P-1: Create or obtain assessments
Lesson Assessment Examples
The following can be used as techniques for formative lesson assessments:
Strategy and Description
Exit Slip: a quick end-of-the-class
quiz where students answer a few
questions aligned to the objective to
demonstrate progress toward
mastery of the objective
Independent Practice: part of the 5step lesson cycle where students
practice completing the objective with
less (or no) assistance (P-3)
Minute Paper: similar to an exit slip a quick summary of learning. Each
student writes for exactly one minute
on a prompt that you give the class.
Sticking Point: Provides feedback
on what was not achieved during the
lesson. You should use this
information to inform changes in your
instruction for the following day.
Observational Checklists and
Anecdotal Records
Journals
One Sentence Summary: Even
more focused than the minute paper,
this gives a quick assessment of
student understanding of the overall
lesson objective.
Procedure
Give students a few aligned questions on a sheet of paper and have them complete it
before ending the class. Collect their “slips” before they leave the room, or before moving
on to another lesson.
Part, or all, of the independent practice phase of the 5-step lesson cycle can serve as a
teacher’s lesson assessment. If the independent practice activity is not used as a lesson
assessment, the teacher should administer an assessment after independent practice, but
before the end of the lesson.
Give the students a writing prompt, such as, “List as many examples as you can of words
that include the phonetic blend ‘cr’.” If time permits, ask students to share their responses
with the class. Collect and review the responses to make modifications to future
instruction. To adapt for very young students or varied learning modalities, have them
draw a “minute picture” in response to a prompt.
At the end of the lesson, each student provides you with a question left unanswered or a
concept left unclarified. Give the students a writing prompt such as, “What about
jurisdiction do you still have questions about after today’s lesson?” Alternatively, after
teaching your students the concept of a sticking point, you may just ask, “What is a
sticking point for you after today’s lesson?” If time permits, ask students to share their
responses with the class.
Teachers can use student observation to assess student progress for either academic or
social development. It is a non-obtrusive way to allow students unimpeded activity which
teachers can evaluate.
Checklists and anecdotal records are the tools you will create to track student
development and record your observations. Checklists offer a more standardized
approach—you will simply create a list of criteria or behaviors that would demonstrate
mastery, witness the student in the process of applying those behaviors and then note
which criteria were met and which weren’t. Anecdotal records are written notes that simply
describe your reactions that seem most relevant. Anecdotal records allow for total freedom
and flexibility for recording your observations.
Journals are a versatile method of assessment that can be utilized before, during and after
instruction. They can provide a longitudinal record of student work from the beginning of
the school year until the end. Students can use journals as a reference tool when they
need to refresh their memory of a prior learning experience. As an assessment tool,
teachers can understand what students think, feel, or remember about a particular idea or
lesson. Through a journal, a student and teacher can have a private dialogue where both
can ask questions or make responses without having to share those ideas with the entire
class. Journals offer a tremendously effective way for students to communicate to you how
they are progressing, or simply for them to express themselves and commit those thoughts
to paper.
Ask the students to answer in one sentence, “What was the key point of today’s lesson?”
If time permits, ask students to share their responses with the class. If a wide discrepancy
exists, you will want to reflect on why that might of happened and how your instruction can
be more focused around a concrete goal the next day.
P-1: Create or obtain assessments
KWL Chart: see the information on
KWL charts elsewhere in the
workbook.
Leave the Carpet: Accommodates
younger students who may not be
able to write and can aid in a physical
transition from one activity or lesson
to another.
Ask students to get out their KWL charts. Direct them to find something in their
“Wondering” column that they can now answer in their “Learned” column. Direct them next
to place the specific new knowledge they have gained in the “Learned” column.
Alternatively, you could ask students what other questions have arisen for them about this
topic of study over the course of the class period, and to place it at the bottom of their
“Wondering” column.
Tell students that they can leave the carpet and go back to their desks once they provide a
word that begins with the letter of study (or answer a question about the book you read, an
arithmetic problem, etc.). Provide think time for students and then ask each student to
provide a word. Remind each student to leave the carpet and go back to his or her desk
when they provide a word that starts with the appropriate letter. This activity can be
adapted for use as students line up to go to recess, are dismissed at the end of the day, or
are leaving for their next class.