Formative+Assessments

=**Formative Assessments**=

A. Formative vs. Summative Assessments
Classroom assessments can include a wide range of options -- from recording anecdotal notes while observing a student to administering standardized tests. The options can be roughly divided into two categories -- formative assessments and summative assessments. //Formative a//s//sessments// are on-going assessments, reviews, and observations in a classroom. Teachers use formative assessment to improve instructional methods and student feedback throughout the teaching and learning process. For example, if a teacher observes that some students do not grasp a concept, she or he can design a review activity or use a different instructional strategy. Likewise, students can monitor their progress with periodic quizzes and performance tasks. The results of formative assessments are used to modify and validate instruction. //Summative assessments// are typically used to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs and services at the end of an academic year or at a pre-determined time. The goal of summative assessments is to make a judgment of student competency after an instructional phase is complete. For example, in Rhode Island, the NECAP is administered once a year -- it is a summative assessment to determine each student's ability at pre-determined points in time. Summative evaluations are used to determine if students have mastered specific competencies and to identify instructional areas that need additional attention. **25 Formative Assessments** **Carousel Brainstorming** is a powerful summarizing activity that engages all learners. As students carousel from chart to chart, they record ideas, details, and illustrations that show their understanding of a particular topic or concept. Create a list of important subtopics or open-ended questions about your big topic. Write each one a different sheet of chart paper. Form groups of students so that there are as many groups as there are charts. Number the charts to indicate the order in which groups should move from chart to chart. Make sure, however, that the charts themselves do not build upon one another, because some students will be starting at the last charts and then moving to the first charts. Give a different color marker to each group and have the groups carousel from chart to chart and respond in writing to each of the topics or questions. For each chart, a different group member records the groups's responses on the chart. Students might draw a sketch or a symbol to illustrate an idea, provide details or examples for each subtopic, perform a required mathematics operation, or answer a provided question with a response that is different from those already recorded. Explain that they must read what others have written but may not directly copy what's already been said. Give students from two to three minutes at each chart to add as many ideas as they can, and then ring a bell or flick the light to signal that it's time to move to the next chart. Be sure to provide a follow-up activity that makes use of the information gathered. Using the charts, students can write brief essays that note relationships, summarize information, or make comparisons. The charts can be referred to by the whole class.


 * 3-2-1 Summarizer**

A 3-2-1 Summarizer is a strategy for closure at the end of a lesson. The numbers refer to how many of each kind of summary statement or response you require students to provide. 3 facts you learned 2 questions you wonder about 1 personal connection you can make to the information

Filming the Ideas is effective in social studies classrooms, where students can sequence historical events or record periods of history along with illustrations. It also can be used in language arts classrooms as a prewriting tool for creative writing (planning events in the story) or as an organizer for logical, coherent writing involving sequence (an autobiography, a character's change over time, events that impact a character's life. Then, model for the whole class how to solve the word problem by proceeding through the steps: recording known information and what needs to be solved; drawing an illustration of the data; solving and labeling the problem; and using the language of math to explain the procedure. After you have modeled the steps for the entire class, allow students who have the confidence to proceed on their own to solve a second, similar problem which you have photocopied on the reverse side. Invite students who struggle with solving word problems to work with you around the table to solve the second problem together. Challenge advanced math students to create and solve their own word problem on a blank Filming the Ideas organizer.
 * Filming the Ideas**
 * 1) Photocopy the Filming the Ideas reproducibles.
 * 2) Have students staple the eight-box unlined template on top of the eight-box lined template. Instruct them to place three or four staples along the outside margins. Then, students can cut the top sheet along the middle bold line. This will allow the top sheet with questions and pictures to open up and reveal student-written responses.
 * 3) Give students clear directions about how to complete the assessments. Explain to students that the Filming the Ideas organizer will help them arrange ideas in ways that will make the information memorable. Be sure to explain which higher-level thinking skill the organizer will be used to illustrate. Will students be required to show cause and effect, compare and contrast, or problem-solution, by illustrating and labeling both the left and right sides of the organizer with these terms? Will students be asked to sequence events, describe change over time, record steps in a process, or note stages/phases/parts of a cycle by numbering the boxes from left to right continuing down the page?
 * 4) Tell students if they have to include certain content vocabulary, show a particular number of steps, compare and contrast certain elements or factors, or sketch specific items or processes.
 * 5) Allow students the time it takes for them to complete the required task. Depending on how you design the activity, they may need a full class period and/or additional time the next day or as homework. They type of assessment will take longer to finish than many others.
 * Use this organizer for:**
 * Chapter Summaries** - Filming the Ideas is ideal for helping students create chapter summaries of classroom read-alouds or outside readings
 * Describing a Concept** - Students can use Filming the Ideas to represent their understanding of a concept by sharing facts, examples, characteristics, functions, or attributes of the concepts, along with visuals.
 * Recording Steps in a Process/Stages in a Cycle**- Use it to illustrate understanding of stages in a life cycle, phases of the moon, steps in an experiment, or any other process or cycle.
 * Noting Events in Chronological Order/Sequence**
 * Cause and Effect**- Use the organizer when asking students to show understanding of cause-effect relationships. Label the four boxes on the left side of the top page with the word "Cause." Accompanying illustrations on this side of the page will show student understanding of each cause. Label the four boxes on the right side of the top page with the word "Effect." Illustrations on the right side will show student understanding of the effect of each cause to its left. Students will provide written explanations on the second page to describe each cause-effect relationship.
 * Compare and Contras**t - This organizer is useful to compare and contrast any two ideas, concepts, periods of time, books, characters, groups, or classifications. On the left side, list four characteristics, elements, or factors. Students will illustrate the first page and elaborate in writing on the second page. On the right side, students will compare these characteristics, elements, or factors, to those from a different time period, book, character, group, or classification.
 * Math Problem Solving**- Photocopy the organizer with the word problem printed in the first box.






 * Find Someone Who.**..


 * 1) Hand out copies of the Find Someone Who...
 * 2) Review the template.
 * 3) To save time, run the chart off with nine focus questions related to the present topic of study printed in each box.
 * 4) Give students ten minutes to circulate through the room and ask their classmates for the answers to the questions on the sheet. Explain to them that each answer must come from a different student.
 * 5) Instruct students to return to their seats when their chart is complete.
 * 6) Circulate among students, taking note of student responses and assessing understading.
 * 7) After students return to their seats, ask them to synthesize what they have learned by having them write a brief summary. The summaries provide an opportunity for students to reorganize the information, thus increasing the likelihood of retention.


 * Four More!**


 * 1) Tell students that it's time to summarize what they have learned today. Give each student a Four More! template.
 * 2) Have all students write two key ideas that they recall from the lesson on the lines in the first two boxes.
 * 3) Now, have students move from their desks to circulate with peers. Tell them they must gather four more ideas, one additional idea from each of four different students to fill the remaining boxes. Explain that completing this idea-sharing part of the task is very important for their next




 * Headline News Summary**


 * 1) Familiarize students with headlines and their purpose.
 * 2) Place students in small groups to create their own headlines for articles (with the headlines cut off).
 * 3) Model for the entire class how to apply this summarizing technique to developing "headlines" for a passage from a novel or social studies or science textbook.
 * 4) Ask pairs to create headline for subsequent passages in the textbook.
 * 5) Have partners share their ideas with the whole class, alternating between the reading/writing activity for a passage and sharing.
 * 6) You will need to model for students how to write a summary. You can use the following questions to guide your whole-class practice with summarizing: //What is the main idea? What do we know so far? What is the significance of the event, discovery, problem, conflict, etc.? Whom does it affect? What seems likely for the future?//


 * List Group Label**


 * 1) Charts and tables help us organize out thinking. When studying a unit that has several ideas, people, principles, or items to compare, the Matrix strategy can help students make sense of the information.
 * 2) Duplicate and distribute the Matrix template.
 * 3) Model for students how you would fill out the chart as you guide them in a discussion of a topic.
 * 4) Have students fill in a chart of their own as you model and complete yours.


 * Matrix**
 * 1) Charts and tables help us organize out thinking. As students grapple to understand a great deal of information that comes their way, graphic organizers such as charts, tables, webs, and flow maps can help them see visual patterns and relationships.
 * 2) Duplicate and distribute the Matrix template.
 * 3) Model for students how you would fill out the chart as you guide them in a rich discussion in review of a topic (comparing characters, states of matter, types of landforms, characteristics of communities/regions/biomes, etc.).
 * 4) Have students fill in a chart of their own as you model and complete yours.
 * 5) Provide students the language of compare-contrast so that they can speak and communicate clearly about the differences and similarities of the items being discussed.
 * 6) As a follow-up, have students write a compare-contrast essay using at least five of the terms.
 * 7) After the next day's reading or lesson, allow partners to work together to complete a Matrix template to organize and compare the information.
 * 8) Once students are comfortable and confident in the use of this strategy to organize and compare information, assign independent tasks in which they do so.




 * My Opinions Journal**


 * 1) Provide students with a small journal notebook (or booklet made of lined paper). This "journal" can be a section of your students' notebook or you can store the journal notebooks in a crate in your classroom.
 * 2) **At the beginning of a unit, provide sentence starters like the following to activate prior knowledge:**

3. Model several times how you write a journal entry based on a prompt, until students are comfortable with the process. 4. After modeling an example for the class, engage students in a shared writing by providing them with an opening statement, and having them work together to contribute support and evidence to back up the stated opinion. 5.Once students are comfortable with this format, stop periodically throughout a unit or activity and ask students to form an opinion about a particular concept, character, statement, or issue-and record it in their My Opinions Journal. 6. Collect the journals from time to time to provide feedback.
 * In my opinion, leads to (**Example**: In my opinion, //prejudice// leads to )
 * I believe is important because **(Example**: I believe //protecting endangered species// is important because__)__
 * __I think is necessary because__ ___. (**Example**: I think //democracy// is necessary because _)__
 * __I feel it is important to understand__ because ( **Example**: I feel it is important to understand //fractions// because )






 * My Top Ten List**

My Top Ten List is an engaging way for students to review their notes and texts to determine the most important ideas and concepts learned in a unit of study. Provide students a template of My Top Ten List using a topic. Ask all students to contribute their ideas. As they do so, place their responses on the board under one of the following columns: "main ideas" and "details." After students have exhausted their responses, let partners narrow the list down to the top ten. Share as a whole class and try to come to some consensus about the main ideas. Help students recognize what is most significant about this unit of study. Let students work with a partner to develop the next few lists that you assign.


 * My Top Ten List English Language Arts**


 * about a characte**r: attributes, quotes, what others say about the character, what others think abut the character, what actions the character takes

about an event: a description of what it is or was, the place and time period in which it occurred, its purpose, its causes and effects, its significance, who was involved with it.
 * Social Studies: My Top Ten List**
 * about a famous historical figure**: the place or time period in which the person lived, his or her background or position, the person's accomplishments and his/her impact on society,




 * Math or Science: My Top Ten List**
 * about a math or science concept**: its definition, attributes, characteristics, and examples; what category it belongs to; how it works; steps involved in it; tips and hints to help remember it; when we might use it in real life; why it's important to know about


 * Noting What I've Learned**

Noting What I've Learned is a simple note-taking strategy that can be used in all grade levels and across the curriculum.
 * 1) Provide students with a template of Noting What I've Learned to accompany a reading assignment.
 * 2) If this is the first time your students are using this outline, provide them the Main Ideas, Questions, or Key Words for each of the boxes. (Each box should reflect one section of the reading.)
 * 3) Read aloud one section from your textbook or other nonfiction text, and then pause.
 * 4) Give students two to three minutes to list details (facts, data, examples, evidence, and so on) supporting the main idea or to answer the question that is written in the box.
 * 5) To provide students additional support with this note-taking instruction, you might allow partners first to talk for one minute to gather ideas before writing individually.
 * 6) Have students share ideas as a whole class, so that all students can learn from one another.
 * 7) Read the next textbook section aloud. Follow steps 4 and 5. Repeat until section is completed.
 * 8) Show students how to use Noting What I've Learned as an effective study tool by folding the right side of the page over to meet the right side of the boxes. Students can then study by asking themselves questions and trying to answer them aloud without looking at the details underneath the folded paper.


 * Photo Finish**

Photo Finish is a series of snapshot visuals that captures the essence of a topic. Spatial learners will welcome the occasional opportunity to show you what they know their own illustrations. As always, it is important to model for the class how to complete any new strategy. If you are not comfortable with illustrating ideas yourself, engage one of your students artists to create the first one with you. Copy and distribute the Photo Finish reproducible. This version has eight boxes for illustration. Throughout the unit, stop after discussing an important concept and brainstorm with the entire class how you could illustrate the concept to make it memorable. Together, decide what vocabulary terms, phrases, or quotes should be recorded in addition to the picture or drawing. Model your thinking about how to choose what key ideas to illustrate and how you will represent them. For example, after a unit on the three branches of government, begin the modeling as such: //We have been studying the three branches of government, and I remember the legislative branch makes the laws about trading, money making, and paying taxes. So, in the first box, I will write "legislative branch" and "laws." Then, in the second snapshot box, I'll sketch outline maps of the United States and England with arrows indicating their trade. In the third box, I'll draw a picture of several bills ($1, $5, $10, $20) and write "money making." Finally, I'll draw a dollar symbol with an arrow pointing to the word "government" to show that the legislative branch makes the laws about paying taxes.// Continue to model your thinking process as you complete a Photo Finish to show what you know about the executive and judicial branches of government. Once you have guided students in developing meaningful nonlinguistic representations of information, you can give them practice doing this on their own. You might list four key ideas for students and allow them to brainstorm with partners for two or three minutes about which symbols or illustrations they could draw to represent the concepts. Then, give students just a few minutes to complete their individual drawings.


 * Give students the Photo Finish template to assess their understanding of:**
 * Major contributions
 * Characters/key figures
 * Turning points
 * Important events
 * Examples of ...themes/story elements/literary devices/conflicts
 * Different groups or categories
 * Cause and effect
 * Change over time
 * Before and after
 * Sequence/important events/steps
 * Compare and contrast
 * Beginning, middle, end


 * To support struggling learners:**
 * 1) Provide students with a cause (in writing) and have them illustrate this cause and one effect. Or provide students with four pictures (four causes) and let them illustrate an appropriate effect for each.
 * 2) Provide students with out-of-sequence sentence strips indicating steps, sequence, or change over time. Have them sequence the ideas and then draw an illustration to represent each of the ideas.
 * 3) Provide students with several pictures. have them sort the pictures to compare and contrast concepts. Explain to them that some of the pictures will not be used (this will encourage the students to think more critically than if they were engage in a simple matching exercise). When they have chosen from among the pictures, let them paste the illustrations onto the Photo Finish template to show comparisons.




 * Picture Note Making**


 * 1) The Picture Note Making strategy makes sense for our diverse learners. It is both active and motivating, and it appeals to students who have spatial learning preferences.
 * 2) Give students a Picture Note Making template and ask them to write three important ideas that they learned in the lesson.
 * 3) On the left side of the page have the students draw a picture to help them remember as much as possible about the topic or concept, including the big ideas as well as details.
 * 4) The picture can be shared and discussed in pairs or small groups.


 * QuickWrite/ QuickDraw**


 * 1) QuickWrite/QuickDraw is an assessment tool that invites learners to explain their thinking through both writing and drawing. Because this assessment includes both linguistic (left-brain) and nonlinguistic (right-brain) representations, it offers teachers a view into the thinking of learners who might have a preference for one mode of thinking over the other.
 * 2) Duplicate the QuickWrite/QuickDraw template.
 * 3) Distribute a copy of the template to each student.
 * 4) Allow students to write and draw for between five and ten minutes to show their understanding of a particular concept you have identified.
 * 5) Allow students to share their QuickWrite/QuickDraw assessments with one another in small groups as you circulate to listen in on the converstations. Encourage them to add to their own papers after listening to the ideas of their classmates.
 * 6) Ask them to include this additional information in another color, so they can see the process of their learning and the value of sharing ideas.
 * 7) Collect this completed QuickWrite/QuickDraw and make notes about any misunderstandings or gaps in student understanding.
 * 8) Form a needs-based group to follow up the next day, if necessary.


 * SOS Summary**

SOS Summary is an assessment that can be used at any point in a lesson. Present a statement (S) Ask the student's opinion (O) Ask the student to support the statement with evidence (S)


 * Turn 'n' Talk**


 * 1) This strategy encourages student conversation about what they are learning.
 * 2) After approximately 10-15 minutes of class discussion or lecture, have students turn to a partner to share their notes and discuss the main ideas of this segment of class instruction.
 * 3) During this time, circulate among the pairs, asking questions to check more deeply for understanding.
 * 4) Bring the whole class back together. Point out any confusion or gaps in knowledge that you have become aware of.
 * 5) Continue with the lesson for another 10-15 minutes. Repeat the opportunity to Turn 'n' Talk.


 * Unit Collage**

Take a poster-size sheet of paper and divide it into at least six boxes. Place heading, topic, or title of the unit at the top of the page. Throughout the unit, stop after discussing an important concept/subtopic and brainstorm with the entire class how you could illustrate the concept to make it memorable. Together, decide what vocabulary terms, phrases, or quotes should be included in addition to the picture or drawing. Illustrate the particular concept your're working on, adding any important content-specific language that the class has decided is necessary to describe the concept accuarately. Continue with the unit of study, which may take several more days, or even weeks, until conclusion. Along the way, stop periodically to create a new block when you determine that it would be helpful to increase retention. At the end of the unit, use the class generated Unit Collage to help review the unit. Students should now be ready to create their own individual Unit Collage for the next unit.


 * Types of Information/Visuals to Include on a Unit Collage**
 * Key understandings
 * Formulas
 * Principles
 * Parts and functions
 * Examples
 * Pictures
 * Symbols
 * Themes
 * Story Elements
 * Literary devices
 * Quotes
 * Tips and hints
 * Key figures
 * Turning points
 * Major Contributions
 * Legacies
 * Important Events
 * Content vocabulary terms


 * Write About**

Research has shown that summarization yields some of the greatest leaps in comprehension and long-term retention of information. A Write About is a concrete tool for summarization in which students use key vocabulary terms to synthesize their understanding in a paragraph as well as represent key ideas geographically.


 * 1) At the end of a lesson, provide a Write About sheet to students
 * 2) Model for the class how you would complete a WriteAbout. Brainstorm key words and draw a picture to represent the main idea.
 * 3) Demonstrate how to write a summary using the key words on the list. Show students how you check off the terms as you use them and circle them in your writing.
 * 4) Let partners talk and complete a WriteAbout together.
 * 5) After a few practice opportunities with a partner, students should be ready to complete a WriteAbout on their own.
 * 6) Collect this assessment and provide feedback to students. Provided a simple check or check-plus to indicate the individual's level of mastery. Share with your class what a check or check-plus means. ( //A check means that you understand most of the terms and ideas, but still have to master others. Please notice any circles, questions marks, or questions that I have written on your paper to help guide your next steps in learning.)//
 * 7) **To support struggling learners: Duplicate the WriteAbout template with the vocabulary terms already printed on it.**