INNOVATIVE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT APPROACHES

Formative assessment is assessment for learning and as learning. This continual

cycle of feedback and improvement makes learning useful and effective. What
follows are 10 innovative formative assessment strategies for teachers to try out.
1. ANALYZING STUDENT WORK
A great deal of information can be learned from students’ homework, tests, and
quizzes. This is especially so if the students are required to explain their thinking.
When teachers take the time to analyze student work, they gain knowledge about:
 A student's current knowledge, attitudes, and skills about subject matter
 Strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles
 Need for further, or special, assistance
 This approach lets teachers modify their instruction to be more effective in
the future.
2. ROUND ROBIN CHARTS
This strategy involves passing charts among groups to assess understanding.
Each group of 4 or 5 students begins with a chart and some markers. The group
records an answer to an open-ended question. They can also share knowledge
they have on a topic covered in class. Once the students finish with the chart, they
pass it on to the next group. Once every group has worked on every chart,
responses are discussed as a class.
3. STRATEGIC QUESTIONING
Questioning strategies may be used with individuals, small groups, or the entire
class. Effective formative assessment strategies involve asking students to answer
higher-order questions such as “why” and “how.” Higher-order questions require
more in-depth thinking from the students. They can help the teacher discern the
level and extent of the students’ understanding.
4. 3-WAY SUMMARIES
The idea here is to use different modes of thinking and attention to detail. Students
can work in groups or individually. In response to a question or topic inquiry, they
write three different summaries:
 10–15 words long
 30–50 words long
 75–100 words long
You can even have students use Twitter. Chances are you've got a lot of students
who use it already. They'll have experience communicating messages with minimal
wording and characters.
5. THINK-PAIR-SHARE
This is one of the many formative assessment strategies that is simple for teachers
to use. The instructor asks a question, and students write down their answers.
Students are then placed in pairs to discuss their responses. Teachers are able to
move around the classroom and listen to various discussions. It lets them gain
valuable insight into levels of understanding.
6. 3–2–1 COUNTDOWN
This is a true test of relevant and meaningful learning. When students learn
something they find useful, they're likely to want to use that learning in some way.
Have students end the day with this one. Give them cards to write on, or they can
respond orally. They are required to respond to three separate statements:
 3 things you didn't know before
 2 things that surprised you about this topic
 1 thing you want to start doing with what you've learned
You can also ask them different kinds of questions. These are suggestions, so feel
free to make up your own.
7. CLASSROOM POLLS
Polls let students give responses quickly and accurately. A silent poll is perfect for
those "shy" students who have trouble speaking up. These are also a quick way to
check understanding using mobile technology.
8. EXIT/ADMIT TICKETS
A simple but effective formative assessment is the exit ticket. Exit tickets are small
pieces of paper or cards that students deposit as they leave the classroom.
Students write down an accurate interpretation of the main idea behind the lesson
taught that day. Next, they provide more detail about the topic.
Admit tickets are done at the very beginning of the class. Students may respond to
questions about homework, or on the lesson taught the day before.
9. ONE-MINUTE PAPERS
One-minute papers are usually done at the end of the day. Students can work
individually or in groups here. They must answer a brief question in writing. Typical
questions posed by teachers center around:
 Main point
 Most surprising concept
 Questions not answered
  Most confusing area of topic
 What question from the topic might appear on the next test.
Without formative assessments, the first indication that a student doesn’t grasp the
material is when they fail a quiz or a test. An innovative formative assessment
strategy like this can take failure out of the classroom.
10. CREATIVE EXTENSION PROJECTS
Students can create a large scope of projects to demonstrate comprehension.
Quick projects help them apply the higher-order levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
These don't have to be big and complicated. They can take a day, a half-day, or
even an hour. Here are some extension ideas for quick projects:
 Create a poster or collage illustrating the subject matter
 Record a rehearsed skit or podcast discussing the topics covered
 Build a diorama about the subject and create a narrative behind it
 Let students design their own flashcards to test each other with
 Keynote presentations made by students on the topic
ASSESSING EVEN MORE CRITICAL SKILLS
The skills our students need for life in and beyond school are things we'll always be
weighing and improving, but what about critical thinking? You can begin to develop
and assess it using the tools you'll find in our most popular resource, The Critical
Thinking Companion. You'll discover a whole new way to assess the skills that
matter in this book, and you and your students will have a lot of fun in the process.
Get it below now, exclusively from Wabisabi Learning.

Map It
In Map It, students listen to your directions and find their way along a map to a secret
location. Start by making copies of a map for each of your students. It can be a real
place, like this campus, or a simple diagram you put together yourself. Just make
sure the streets are labeled and that you have several buildings marked on the map.

Give your students directions from a starting point, but don’t tell them where you are
directing them. They should run their fingers along the map according to your
directions. Once you are finished, ask students where they ended up. Hopefully they
are at the destination you were leading them to.
Station Three: Reading
Two Texts
This challenging task is great for more capable students and it involves reading.
Having texts in front of them can make adult students feel more supported.
The teacher will choose two short texts and will print them out for half of all the class.
Then, the teacher will create a list of simple questions for each text and print out the
same quantity.
The teacher will divide the class into two groups and will hand out the texts. Hang
onto the question sheets for later. One group gets one text, the second group gets
the other text. The texts will be on some assessment strategies.
Group members then read their texts and are free to talk about them within their
group, making sure they all understand everything. After 5 minutes or so, the teacher
will take the papers away.
Each student is paired with someone from the other group. Each student must tell
their partner everything they learned from their text. Then they must listen to (and
remember) what the other student tells them about their group’s text.
Students return to their original groups and are given a list of questions about their
original text.
Students are paired again, this time with a different person from the other group.
Each student must test their partner using the questions about the text which their
partner never read and was only told about, and likewise answer questions about
the text they were told about.

Station two: Speaking

Running Dictation
This useful activity requires students to use all four language skills—reading, writing,
listening, and speaking—and if carefully planned and well-controlled can cause both
great excitement and exceptional learning.
Pair students up. The teacher will choose who will run and who will write. (At a later
stage they could swap tasks.)
The teacher will print out some short texts (related to assessment) and will stick them
on a wall away from the desks. The teacher should be stick them somewhere out of
sight from where the students sit, such as out in the corridor.
There will be several numbered texts, and the students will be asked to collect two
or three each. The texts will include blanks which they need to fill later, and they will
be asked to put them in order. There are many possibilities here!
The running students run (or power-walk) to their assigned texts, read, remember as
much as they can and then return to dictate the text to the writing student. Then they
run again. The first pair to finish writing the complete, correct texts wins.
It is not allowed to:
Use phone cameras to “remember” the text.
Let “running” students write—they can spell words out and tell their partner when
they’re wrong.
Let “writing” students go and look at the text (or let “running” students bring it to
them).

Station Four: Writing

Tweet Writing Activity Example
A great example of a tweeting ESL writing activity is to use something related to their
everyday lives.
Let’s say the students are all excited about the new assessment strategies they just
heard about. The teacher will introduce the students the new strategy and will let
them discuss it and ask any questions they may have about it. This is great for some
communicative practice as well. After they’ve discussed the new strategy, give them
a handout with three blank tweeting spaces. Each tweeting space will give a different
tweet topic. Remind them that they have 140 characters to produce a short message
about the movie subject.
For example, one subject can be about advantages, so the students will write a tweet
about the advantages, what is that about, and why they should use it in class.
After they’ve successfully written down their tweets, the teacher can discuss them,
bring back some communicative aspects into the lesson and, if relevant, begin
tweeting to the world using a class Twitter account. The students will be more than
excited to see their words on the Internet for all to read. It’s a great confidence boost
for their writing!