Formative Assessment Strategies: Supporting Student Understanding

Ensuring every student is on track starts with knowing where they stand—here’s how I use formative assessments to keep learning moving forward!

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Sticky Note Check-In

One strategy I often use involves sticky notes. After introducing a concept, I pose a question or task related to it the next morning. Students respond on a sticky note before starting their morning routine. I review their responses to gauge their understanding and then go over key points as a class. This ensures that we’re all aligned and helps address any misconceptions right away.

Small Groups and Vertical Surfaces

I also incorporate small group work on vertical surfaces, such as whiteboards, to foster peer collaboration and deepen understanding. This setup allows students to make their thinking visible to both their peers and me. It encourages active engagement, idea sharing, and real-time feedback. As I observe the groups, I can identify students who are leading the discussion and those who may be struggling. To balance participation, I prompt each student in the group to take turns using the marker, ensuring everyone contributes to the task. This approach not only strengthens their understanding but also builds teamwork and communication skills.

Quick Check-ins

For on-the-spot assessments during active instruction, I use simple response systems like "show me with your thumbs" to gauge understanding. This quick, inclusive strategy allows me to adapt my teaching in the moment, ensuring that all students are ready to move forward with confidence.

Games and Activities

I enjoy using games and activities, such as math dice games and Blooket, as formative assessments to actively engage students while gauging their understanding, and I also incorporate art projects like visual storytelling to assess their creativity and ability to communicate ideas. Blooket is an online educational platform that turns learning into a fun, interactive game. It allows teachers to create or use pre-made question sets and turn them into various game modes, such as Tower Defense or Battle Royale. The platform engages students by providing rewards, competition, and a sense of accomplishment, while also reinforcing the content being taught. I use Blooket in my class as a formative assessment tool to review concepts and check student understanding in a more engaging way. It allows me to assess how well students grasp the material in real-time, and the game format keeps them motivated and involved.

By incorporating these varied formative assessment techniques, I create a classroom environment where student understanding is constantly monitored, and learning is supported in meaningful and engaging ways.

The Power of Checklists in Formative Assessment

Checklists are one of my go-to tools for formative assessment because they help students stay organized and give me a clear picture of their progress. By breaking tasks into manageable steps, checklists provide students with a clear roadmap and promote self-assessment as they track their own completion. As I circulate the room, I can use checklists to offer immediate feedback, guiding students who may be struggling and identifying areas where the class needs more support. I also customize checklists to meet diverse learning needs, ensuring that all students are supported and accountable. This simple yet effective tool fosters a structured and supportive learning environment where students build confidence, stay on track, and take ownership of their learning.

Summative Assessment

In my PS I experience, while summative assessment wasn't required, I wanted to provide students with clear expectations for their presentations. To achieve this, I created a rubric (out of 4) for their regional topic presentations. This approach offered a more defined scale, eliminating any "middle ground" and helping students understand exactly what they needed to do to demonstrate their best understanding. The rubric provided clear criteria, which allowed students to focus on meeting specific expectations and gave them a sense of direction as they worked on their projects.