25 formative assessment examples
Formative assessment is any check you make while students are still learning, so you can change what you do next: reteach, regroup, or move on. It is not a grade. These twenty-five examples are sorted by when you'd use them: during a lesson, through questioning, by students checking themselves, with quick tools, and across a unit. Each says what to do, what you need and the grades it suits.
During the lesson
1. Whiteboard check mid-lesson
Stop halfway through the lesson and give one problem. Everyone solves it on a whiteboard and holds it up together. If more than a handful are wrong, reteach right then, before independent practice.
Grades K–8You need Mini whiteboards and markers
2. Clipboard rounds
While students work, walk the room and mark each name with a quick code: a check for on track, a dot for stuck, a star for ready for more. Start tomorrow with the dots.
Grades K–8You need A clipboard with a class list of first names
3. Listen in on partner talk
During a turn-and-talk, stand near three pairs and listen without joining in. Note the ideas you hear, right or wrong, and share two of them with the class afterward.
Grades K–8You need Nothing
4. Directions check
Before students start work, ask "Show me with your fingers: what's the first thing you'll do? One, get your book; two, open your notebook." You catch confusion before ten minutes are lost.
Grades K–5You need Nothing
5. Desk signal cards
During independent work, students show green for working fine, yellow for a question that can wait and red for stuck. Visit the reds first and send yellows to a partner.
Grades 1–8You need A green, yellow and red card on each desk
6. Pause and write
Stop at a natural break and ask students to write one sentence about the main point so far. Read over shoulders as you walk; if the sentences miss it, so did the lesson.
Grades 3–8You need Notebooks
Questioning
7. Cold call after think time
Ask the question, give thirty seconds of silent thinking, then pick a name at random instead of taking hands. Everyone has to think, because anyone may be chosen.
Grades K–8You need The random name pickerUse Random name picker
8. Letter cards
Ask a multiple choice question and everyone holds up a letter card at the same time. You see the whole class's answer at a glance and can count the wrong answers.
Grades 2–8You need A set of A, B, C and D cards for each student
9. Four corners answers
Ask a question with four answers and students walk to the corner of their answer. Ask one student per corner to explain, then let anyone switch corners.
Grades 2–8You need A, B, C and D signs in the corners
10. Explain the mistake
Show a wrong answer that a real student might give, without a name, and ask the class what went wrong and how to fix it. You learn who understands the idea, not just the steps.
Grades 3–8You need A common wrong answer written on the board
11. Card sort with reasons
Groups sort cards into categories, such as living and nonliving, or even and odd. Walk around and ask "Why did you put that one there?" The reasons tell you more than the piles.
Grades 1–8You need Sets of cards to sort
Students checking themselves
12. Self-check against a rubric
Before students turn in work, they circle where they think it falls on each row of the rubric. Compare their circles with yours to see who can judge their own work.
Grades 3–8You need A short rubric for the taskUse Rubric maker
13. Two stars and a wish
Partners swap work and write two things done well and one wish for improvement on a sticky note. Model a kind, specific wish first.
Grades 2–8You need Sticky notes
14. Goal rating
Post the lesson goal as an "I can" statement. At the start and end of the lesson, students rate themselves from one to three. The change is your data.
Grades 1–8You need The I can goal sheetUse I can goal sheet
15. Learning log
Each Friday, students write what they learned, what is still confusing and what they want to try next week. Read a few each week so every student gets read once a month.
Grades 3–8You need A notebook
16. Practice quiz, self-marked
Give a short quiz that doesn't count, then show the answers and have students mark their own. Ask for a show of hands on each question to see which ones the class missed.
Grades 3–8You need A five-question quiz and the answers
Quick checks with tools
17. Review game, watched closely
Play a review game in teams and keep a tally of which questions teams miss. Those questions are your reteach list.
Grades 2–8You need A review game boardUse Review game board maker
18. Flashcard sort
Partners quiz each other and sort the cards into "know it" and "not yet" piles. Ask each pair to hand you their three hardest cards.
Grades 1–8You need A set of flashcardsUse Flashcard maker
19. One-minute fluency check
Listen to a student read for one minute, mark errors, and work out words correct per minute. Check a few students a day so each is checked every few weeks.
Grades 1–5You need A grade-level passageUse Fluency timer and WCPM calculator, Reading passages
20. Fact fluency check
Run a short fact check for one operation and note which facts each student is slow on. Use the slow facts for partner practice the following week.
Grades 2–5You need The fact fluency toolUse Math fact fluency
21. Exit slip, sorted the same day
Use one question on an exit slip at the end of the lesson and sort the slips into three piles before you plan tomorrow.
Grades K–8You need Printed exit slipsUse Exit ticket slips
Across a unit
22. Pre-check before a unit
A week before the unit starts, give five questions from its goals. Students who already know it get a challenge; students who don't know the basics get a head start.
Grades 2–8You need Five questions from the end-of-unit goals
23. Concept map
Students arrange the key words on a page and draw arrows between related words, writing how they connect on each arrow. Missing or wrong links show gaps.
Grades 3–8You need A list of eight key words from the unit
24. Draw it and explain it
Ask students to draw the idea and write or tell you one sentence about the drawing, such as how a seed grows. The explanation shows whether the picture is understanding or copying.
Grades K–5You need Paper
25. Listen-and-mark reading check
As a student reads aloud, mark each word read correctly and each error on your copy. Note whether errors look like the word, sound like it or make sense, and plan small-group work from the patterns.
Grades K–3You need A short passage and a copy for youUse Decodable sentences by phonics pattern
Making it work
- Decide what you'll do with the answer before you ask. A check that doesn't change your next step is just a quiz.
- Check everyone, not just volunteers. Whiteboards, letter cards and the random name picker all reach the whole class.
- Keep it ungraded. Students show what they really know when a wrong answer costs nothing.
- Act the same day or the next: a reteach group, a change of partners, or a challenge for those who are ready.
- Mix methods. A student who freezes when called on may show more on a whiteboard or in a learning log.
Questions teachers ask
- What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?
- Formative assessment happens during learning and shapes what you teach next. Summative assessment happens at the end, such as a unit test, and measures what was learned. The same quiz can be either, depending on how you use the results.
- Should formative assessments be graded?
- Usually not. Their job is to show you and the student where things stand. Once a grade is attached, students tend to hide mistakes, which defeats the purpose.
- How often should I check for understanding?
- Several times in every lesson, briefly: before independent work, halfway through practice, and at the end. Most checks take under a minute.
- What is the quickest formative assessment?
- Whiteboards, letter cards and finger signals take seconds and show you every student at once. They are the easiest to use mid-lesson.
Written for teachers by Peabody Teach. No ads, no affiliate links. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.