Formative Assessments:
1. Exit Tickets: Exit tickets are a great way for students to show what they have learned from the content of the day. They are quick and easy and usually only one or two questions that students can answer or draw a picture to answer. This is a quick way for the teacher to grasp an understanding of what students are understanding the content and what students may need further help.
2. Physical Response: This is a fun way to get students up and moving around the classroom while quickly assessing their understanding of content. For younger students it can be as simple as a quick "stand up if...." or "thumbs up or thumbs down." Students will use these strategies to answer whether they understand what was taught. The teacher can quickly glance at each student's response and note who replied that they didn't understand and will need more help.
3. KWL Chart: I love using KWL charts because it gives you a look into what students already know about content being presented, what they want to learn and then at the end you can see what they have learned by allowing the students to share with you if they were able to answer any of the "want to know" section of the chart.
4. Observation/Data Sheet: During a lesson when students are working at the tables on their own I will walk around with a data sheet that has that standard on it and quickly take notes on what students are understanding and what students need more help. This is a quick way for me to understand what students will need more instruction on that specific standard. I will write short notes about why I said they got it or why I said they needed more help.
5. Visual: With younger students it is easier for them to draw a picture to accompany what they have learned from a lesson. During a lesson students can take time to draw a picture to display what they took away from the lesson. This can be used during read alouds, math lessons, science, social studies. Students can use their drawing to depict what important take aways they had from the lesson.
6. Games: When working with younger students games are a great way to check for understanding of a skill quickly without the student feeling like they are learning. When students are playing games I make sure that myself or the teacher assistant is sitting in that area to take quick notes about what skills students are demonstrating understanding in and what students may need more help.
7. Scavengar Hunt: When I am teaching letter recognition to my students I will hide the lower case letters around the classroom and then give the students upper case letters and ask them to hunt fo the lower case letter that matches. This is a quick and fun way to assess what letters students recognize.
8. Think, Pair, Share: I don't use this stratgey often but when I do the students love it. This takes more quided help for the age of my students but it allows them to share their thoughts with their peers and see if they are thinking the same things. It requires myself and the teacher assistant to make sure that students are staying on task and discussing the correct content.
9. White Boards: I use white boards to check for understanding on number recognition and counting. I will verbally tell the students a number out loud and ask them if they can write it and then draw a picture that shows that many. It is a quick way for me to assess what students understand quantity and what students need more assistance.
10. Use of manipulatives: I use manipulatives during math time in the classroom. I will give the students a pile of a manipulative and they will either sort them, count them, create groups to compare more or less and compare tall and small. I do this while students are seated at the tables and walk around and take notes on what students are doing depending on the standard I am trying to collect data for.
Summative:
1. Unit Test: This is a test at the end of a unit of study. the answers are either correct or incorrect.
2. Presentations: Students can create a powerpoint or other electronic presentation to summarize their learning at the end of a unit.
3. Portfolios: For my portfolios I collect children's class work, homework, and projects they've completed during the school day. It is a collection to show their mastery of a certain skill or skills.
4. Book Reports: Students can complete a book report after reading a book to demonstrate understanding of the book.
5. Flipgrid: This can be used in many ways to demonstrate understanding of content. You can use it to have students walk through completing a math problem, reading a report they created about a book they read and many more things. It also allows the teacher to watch them to check for understanding of content.
6. Research Paper: Students can select a topic in a unit of study to complete a research paper on. This will demonstrate their understanding of the content and show whether they understand what they learned throughout the unit or will need to revisit the topic again.
7. Interview: Students can sit one on one with a teacher and discuss in a formal setting the end of a unit. This will allow the ease of demonstrating their knowledge without the stress of having to take a paper pencil test.
8. Flipbooks: Students can create a flipbook to demonstrate their understanding at the end of a unit. For example they could create a flipbook that shows the life cycle of a butterfly, or the life cycle of a plant.
9. STAR Assessment Math/ELA: These are computer generated tests that are used to help drive data and planning.
10. Podcast: For those students who would rather talk through their understanding a podcast is a great way for students to discuss what they have learned at the end of a unit and wrap up their learning. They can do this in a group or as a solo project.