Every Child Shines (or How Formative Assessment Helps to See Each Student’s Progress)

Every Child Shines

(or How Formative Assessment Helps to See Each Student’s Progress)

    Let’s imagine the situation when you go to a pizza restaurant and order a pizza. After being served with a pizza you look at it and may think: “Wow! It looks so perfect! It smells so delicious!” or “Oh! It’s too big!” Probably you will say: “This pizza is good. It’s nine out of ten.” But it may happen you will think: “I thought it would be better” or “It’s too spicy and too salty”. You can also think: “It’s better than the one I ate in another café”. In this case you use some criteria to compare this pizza with the ones you tried before. And this kind of thinking is very similar to what we call in the classroom “summative assessment”.

   There is another situation when you are cooking pizza at home for your family. And you try to do all your best to make it tasty and to bring enjoyment to the members of your family. You think about the best dough recipe, the topping, adding salt and spices. You analyze and experiment. In this case you think about making your dish perfect. And here we have quite different approach in tasting pizza. We use so-called “formative assessment”. This assessment does not necessarily identify what was done well or correctly. Instead, it places focus on what opportunities there are to improve.

   I have employed this way of visualizing the difference between summative and formative assessment in order to emphasize the importance of the latter in people’s everyday life. And, obviously, formative assessment is a must in person’s long-life learning process.

   Traditionally, we have used assessments to measure how much our students have learned by a certain period of time. This is called "assessment of learning" — or what we use to see whether our students are meeting standards set by the state. These summative assessments are conducted in the form of tests or quizzes after a unit or at the end of a semester when students are marked and their knowledge is evaluated. Although assessments of learning are important if we are to give grades to students and provide accountability, nowadays teachers should focus more on assessment for learning. Because these types of assessment — formative assessments — support learning during the learning process.

   Formative assessments let teachers check on every lesson how well their students progressing, and what is more see that every child shines and matters. Teachers use these techniques to collect evidence of what a child knows and can do so tha to guide, give instructions and better support each child’s learning and development.

   Formative assessments are very positive. They help children be aware that whatever they do their teacher will notice. And that he/she will notice not the wrong point but that what was good. These kinds of assessment encourage students to develop in their own pace and to improve their skills and knowledge. Thus they expand students’ autonomy in learning, foster motivation, and boost their self-esteem and self-confidence.

   So, it’s no wonder that with the implementation of a new educational reform which is on the way in our country the use of formative assessment becomes an essential part of the learning process.

   Although many teachers utilized some techniques of formative assessment long before the reform, even without realizing this, nevertheless, a number of teachers have some difficulties in using them. They often say they don't have time to assess students in this way. Teachers fear sacrificing coverage of the material and insist they must move on quickly. Yet in the rush to cover more, students are actually learning less. Without time to reflect on and interact meaningfully with new information, students are unlikely to remember much of what is "covered" in their classrooms.   

   Formative assessments, however, do not have to take a great amount of time. Many of the tasks are quick and easy to use on a daily basis. For example, a formative-assessment technique could be as simple as a teacher asking students to raise their hands if they feel they have understood a newly introduced material.

   It is also important that these kinds of assessment need not be graded as summative assessments. They rather serve as practice for children, just like a meaningful assignment which provides feedback to students so they can improve their performance.

And children must get used to these kinds of activities from the early stages of their study at primary school.

   Of course we can use the same assessment technique for either formative or summative purposes, however, many summative assessments are unsuitable for formative purposes because they do not provide useful feedback.

   Teachers also must remember that using the elements of formative assessment in their classroom is impossible without involving all learners into this process - the process of monitoring of their own progress with the teacher’s help. Learners tend to learn better if they know what and why they are learning. So, first of all, teachers must discuss learning objectives of the lesson with their students, share learning goals and success criteria with them, involve learners in self-assessment and peer-assessment activities. When students know what they do well and what they need to work harder on, it can help them take greater responsibility over their own learning and academic progress.

   It’s high time to look at some techniques of practical implementation of formative assessment in the classroom.

   First of all these are “Can do” statements. Practically all modern textbooks have a revision lesson at the end of each topic. And the most important part of this lesson is “Now I can…” section, the statements of which let students themselves notice their own progress and be proud of their achievements. Learners either reflect on the given statements or complete “Now I can…” sentences. Students can also have separate sheets of paper with similar statements to a certain topic in their portfolios. They just should tick, circle or colour the things they can do. Of course, for junior students it’s better to write these statements in Ukrainian, so that kids and their parents could read and understand them. No marks, no grades should be used here! Just let children analyze what they can.   

    Achievement Cards (the idea belongs to the authors of “FlyHigh 2” textbook  Rachel Finnie, Svitlana Sorochynska and Mariana Petrechko). Teachers can print cards in Ukrainian or English with the statements like “I can name the objects”, “I can count to ten”, “I can name 5 colours”, “I can name plural forms” and so on, write numbers on them and stick these cards in different places of the classroom. Then you can ask students to come to that station where there is a statement they would like to illustrate.

   Actually, there are lots of options of what your students can do with such cards. They can deal with self-assessment and peer-assessment.

   Peer-assessment Activity with Achievement Cards. With the help of achievement cards children can start practicing the first elements of peer-assessment. They do it in a very simple way. They are not scared. They are not compared with other students. Children just walk around the classroom in twos or in groups. Then a teacher gives a sound with a bell or something like that. Children stop at the nearest station and show each other what they know according to the statement. For example, two students stand near the station “I can name plural forms” and one student tells the other one what he remembers. A teacher moves around the classroom and says, “Great!”, “Very good!” or something like this. Then after a special sound schoolchildren can move to other stations. Children can also change a partner or be regrouped.

    Self-assessment Activity with Achievement Cards. A student himself chooses a station he wants to come to. Usually it’s the least scary one, where there is a statement he/she is most confident. It can be easily explained because it is the situation when a student talks to the whole class. In case of some difficulties other children can even help. Then a teacher asks who wants to try this section too. And children take their turns to answer. Such kind of activity develops student’s habit of not being afraid of the audience, of being ready to show what he/she knows. And the teacher develops his/her habit to be positive and use praises.

   Colour Coding or Traffic Lights.  It’s a very quick way of using formative assessment. First of all teachers should implement the tradition of using coloured cards to show the level of student’s confidence in mastering the material. Children must know exactly what each colour means. For example,

Green – “I can do this!”

Yellow – “I’m nearly there!”

Red – “I need help”.

   You can have some reminders of these notions on the classroom walls. Tutors only have to explain children that all colours are good. They just show a slight difference in the understanding of the material. 

   Then teachers ask students to choose a card of a certain colour and raise it when you ask some thematic questions or about their feelings concerning their learning. These are first elements of reflection.

   Teachers can also do this activity in the form of a game when at the end of the lesson children decorate an apple-tree with coloured apples that would reflect their activity and participation in the learning process.

    Another idea (the idea belongs to Olena Mikhodui): a teacher sticks some small envelops near the achievement cards around the classroom and puts some pieces of paper of green, yellow and red colour into them. Children go from station to station and choose the card that indicates their feelings towards gained knowledge. This technique gives a teacher a clear picture how students understand the material of the lesson.

    Quick Response. There is a great variety of such activities. The point is that a teacher sets the task and all student give quick answers simultaneously.

1.          Thumbs up/ Thumbs down.

This is a kind of true/ false task. A teacher shows a picture and name an object, or just say a sentence. Children move their fingers up and down indicating whether they agree or not. It usually gives a teacher a clearer picture what items need more practice.

2.          Mini Whiteboards. It may be a real whiteboard or just a sheet of white paper. A teacher gives a word and asks students to write a true sentence about them with this word. Children write a sentence and then show their whiteboards.

For example, “Swim” – “I can/ can’t swim”.

3.          Multiple Choice Questions. You ask a questions, give variants and students just write a letter “A, B or C” on their whiteboards or sheets of paper. A teacher can easily see that all learners work at the same time.

   Lexical Domino. It is a kind of test but children are not scared. They do it in the form of a game: just match a picture to a word. Only students are allowed to help each other. Teachers just monitor the interaction between students.

Think-Pair-Share

This is one of the many formative assessment strategies that is simple for teachers to use. The instructor asks a question, and learners write down their answers. Students are then placed in pairs to discuss their responses and write down their solutions. Teachers are able to move around the classroom and listen to various discussions. It lets them gain valuable insight into levels of understanding.

  Two Stars and a Wish

  The "two stars and a wish" reflection tool can help our students give meaningful feedback to one another in a cute and kid-friendly way!

  In short, Two Stars and a Wish demonstrates two stars—areas where the student’s work sparkles—and one Wish—an area where there can be some level of improvement. Starting to work with this technique it is important to give student samples of useful expressions.

   This activity can be administered in several ways, and ideally all three methods are used over time:

• Review an anonymous piece of work with the entire class and have all students provide feedback
• Break the class into pairs and have them review each other’s work
• Have each student assess their own work

   Two Stars and a Wish helps activate students and empower them as owners of their learning.

   3–2–1 Countdown

This is a true test of relevant and meaningful learning. When students learn something they find useful, they're likely to want to use that learning in some way. Have students end the day with this one. Give them cards to write on, or they can respond orally. They are required to respond to three separate statements:

• 3 things you didn't know before
• 2 things that surprised you about this topic
• 1 thing you want to start doing with what you've learned

You can also ask them different kinds of questions.

   One-Minute Papers

One-minute papers are usually done at the end of the day. Students can work individually or in groups here. They must answer a brief question in writing. Typical questions posed by teachers centre around:

• Main point
• Most surprising concept
• Questions not answered
• Most confusing area of a topic
• What question from the topic might appear on the next test

   Exit Ticket. This is a short task at the end of the lesson, a kind of revising material. Students get slips of paper in the form of a ticket (there are a lot of different templates in the Internet), sign them and then do the teacher’s task to write some words or sentences learned during the lesson. They can mark their feelings too. Leaving the classroom children give their exit tickets to the teacher. Of course, these answers are not graded but they stimulate students to be more attentive and try to remember as much as possible. At the same time this activity gives tutors an opportunity to collect evidence of what a child knows and can do.

   Today’s Reflection.

It is a variation of exit ticket but for more advanced students.

   Admit Tickets. Admit tickets are done at the very beginning of the class. Students may respond to questions about homework, or on the lesson taught the day before.

    Reflecting on Bright Ideas.

   It can be a kind of an admit ticket. Children should write 3 things that where new for them at the previous lesson, 1 thing that caught their attention, and at the last section  students have to write 4 vocabulary words they are not sure about.

Fist to 5.

   It is a simple, yet effective strategy that teachers can use in their classrooms every day and with any topic or subject area. It allows students to reflect on and assess their own learning, to quickly give tutors an idea of how they feel they are doing, and it works seamlessly in conjunction with “I Can…” statements.

   Where are you at in your learning journey?  This formative assessment tool is similar to previous one but it should be done by more advanced students. It also gives students an opportunity to identify where they are at in their learning journey.

Looking Ahead and Looking Back.

   Looking Ahead is a great activity for the beginning of the year or a semester, and vice versa   Looking Back activity is good for the end of them. Using these worksheets will help students to look ahead to their next school year or back to the previous periods. Such kinds of work provide feedback to teachers so that they could pay attention to them while planning activities for the lessons and to students to look at their goals and the ways of their achievement.

   All things considered, we can make a conclusion that  innovative formative assessment examples are part of what defines any modern classroom since formative assessment is a purposeful continuous process of monitoring students' learning. It is a necessary condition for interactive learning, in the process of which a culture of joint discussion in the classroom is formed, critical and creative thinking skills are developed, and an environment that encourages students to ask questions is formed. Formative assessment maintains students' confidence that each of them is able to improve their results, as students are given examples of what is expected of them.

   Active use of formative assessment methods by modern teachers is one of the key factors of quality education. The more variations of these methods a teacher uses the better picture of students’ understanding he gets. The better picture of students’ progress a teacher has the more he sees that every child shines.

References:

1. Assessment for Learning Strategies - Key classroom strategies -

[Електронний ресурс] - YouTube. Режим доступу : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0_SnxqZrUI

2.          Every Child Shines: Using Formative Assessment to Reflect on Children’s Knowledge & Skills - [Електронний ресурс] - YouTube. Режим доступу :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0_SnxqZrUI

3.          10 Innovative Formative Assessment Examples for Teachers to Know -  [Електронний ресурс] - Режим доступу :

https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/assessment/formative-assessment-examples

4. SECONDARY: How to maximise your teens learning with Assessment for Learning

Amanda Davis - Електронний ресурс] – YouTube. Режим доступу:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9iKUxx84qs

5. Stress-free Ways to Assess Young Learners in Year 3 - [Електронний ресурс] – YouTube. Режим доступу: https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=Stress-free+Ways+to+Assess+Young+Learners+in+Year+3&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_qKkSX_G_KKP2qwGOj7_4Cw20

6. Webinar "FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT in Primary School: a new trend for 2019/20" - [Електронний ресурс] – YouTube. Режим доступу :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=78&v=hr5aooAs04c&feature=emb_logo

7. What are Formative Assessments and Why Should We Use Them? - [Електронний ресурс] - Режим доступу :

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/what-are-formative-assessments-and-why-should-we-use-them/

8. Кабан Л.В. «Формувальне оцінювання навчальних досягнень учнів у новій українській школі»  [Електронний ресурс] - Режим доступу :

https://www.narodnaosvita.kiev.ua/?page_id=4471