Can Formative Assessment be Fun? FISH! Play and Formative Assessment

Why Formative Assessment

Let’s face it – most students hit a point – around fourth grade – when they would rather interact with each other – than their teacher. Gone are the days of unconditional primary school love for us – and that is perfectly normal. Perfectly normal and a great way to engage them in formative assessment without them even knowing you are assessing.

Fish! Play and Your Classroom

Fish Play! taps into students' natural ways of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do. (Fish! For a School Culture Checkup!)

This can be accomplished in a number of ways:

Circle Around Formative Assessment 

Circle Around: A "Circle Around" is a game-type of activity that engages students by having them practice asking questions of one another. It is a great tool to use as formative assessment and it is easy. 

Circle Around Goal: Make sure students understand an assignment or comprehend a reading and then produce work that demonstrates student knowledge.

1. Print out the Circle Around form and use it to formulate questions students should know after they've read a certain passage, completed an assignment etc. 
2. Copy and distribute Completed Circle Around form to students.
3. Explain what the students are going to do - telling them to be prepared for one person in each pair to answer out after each round.
4. Divide the class into two equal groups. If there is an odd person out have that student be your helper and rotate them in after a few gos.
5. Have each group circle up - one inside of the other. Instruct the inner circle to walk clockwise and the outside circle to walk clockwise until you give a predetermined signal.
6. Like in musical chairs, vary the time between signals, so they can't predict when they'll have to stop.
7. When the signal sounds, something even as simple as turn - have students in the inner circle turn to face someone in the outer circle - that is their partner for the first round.
8. Repeat the activity until all of your questions are answered.

What You Should Look For:

1. Individual student understanding - and patterns for group understanding or misunderstanding. 

Carry around a class list or gradebook (or a gradebook page from your computer and use it to check off what you hear and don't hear).

Important - the point of formative assessment is to formulate a plan to either move forward or work on reteaching any deficiencies you find.

Bonus - Extra Uses: 

• Use this activity when wriggly students have been seated for a long time. 
• Early finishers - have them come up with questions
• Save paper - use as an oral assessment and post questions on board

Remember: learning isn't a race to the finish - if most of the students or even over 1/2 don't understand - reteach - using a different strategy.  I will say it again - using a different strategy; because if the way you taught it the first time didn't work - why would it work a second time. If you need help figuring out a way to re-teach - I doubt you do - but if it is just one of those lessons - email elizabethpinotti@gmail.com for a 24 hour turn around.

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

See Samples: 

• ON TES Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl - Formative Assessments FREEBIE
• ON TeachersNotebook Fantastic Mr. Fox - Formative Assessment FREEBIE

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Thanks for Reading,
Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti
#ChapinPinotti

FREEBIE + Play Plus Engagement Equals Effective Instruction

Play + Engagement = Effective Instruction 

David St. Germain is an advertising guru. His client list includes Coca-Cola, Burger King, TCBY, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Marriott and about 70 other mega-brands.  He said that: “Play is one of the most misunderstood concepts anywhere.  We do know a few things: We seem to have played a lot in the classroom in elementary school, some in middle school, a little in high school and very little when we get into life” (Schools of Fish).

Play is the primary ingredient in any atmosphere, it is essential when a teacher is trying to set a positive feeling tone or otherwise motivate students.  It is a way to actively engage all those bodies staring up at you - in active participation.

The FISH! concept of Play taps into our natural way of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do.

Engagement begins with active participation – engaging most of the students, most of the time.

Put them together and you’ve developed the perfect formula for student success.

Learning through play is essential when our goal is engaging most of the students most of the time. If active participation equates to the consistent mental involvement of most of the students most of the time…then by its very definition…play is key and could very well be the missing link to student engagement and achievement.

But let’s talk about play as it is often an extremely misunderstood concept when it relates to the classroom.  There was a teacher in a training who could not get past the word “play” and how she defined it.  She could not hurtle the notion that her class would be out of control and wild if she let them play…when in fact the opposite is true. A classroom at “play” is a classroom of learners actively engaged; because play is the primary ingredient in any atmosphere where students are relaxed, enthused and able to give their best and where students feel safe to try new things.  Any place where creativity and critical thinking flourishes – some form of play is happing.

Albert Einstein put it this way: “Play is the greatest research.”  Play is hard work you love to do.  As teachers, it is incumbent upon us to make instruction something students love to participate in - to do that we must keep student mentally and/or actively involved in each lesson most of the time.

Play is not what you say and do so much as how is said or done.

Engage Students with Read Along Stories

The internet is full of webquests and read along stories you can download or run on

computers, ipads, notebooks, tablets - any technology. Great FREE read alongs include:

• Pancake Batter: Does it Matter?
• Teachnonogy - 100s of Webquests
• Make your own Webquests with this Webquest maker
• Another Webquest maker at Eduscapes
• Many Read alongs at Pink Penquiny

Teacher Assignment

Stop and Take a Minute: Close your eyes and think of one way that you can actively engage your students in play in your classroom through play.

Teacher Assignment: Print these out - either now or later - think, draw and write your answers -  and then share in the comments sections if you are so included:

Link for: Assignments for all ages that are "Playfully" engaging.

References

Strand, Phillip; Christensen, Halper, Andy. (2006) Schools of Fish!. Hyperion. New York, New York.

Thanks -- and be sure to follow this blog for more Freebies!

Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti
#ChapinPinotti