Formative Assessment in the Classroom
You want to provide the best computer science education for your students, and that means assessing their understanding of learning objectives. Students learn and demonstrate knowledge differently, so you want multiple ways to gain insight into your classroom.
At Ellipsis Education, we know that you need choices when you check for student understanding throughout each lesson. One of the options provided in Ellipsis Education curriculum is formative assessments. Ellipsis Education includes multiple types of formative assessment to help teachers gain a better understanding of each student’s progress toward learning objectives. These formative assessments are found in every lesson plan. Here are a few formative assessment examples:
EXIT TICKETS
At the end of each lesson, the exit ticket serves as a formative assessment that helps teachers gauge students’ progress on understanding important concepts. The exit tickets are typically a 1 question prompt for students to answer that will show what they have learned in the lesson. Below, view some examples of exit tickets from a few of our lessons.
DISCUSSIONS
Each lesson provides multiple opportunities throughout instruction to discuss with students as well as quick checks for understanding. For example, teachers might be provided with facilitation instructions for a thumbs up and thumbs down procedure to quickly evaluate students’ understanding of key terms, followed by a discussion on the lesson’s topic. Below, view a couple examples of what this might look like in one of our lesson plan PDFs. These examples come from a kindergarten lesson called What is STEM?
CHALLENGE ACTIVITIES
Challenge activities can be implemented in a number of ways, including as a formative assessment to check for mastery of the skills students are learning. Each lesson includes an optional challenge activity, made for students who are ready for the next step in expanding their skills. These challenge activities are a great way to differentiate instruction. View some examples of our challenge activities below.
Importance of Formative Assessment
To increase student learning and engagement, formative assessments are essential throughout instruction. By tracking this student learning within lessons, educators can identify gaps in understanding and provide support with additional learning opportunities. Plus, these formative assessments allow educators to measure student knowledge of learning objectives to determine areas of focus for future lessons. In other words, formative assessments allow educators to evaluate if a concept needs to be retaught or scaffolded before moving on to the next step of the learning material. After all, we know each student has diverse learning needs and modalities, and that’s why we ensure multiple formative assessments are in every lesson.
Formative Assessment PDF
Each of our lessons include a variety of formative assessments. To view examples of these assessments in action, download one of our free lesson offerings. This lesson includes a few examples of formative assessment in the classroom, including checks for understanding, discussion, an exit ticket, and a challenge activity. In the 3-5 lesson called What’s in the News, students will discuss breaking news and the trustworthiness of digital media.