Assessment is a very important topic, and I think it is crucial that teachers incorporate both formal and informal assessments into their lesson plans. I think this is especially applicable when teaching math and gauging whether or not the students are understanding the material. For example, I might be teaching a lesson about long division to a group of 5th graders. I would probably start out the lesson by explaining the concept of division and its real world applications. Next, I would give each of the students a post-it note and have them write down a way that they think division might be used in the real world. I would have the students come stick their post-its on the board, and we would discuss some of their answers. This would be an informal assessment to see how the students are thinking about the topic and if they understand the basic idea behind it. Next, I would tell them the exact steps for long division and work a few sample problems on the board. Then I would probably ask the class to gauge how well they feel like they understand it by giving a thumbs up, thumbs in the middle, or thumbs down. This would be another type of informal assessment. If they majority of the students gave a thumbs up then I would probably move on and give each of the students their own individual white board and dry erase marker. I would then give the students a problem to solve on their white boards. As they are working, I would walk around the class and watch them work the problem to see which students might still be struggling with the concept and provide them with some extra help as needed. This would be yet another type of informal assessment to gauge their understanding. I would repeat this process until all of the students had worked several problems individually. Finally, I would have the students complete an assignment about long division (probably a specific set of problems that I designed to test their knowledge). This would be considered a more formal assessment. In addition to the methods mentioned above, below are some informal and formal assessments that could be used with this lesson:
informal: long division game where the teacher observes the students playing and assesses how well they understand the concept, ask the students to explain long division in their own words, have the students work in partners where one student works a problem while the other student coaches them through it and checks their work
formal: give a quiz at the end of the lesson, give a test at the end of the chapter, have students complete a graded assignment consisting of several story problems that incorporate long division
Below is a link to an article I found about different types of informal assessments. Some of my personal favorites included: application cards, brainstorming, directed paraphrasing, and hand signals.
Informal Assessment Strategies: A-Z for the Math Curriculum
These are awesome assessment techniques! I like how you do informal at the beginning and move to formal!
ReplyDeleteKerry, I love following your blog because you always come up with these great ideas that I would never think of, and you are really good with Math. I really like the idea of doing a preassessment with the post it notes just to see where students are before actually starting the lesson. I am not Math's biggest fan, but reading about your idea for incorporating the dry erase boards sounds like a great idea. It automatically becomes a more hands on lesson because the students no longer need a normal pencil and paper. Everybody loves dry erase boards. I also like your idea of the long division game. I feel like I need to write these things down because I am so worried about teaching Math! I am going to follow your blog forever so I can keep getting tips for Math from you! Great post.
ReplyDeleteI like how you're linking this to real-world problems - that makes it really meaningful for the students because now it's not just a math concept, now it's something they can really apply to their lives. I like the white boards as well. Great ideas!
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