Informal Assessment By: Sarah Boyer, Sarah Barnett, & Kayla Watson

What is informal assessment? The process of collecting information to make specific instructional decisions, using procedures largely designed by teachers and based on the current instructional situation.

Informal Assessment Tools Checklists Thumbs up/Down True/False Red Card/Green Card ABCD two-sided response card Response cards White boards Stickers with names Rating scale Faces Take a Stance

Checklists A sheet with all of your students’ names. It also has columns that you can list of topics, questions, assessment type, etc. You will mark if they have mastered or not mastered the skill.

Thumbs up/Down This is a way to say if you agree or disagree with a statement the teacher asks the students. It is also a way to see if the students like or dislike and activity.

True/False There is a card with the word true on one side and false on the other. The teacher can ask a question and the students need to choose their response. The teacher writes their responses on a checklist.

Red Card/Green Card There is a red and green card that a student can hold up.  Red is to say stop I need help or I do not understand.  Green is I understand or I am ready to move on. You can also use red and green cards to do true and false. Just make sure you identify what color represents what. The teacher writes their responses on a checklist.

ABCD Two-Sided Response Card There is a card labeled ABCD on either side so the teacher can see the response as well as the student. The teacher could pose a multiple-choice question either on the board or orally. The students can answer by pointing to the answer or use a clothespin to answer it.  The clothespins are nice so they can’t change their answer last minute.

Response Cards A card that you can make specific to your needs with ABCD, True/False and numbers. The student uses a clothespin to mark what they think the answer is. The numbers are nice for younger aged students for addition and subtraction facts.

Whiteboards Teacher can ask an opened ended question. The students will answer the question on the white and hold it up in the air. The teacher is able to assess who needs more help and can write their names on a sticky note to work with them more.

Stickers with Names A sheet of address labels with each students’ name. While the teacher is walking around observing he/she can write down what the students understand or do not understand. Also how long it takes a student to respond to questions.

“I feel…” On the Bottom of Worksheets You can put “I feel…” on the bottom of worksheets. Students can explain what they like/don’t like, where they struggled, or how hard or easy the worksheet is.

Rating Scale It’s a sheet of paper that is labeled 1-5 or 1-10 of how well you know the subject, understood the material, preference of the activity, etc.

Faces This is a folded card that displays three faces a happy face, confused face, and a sad face. This can help the student express how they understand the subject.  A happy face means I understand and I am ready to move on.  The confused face means I have some questions or I need some help.  The sad face means I have no clue of what is going on and I need a lot of help.

Take a Stance There are statements or answers posted around the room. Students write down their answers on a sheet of paper before they move to their answers.  This is so the students who waver on their decision to be with their friends will give you accurate results.

Benefits of Informal Assessment Informal assessment is a quick and easy way for teachers to assess where their students are at before the formal test. It can aid teachers in their lesson planning because they are able to see what needs to be re-taught and where they can move on.

Benefits Continued Students can learn what the teacher expects from them. They will know what information is important to remember and this will help them study better. Also, constantly assessing students will cause them to be more alert in attentive in class.

Theorists Gardner’s MIs  Kinesthetic: Take A Stance  Visual-Spatial: Face, ABCD cards, Red and Green cards, true-false cards  Interpersonal: Take a Stance  Intrapersonal: I feel and Rating scale Bloom’s Taxonomy  The teacher can use various levels of questioning for the white boards, take a stance, and the response cards. Piaget  Take a Stance can be tiered to fit the varying cognitive needs of the students in your class.

Why We Chose This Strategy Informal assessment is the fastest and easiest way to assess your students! When you have students in special education in your classes, you want to discretely assess your students differently. When you walk around the class with a checklist, the students do not know who you are assessing or how you are assessing them. This strategy keeps students on their toes and aware that you are noticing their progress.

Why We Chose This Strategy Continued Informal assessment is also very broad in its options. A teacher can choose one method to use all the time or switch methods throughout the lesson. Overall, the students are constantly thinking about their level of understanding and you, the teacher, also know where your students stand at all time.

References purpose-and-benefits-of-classroom- assessment/ purpose-and-benefits-of-classroom- assessment/ Dr. Ellen Ratcliff