SCIENCE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning by Page Keeley

Also known as FACTs  Can be used:  Diagnostic  Formative  Summative  Must be thoughtfully selected to match the appropriate stage and purpose of instruction.  Provides opportunities for students to analyze and evaluate their own ideas and the ideas of their peers.

Strengthen link between Assessment, Instruction, and Learning  Think like a diagnostician  Make students’ thinking explicit during scientific inquiry  Create a classroom culture of ideas, not answers  Develop a discourse community  Encourage students to take risks  Encourage students to listen carefully  Use a variety of FACTs in a variety of ways  Use a variety of grouping configurations  Encourage continuous reflection

Using Data from FACTs  Present analyzed data to students  Be prepared for negative feedback  Focus on facts from the data, not the inferences  Don’t just gloss over the results  Share data with others and take collective actions to improve teaching and learning

Important Figures  1.2 Twenty purposes for Using FACTs p. 6  3.1 Content Considerations for Selecting FACTs p. 32  3.2 Considerations for Selecting FACTs to Improve Teaching p. 33  3.3 Questions for Science Professional Learning Communities 39  FACTs and Their Use in Teaching & Learning p

FACT Layout  Description  How the FACT Promotes Student Learning  How the FACT Informs Instruction  Design and Administration  General Implementation Attributes  Ease of Use  Time Demand  Cognitive Demand  Modifications  Caveats  Use with Other Disciplines

A&D Statements  FACT Explanation: This FACT is an excellent pre-assessment tool. It allows students to analyze true and false statements. Students choose to agree or disagree with the statement or if they may need more information about the subject. If students are unsure of a particular statement, they are given opportunity to record thoughts about that statement. Likewise, there is a section for students to examine where they can find information about the statement. This FACT promotes student metacognition and promotes scientific discussion and argumentation.  FACT Preparation: Prepare A&D statements that focus on specific concepts and skills that students will encounter in the curriculum. Develop statements that can lead into inquiry and give the students opportunity to respond individually.  Example Provided for Pillbug Inquiry

Agreement Circles  Kinesthetic way to activate thinking and engage students in scientific argumentation. Students stand in a circle as the teacher reads a statement. The students who agree with the statement step to the center of the circle.  Students turn in face each other in small groups of those who agree and disagree – discuss positions.  Goal is to get everyone either inside the circle or on the circumference.

Annotated Student Drawings  Student-made, labeled illustrations that visually represent and describe students’ thinking about a scientific concept.  Access knowledge and visually represent thinking.  Used in Interactive Notebook with Suicide Mosquitoes & numerous places in which you sketched and labeled your work with the Engineering Design Tasks.

Fishbowl Think Aloud  In this FACT, a small group of students talk together in front of the class as the class listens. The students on the outside, those who make up the “fishbowl,” observe the ones in the center and prepare for a discussion. After the students in the center finish discussing their subject, the whole class participates in a discussion.  Discuss Integrating Hunger Games across the Curriculum Article…

FACT Samples Provided on Wiki  A&D Statements  Human Scatter Plot – Pillbugs  Concept Cartoon – Cells, Heat  Justified List  Question Generating  Synectics  Familiar Phenomenon Probe

FACTS we have used  A&D Statements  Annotated Student Drawings  Card Sorts (Formative/Summative Assessment)  Commit and Toss  First Word-Last Word  Four Corners  Frayer Model  Think-Pair-Share  Three-Two-One

FACTs used commonly in Probe Books  Familiar Phenomenon Probes  Friendly Talk Probes  P-E-O Probes (Predict, Explain, Observe)

Easy Integration with Interactive Notebooks  Annotated Student Drawings  Directed Paraphrasing  First Word – Last Word  Frayer Model  I Think – We Think  I Used to Think… But Now I Know  K-W-L Variations  Missed Conception  Muddiest Point  Thinking Log  Three-Two-One  Traffic Light Dots  Two-Minute Paper  Two Stars and a Wish

Verbal Assessments  Fishbowl Think Aloud  Fist to Five  Give Me Five  No-hands questioning  Partner Speaks  Ten-Two  Think-Pair-Share  Three Minute Pause  What are you doing and why?