifying where to focus instruction. They can look like quizzes, polls, discussions or one-on-one conversations.
Collaboration
Collaboration can be a valuable formative assessment strategy, as it helps students assess their own progress. It also makes them think about their learning gaps.
It can help teachers get a better understanding of what their students need to learn next, and it can help teachers design lessons that help students grow in a meaningful way.
The term collaboration can refer to a number of different practices, from working with other people to developing new products. It can also mean collaborating with technology to complete a task or achieve a goal.
It is a powerful tool that can help break down some of the silos in an organization, tighten connections across departments, and create a more open work culture. This kind of culture can attract future employees, too, as they want to join a company that values connection and teamwork.