Using Formative Assessment to Differentiate by Readiness Jack Becker Michelle Harbin Susie Murphy

Find the corner that matches your knowledge or use of formative assessment. A. I have heard of formative assessment. B. I can create formative assessments. C. I’ve used formative assessments at least once to guide my lesson plans. D. I often use formative assessments to alter my lessons.

If you could choose anywhere to vacation today, where would it be? A. Tropical B. Historical C. Wilderness D. Commercial (aka Disney)

Find the corner that matches your knowledge or use of differentiation. A. I have never used it before. B. I plan on using it this year. C. I use it occasionally. D. I differentiate every stinkin’ day.

Which of the following would you avoid? A. Spiders & bugs B. High places C. Confined spaces D. Public speaking

Find the corner that matches your understanding of readiness. A. Using readiness is just another way of ability grouping. B. Readiness reflects what a student knew last week. C. Readiness is what a student can do today in light of what the teacher is planning to teach today. D. The goal of readiness is to make the work easy enough for all of your students.

Objectives KUD? U D Understand the purpose and benefits of differentiating by readiness. Create readiness groups using teacher created formative assessments Identify and/or create instructional activities that are appropriate for each of your readiness groups

Today’s Presentation Define and discuss differentiation, readiness and formative assessment Give examples of instructional activities based on formative assessment for readiness Grade Cam to create readiness groups Entrance Slips to create readiness groups Exit Slips to create readiness groups Assess your personal readiness to take these activities back to your classroom

What is Differentiation? “A systematic approach to planning curriculum and instruction for academically diverse learners” that provides students of different abilities, interests, or learning needs equally appropriate ways to learn (Tomlinson & Strickland, p.7).”

What is Differentiation? What it is: What it is Not: Teaching with variance in mind Responsive teaching rather than one-size-fits-all teaching Meeting kids where they are… not where we wish they would be “Shaking up” the classroom so students have multiple options for making sense of information New Tracking or Streaming IEP for every child Constant Group Work Occasional Variation of teaching styles On the spot adjustments Chart from Strickland, “Differentiation of Instruction at the High School Level.” ASCD, 2012.

Differentiation is… A way of thinking about the classroom with the dual goals of honoring each student’s learning needs and maximizing each student’s learning capacity. 3 Ways to Differentiate Learning Styles Interest Readiness

What is Readiness? “Current knowledge, understanding, and skill level a student has related to a particular sequence of learning” (Tomlinson & Strickland p. 6) It reflects what a student knows, understands and can do (KUD) TODAY in light of what the teacher is planning to teach today.

The Purpose of Differentiating by Readiness Readiness differentiation is to make the work a little too difficult for students at a given point in their growth- and then to provide the support they need to succeed at the new level of challenge. Why?- to appropriately challenge ALL learners

What should we consider when differentiating by readiness? The students’: “Attitude (toward school & topic) Experience with the topic (outside of school or previous courses) Knowledge, understanding, and skill with the topic Preconceptions about the topic Overgeneralizations about the topic General communication, thinking, & reasoning skills” http://www.foridahoteachers.org/differentiation_framework.htm

Formative Assessment Frequent and ongoing assessment, completed en route to mastery; ongoing assessment could be considered as “checkpoints” on students’ progress and the foundation for feedback given- the most useful assessment teachers can provide for students and for their own teaching decisions. (Wormeli, 2006)

What are Some Examples of Formative Assessment? Formal Informal Not necessarily for points Entrance slips Exit slips Thumbs up/ thumbs down

Formative Assessment to Measure Readiness How many of you have heard of GradeCam? Who has used GradeCam in their class? How many of you use GradeCam on a weekly basis? The following example utilizes the GradeCam grading system for a quick way to assess an entire class.

GradeCam and Formative Assessment Benefits: Student grades and data are immediately collected and compared. Quick assessment allows the teacher to form groups based on readiness within a short period of time. This could be done at the beginning of class or at the end. Instructor is able to see what percentage of the class struggled with specific questions.

GradeCam Activity and Example Assessment The following activity is based on a new unit using the topic of WWII. Everyone will take the formative assessment All questions are related to historical information specifically on WWII. As you finish, I will choose several individuals to have their assessment graded.

Example Formative Assessment Question #1 In what year did WWII begin? 1945 1929 1939 1941

Question #2 Which countries were on the side of the axis powers? The United States, Germany, and Hitler Germany, Italy, and Japan The United States, France, and Japan The UK, Germany, and Italy

Question #3 What country did the allied forces invade on D-day? Germany France Italy Japan

Question #4 Which of the following best describes America’s reaction to the Holocaust? Once reported by the media, Congress took action to save lives. War bond sales and fund-raisers took place to assist Jewish refugees. The military immediately made plans to bomb the concentration camps. Prejudice, disbelief, and insufficient media attention led Americans to ignore the reports.

Question #5 On which two cities did the United States drop atomic bombs? Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nagasaki and Pearl Harbor Tokyo and Osaka Munich and Berlin

Upon Completion Now that we have finished the quiz, it’s time to grade them. Students can come up as they complete the quiz to quickly see their grade. Here you can place them in a group while keeping their scores discrete. What if GradeCam doesn’t work? Have the students grade their own if your assessment is at the beginning of the period.

Answers 1. c 2. b 3. b 4. d 5. a

What can I do with the information from GradeCam? Having your formative assessment done this way is not only quick and easy, but you have all of the students scores and data on record. Summary of student performance From here you can create your groups based on the students readiness. Ex: Students are placed in groups by their score. Students who scored 0-60% in group 1, students who scored 60-80% group 2, and 80-100% in group 3.

When can I do my assessment? Teachers can do this formative assessment at the beginning or end of the period. Beginning may take time to set up groups, and you need to have a differentiated lesson ready. Bell Check End will allow teachers to set up group for following day. Exit Slips

Examples of instructional activities based on formative assessment for readiness ENTRANCE SLIP: Do as much of the following conversion as possible. I will call time when you need to turn it in. Convert 2.34 mL to kL

Results and Activity 3: Students who get the problem correct: meet to do three other problems, one challenge 1: Students who didn’t write anything: meet with teacher and go through how to do conversion problems: do three other problems that are similar 2: Students who set up the problem but didn’t know the values for the metric prefixes: Meet together and create a song/poem/chant/way to remember the values for the metric prefixes. (use notes to get values). Complete three other problems that have a variety of metric prefixes. 4: (if necessary): Students who were almost correct. Meet to do three other problems, similar Teacher: Meets with each group as others work. ANCHOR ACTIVITY: Everyone completes five problems to show they know how to do conversions.

English Example: KUD KNOW UNDERSTAND DO Definition of simile Definition of metaphor Authors use both similes and metaphors to create their works. Writing becomes more elaborate and descriptive when both are used. Critically analyze current text to find and explain the similes or metaphors present. Distinguish between these two types of figurative language. Create prose that uses a unique metaphor and simile.

Example of instructional activity based on formative assessment: Exit Slip: What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Give an example of each to explain your answer.

Next Day Activity 1: students who struggled to define the terms: Have students use their text or notes to write out what each term means. Complete a worksheet that lists several of each. Create a simile and a metaphor. Activity 2: Students who defined the terms correctly but didn’t have strong examples: Have students look at several examples of each. Give them some text and have them identify at least one of each. Create a simile and a metaphor. Activity 3: Students who correctly defined the terms and gave strong examples: Students analyze text and identify examples of each. Learn the various types of metaphors and create one of a certain type. Create a simile with like, with as, and a metaphor without either.

Anchor Activity Comment on how similes and metaphors affect the tone of a story by using examples from literature.

Let’s apply instructional activities to this workshop Formative assessment: Choose one of the following statements that best describes where you think you are in relation to the content of this workshop A. I need more examples of formative assessments . B. I need more examples to help me understand the different kinds of readiness. C. I need more examples of how to create activities based on the formative assessments.

Activity Green paper: list of examples of possible formative assessments Based on these think of one you could use during your next unit Blue paper: List of different kinds of readiness Based on these different kinds of readiness, think of one thing you could do for students who show a lack of exposure to a topic Yellow paper: Examples of tiered tasks, mini-lessons, advanced vocabulary ideas Based on these examples, think of one thing you could do during your next unit

Formative Assessments You’ve Seen Today Ice breaker (four corners) Pool Entry Example Susie shared Questions: Jack asked…How many of you have heard of Gradecam? Who has used Gradecam? Etc Gradecam Entrance slip Exit slip Pick color of paper to match your answer Whip around

Using Formative Assessment to Differentiate by Readiness Jack Becker Michelle Harbin Susie Murphy Thank-you for attending! Have a great day!