Checking For Understanding Turn and Pose a question, scenario, what if statement… to the class Ask students to talk to their “elbow partner” about the question Circulate around the room to listen to the discussions After allowing time to discuss, randomly call on students to share their thoughts

Think and Ink Silent Discussion Pose a question, scenario, problem, what if statement… to the class Ask the class to write about this in their journal/ interactive notebooks Circulate around the class to read what is being written – mark student journals when they have answered in a way that demonstrates understanding Have students with marks share and allow others to add to their journaling Pose a question, scenario, what if statement to the class Have students pass notes at their table discussing the question Circulate around the room reading some of the notes to assess understanding Randomly select students to share what their group discussed Silent Discussion Think and Ink

Synectics Turning Points Pose a question or problem with possible answers to the class Have students use the turning points technology to select an answer Discuss the responses given Discuss the data in order to reinforce statistical learning objectives and allow students to draw conclusions Synectics (Simile summary) After discussing a concept, ask students to create a simile, analogy, or metaphor of their understanding __________ is like ___________ because… As a modification, give students pictures or objects to compare the concept to Circulate around the room to assess student understanding of the concept Randomly select students to share their similes, analogies, or metaphors Turning Points

Whiteboards (Turning Points with no technology) Pose a question or problem to the class Have students reply on whiteboards Have students hold up whiteboards to check for understanding (if you don’t have a class set of whiteboards, cardstock in a sheet protector works the same way) During the last 5 minutes of class, have students demonstrate their understanding of the day’s objective on an index card (or other small piece of paper) Collect index cards as they leave the class Use the data to determine if a re-teach is needed or to create small group instruction for the following day Slips

Slips Think – Pair – Share As students enter the classroom, pose a problem, question, or scenario related to the day’s learning objective Use the information to assess students prior knowledge Randomly select students to share their responses As a modification, provide students with a pre-worked problem from previous learning; students must determine if the problem is worked correctly and identify any possible errors Think – Pair – Share Pose a problem, question, or scenario to students Give students a few minutes to think about or solve the problem (having students write their thoughts will ensure participation) Pair students up to discuss their thoughts or solutions Circulate around the room as students are discussing Choose students at random to share their ideas with the class Slips

Picture It!! Conferencing Create an illustration of a word, concept, or as a summary of a piece of text Add a caption to the illustration Conferencing While students are engaged in practice, circulate around the room conferencing with students The conversation can start with a question as simple as, “So how’s it going?” Note if the student has any misconceptions or incorrect understandings of skills or concepts for small group instruction Picture It!!

4 Corners Label the 4 corners of the classroom with the letters A, B, C, or D (or 4 words or concepts) Pose a question to the class and have students move to their answer choice Have students discuss why they chose the answer and their solution process; as students listen to their peers reasoning they may choose to move to a different corner Circulate around the 4 corners listening and clarifying misconceptions until all students come to a consensus Card Sorts Have students work in pairs or small groups to sort cards into “pre-picked” categories or “student picked” categories Encourage students to discuss their ideas as they agree/disagree on which categories to place each card Circulate around the room listening to students ideas and misconceptions Provide students with a recording tool, if necessary

3 – 2 – 1 Students respond in writing to three reflective prompts Teacher uses information to assess how well the learning goals were achieved and what topics may need a re-teach or small group instruction Prompts should be changed periodically Sample: Three key ideas I will remember Two things I am still struggling with One thing that will help me tomorrow Traffic Light Cups Students place color cups on their desk to signal their level of need Use during group work to signal the teacher when help or feedback is needed. Green Cup – group is proceeding and no assistance is needed Yellow Cup – students are continuing to work, but need teacher assistance Red Cup – group is stuck and cannot proceed without teacher assistance Teacher is constantly moving around the room monitoring groups and providing assistance, when needed

TEN – TWO Human Scatterplots Reflection strategy After ten minutes of instruction (if the flow of the lesson is not compromised), give students two minutes to reflect on, process, or practice what they have learned Teacher circulates around the room determining struggles and misconceptions that students may have Human Scatterplots Front of room Low -------------------------------------------------------------- High Confidence in my response Teacher creates a grid in the classroom as shown above Students respond to a question by moving to a position on the “floor graph” that corresponds to their choice and how confident they are in their choice Teacher and students have a “snapshot” of the class’ understanding and confidence level Modification: Create the same grid on paper, have students initial “hot dots” and place on the paper A B C

No – Hands Questioning FIRST Students are not permitted to raise their hands when a question is asked All students are provided an opportunity to think about or solve the problem while the teacher practices wait time Teacher “RANDOMLY” calls on students Teacher continues to practice wait time between responses to allow students time to think about whether they agree or disagree with a student’s response FIRST Higher order questioning technique State the “FACT” first and ask students to explain or elaborate on it Utilize wait time Randomly select students to share their understanding