The Best Low-Prep Formative Assessment Ever

In every class there are students who avoid participating because they are shy. In every class there are students who fear to give a wrong answer. In every class there are students who think they’re the only student who is confused. In every class there are students who are completely convinced that they understand. And they don’t. 

In every class there are students who, if allowed to do it, will refuse to engage. So if you ask a question, do you really know what every student knows?

If you ask the question as an invitation to the class, you'll find out what the volunteers know.

If you ask a particular student a question, you'll find out what that student knows. 

But unless you ask every student every question you don't really know what every student knows, or thinks they know. But there's no time to do that, right?  

But what if there was a way to do it?  What if you could do that without giving or grading a single quiz?  What if you could know what every student knew in seconds, in the middle of a lesson, in time to correct misconceptions?  You can.  I'll show you how. And then I'll give you a free gift to try it out.

Suppose you want to quickly assess what students remember about the metric system.  Each student gets a set of cards (usually between 10-12) like those pictured below (right).

You ask a question like, "Which metric unit would you use to measure the volume of a liquid?"  Each student has time to select the card they think shows the correct answer to the question.  Give plenty of wait time especially the first few times you use the cards. Remind students to hold their cards like they would if using playing cards, and to not reveal their selection.

After asking the question and giving some wait time, you count down, "Three, two, one, UP!" And every student in unison raises their response card.

It's important that students raise the card in unison.  You'll need to practice that a couple of times. Holding up the cards in unison accomplishes several things. 

First, it prevents students from looking around the room to see what card other students held up.  If they do that, if they hesitate for even a second or two, you'll see it.  Secondly, you'll be able to see if a student raises a card and quickly substitutes it for another. And you'll also see if there are students who are stubbornly holding on to a misconception when they see the correct card being held up by other students but don't switch their own card.

Any of those things gives you a chance to follow up with that student.  If you have students who just refuse to raise a card, they quickly learn that it will guarantee your attention, which most students find a little uncomfortable. I've honestly never had a student who refused to participate more than once.

When you use response cards, you keep kids engaged in the lesson.  After students get used to using the cards, you'll notice they're paying more attention because they know they're going to have to demonstrate their level of understanding. And you will be a more responsive teacher in real-time if you use response cards. But don't overdo it.  Don't use the cards every day.  Have sets prepared ahead of time so that if you have any reason to doubt that students understand what you're teaching, you can quickly hand out the sets (I used zip-close bags for each set, but you could also put them on binder rings).

To give you a chance to try response cards, click on the link for a free set of Metrics Response Cards.  

I'd really appreciate it if, after you've tried the Metrics set, you'd return to leave feedback on it.