Formative Assessment: from Hand Signals to Harkness Discussions

A previous post  (Formative assessment and Bloom's) connected formative assessment methods with Bloom's taxonomy. The chart below moves from very simple quick-checks such as hand signals to more complex and thorough methods like harkness discussions, again connecting them to Bloom's.

Below I've included only a portion of the chart. The full document is available on Google docs using the link.

Method	Bloom’s
Quick Checks
Hand Signals	Knowledge, Comprehension
White Boards	Knowledge
Writing Prompts
Crystal Ball (prediction)	Application
Take a Stand	Evaluation
Exit Pass
Pretend a classmate was absent from class today. Tell them what was most important from today’s lesson.	Knowledge
What is the most important thing we learned today.	Application
What concept has been most difficult or confusing in this lesson/section/reading?	Analysis, Evaluation
Write down one question you have about today’s lesson	Analysis
What down one thing I can do to help you	Evaluation
What do you need to do to prepare for tomorrow’s discussion	Evaluation
What would you like us to review tomorrow?	Evaluation
How did today’s discussion go? What do you need to do to improve for next time?	Analysis
If you were writing a quiz over today’s material, what are two questions that you would include?	Synthesis, Knowledge
Write down two things you learned today.	Knowledge
Admit Slip	Knowledge, Comprehension
Yesterday’s News (review previous learning)	Comprehension

View the rest of the chart here for sticky notes, graphic organizers, discussions, etc.

Formative Assessments and Bloom's Taxonomy

The chart below attaches some suggested formative assessments to Bloom's taxonomy.
This is part of an on-going discussion at Veritas about frequent and involuntary checking for understanding, and about being sure our learning targets are varied and appropriate.

Category	Key Words (verbs)	Formative Assessments
Knowledge: Recall data or information.	Key Words: define, describe, identify, label, list, match, name, outline, recall, recognize, reproduce, select, state.	Hand signals White boards Exit pass Admit slip Think-pair-share Response cards 3-2-1 card
Comprehension: Understand the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words.	Key Words: comprehend, convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize, give an example, infer, interpret, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize, translate.	Admit slip Exit pass Read-write-pair-share A tell B/B tell A Graphic organizer Confer-compose-clarify
Application: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.	Key Words: apply, change, compute, construct, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate, predict, prepare, produce, relate, show, solve, use.	Sticky notes Curated discussion Graphic organizer RAFT writing Confer-compose-clarify Crystal ball
Analysis: Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.	Key Words: analyze, break down, categorize, compare, contrast, diagram, deconstruct, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, illustrate, infer, outline, relate, select, separate.	Sticky notes Curated discussion Prioritized list (sticky) 3-2-1 card Exit pass Graphic organizer Confer-compose-clarify
Synthesis: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure.	Key Words: combine, compile, compose, create, devise, design, explain connections, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, reconstruct, relate, reorganize, revise, rewrite, summarize.	Graphic organizer RAFT writing Exit pass Sticky notes
Evaluation: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.	Key Words: appraise, assess, conclude, criticize, critique, defend, describe, discriminate, evaluate,  interpret, justify, support.	Take a stand Prioritized list (sticky) Harkness discussion Value lineup Exit pass