Checking for Understanding
CFU
PRESENTED BY SCHAUNA FINDLAY, PH.D.
CFU Big Ideas:

When we check all students’ levels of understanding
throughout each lesson, it sets the tone that everyone’s
thinking is important and necessary, and we forward the
learning and engagement of all.

The session focuses on key techniques which can be
shared with teachers so that they are able to quickly track
learning and adapt instruction appropriately on the spot.
CFU Guiding Questions

How do I know that they learned what I wanted them to learn?

How well did they learn the objective?

Who mastered it and who didn't?

Which parts of the objective did students struggle with?

What misconceptions did they have?
A sample CFU cycle (TAPPLE):
Teach
Ask
First
a Question
Pause,
Pick
Pair Share
and Non-Volunteer
Listen
& Effective Feedback
Unpack the standards
5.RL.1.1
(CCSS.RL.1) Quote accurately from a text
when explaining what the text says explicitly and
when drawing inferences from the text.
Explain
Draw
explicitness of text by quoting accurately
inferences using textual information.
Unpack the standards
 5.RL.1.2
(CCSS.RL.2) Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem
from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama
respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a
topic; summarize the text.
 Determine
the theme of a story, drama, or poem using details in the text.
 Explain
how characters respond to challenges.
 Explain
how the speaker reflects upon a topic
 Summarize
key ideas and details of a story, drama, or poem.
 Summarize
how characters respond to challenges
 Summarize
how the speaker reflects upon a topic.
 Summarize
text.
Ask questions that ensure students
are meeting the goals of the standard
 Use
questions and prompts such as:
 Can you tell me the reasons why you think…? Show where
you linked your thinking to the text.
 What are the most important events that happened in the
story? How do you know?
 What is the theme of this text?
 Summarize the story from beginning to end in a few
sentences.
 Can you tell me how the character solved the problem in
this story?
Unpack the standards
IAS.3.NS.3 (CCSS.3.NF.1)
 Understand a fraction, 1/b, as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is
partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction, a/b, as the quantity
formed by a parts of size 1/b. [In grade 3, limit denominators of fractions to
2, 3, 4, 6, 8.]
 Identify
a fraction such as 2/3 and explain that the quantity formed is 2
equal parts of the whole partitioned into 3 equal parts (1/3 and 1/3 of the
whole 3/3)
 Recognize a unit fraction such as 1/4 as the quantity formed when the
whole is partitioned into 4 equal parts.
 Express a fraction as the number of unit fractions; Use accumulated unit
fractions to represent numbers equal to, less than, and greater than one
(1/3 and 1/3 is 2/3; 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, and 1/3 is 4/3).
Generate Text Dependent Questions

Generate text dependent questions or questions which
help students clarify the task or their thinking or questions
which advance their thinking.

These questions should be sequenced in the lesson and
teachers should have a plan for when they will ask these
questions.
Higher Level Questions
 Understand
and use Bloom’s Cue Questions
to ensure high thinking demand in the check
for understanding questions.
Checking for Understanding:
A
sample cycle (TAPPLE):
Teacher
Ask
First
a Question
Pause,
Pick
Think-Pair-Share
and Non-Volunteer
Listen
& Effective Feedback
Checking for Understanding:

A sample cycle (TAPPLE):
 Teacher
 Ask
First
a Question
 Pause,
 Pick
Think-Pair-Share
and Non-Volunteer
 Listen
& Effective Feedback
Checking for Understanding:

A sample cycle (TAPPLE):
 Teacher
 Ask
First
a Question
 Pause,
 Pick
Think-Pair-Share
and Non-Volunteer
 Listen
& Effective Feedback