Are you looking for new ideas for formative assessment? Try these mid-point checks. I use them in the middle of an activity to make sure that everyone is paying attention and learning the information they need from the lesson.
· Inner-Outer Circle: stop the class in the middle of the activity. Create two circles around yourself with the students facing each other. Ask a question like “Name two facts you have learned so far.” Or “Summarize the last station you visited”. After the students discuss the question with each other, have them rotate in the circle and repeat the process or ask another check for understanding question.
· Whips: create sentence stems for the students to answer on note cards. Pass them out at random. Twice during the period, stop the class and have the students with the sentence stems share their answers with the class.
· Representative Sample: at random call on students wearing red (or some other method of choice), have them answer prepared questions to check for mastery. Have the students either report to you or to the entire class.
· Exit Slip: pass out note cards to the students. Have a prepared question for every student to answer, the students then turn in to you as their exit slip out of the classroom.
· Sum It Up: ask the students to summarize their learning in their own words.
