Formative Assessment: From Hand Signals to Harkness Discussions

A previous post  (Formative assessment and Bloom's) connected formative assessment methods with Bloom's taxonomy. The chart below moves from very simple quick-checks such as hand signals to more complex and thorough methods like harkness discussions, again connecting them to Bloom's.

Below I've included only a portion of the chart. The full document is available on Google docs using the link.

Method	Bloom’s (general application)
Quick Checks
Hand Signals	Knowledge, Comprehension
White Boards	Knowledge
Response Cards (e.g., A for one concept, B for another)	Knowledge
Writing Prompts
Prediction	Application
Exit Pass
Pretend a classmate was absent from class today. Tell them what was most important from today’s lesson.	Knowledge
What is the most important thing we learned today?	Application
What concept has been most difficult or confusing in this lesson/section/reading?	Analysis, Evaluation
Write down one question you have about today’s lesson.	Analysis
Write down one thing I can do to help you.	various
What do you need to do to prepare for tomorrow’s discussion?	various
What would you like us to review tomorrow?	various
How did today’s discussion go? What do you need to do to improve for next time?	Analysis
If you were writing a quiz over today’s material, what are two questions that you would include?	Synthesis, Knowledge
Write down two things you learned today.	Knowledge
Admit Slip	Knowledge, Comprehension
Yesterday’s News (review previous learning)	Comprehension
Think-Pair-Share (A tell B, B tell group)	Knowledge
Read-Write-Pair-Share	Knowledge
A tell B/B tell A	Knowledge
Ungraded Quiz Entry Pass	Knowledge
3-2-1 Cards (key points, questions, connections, confusing, agree, disagree)	Knowledge, Analysis
RAFT (role, audience, format, topic)	Synthesis
Summary Writing	Comprehension
Sticky Notes on Board
Prioritized List (e.g. most important, key ideas, etc. in order) in groups, then as class	Analysis
Items for Organization  (e.g. causes in one color, effects in another)	Analysis
Arrange as class, or small group, or individual (e.g. key dates on separate sticky notes; timeline on board (take volunteers, then rotate in new students to fix problems if needed, etc.)	Knowledge Analysis
Discussion Items from Section of Text -in groups have students take a different part of discussion -write on different colored stickies: (e.g. Group A- 3 connections, Group B- 3 most important ideas/themes, Group C- 3 excellent questions, Group D- 3 most interesting facts/points) -discuss as class, prioritize, add to if needed, etc.	Analysis

View the rest of the chart here for sticky notes, graphic organizers, discussions, etc.