Do They Get It?

Formative assessment of young children can be done with observation of how children solve problems, the language they use, and what sort of things they develop or invent to solve a problem o... See More

Formative assessment of young children can be done with observation of how children solve problems, the language they use, and what sort of things they develop or invent to solve a problem or task. From this teachers can decide what further instruction is needed. This article describes a lesson where students develop a container to hold some type of food. For this experiment they need to consider what type of material to use and what design the container should be.

Working the Room-Watching for What They Know

Formative assessments can take on many forms. Page Keeley explains how teachers can pick up on what their young students don’t know, already know, or misunderstand simply by watching and li... See More

Formative assessments can take on many forms. Page Keeley explains how teachers can pick up on what their young students don’t know, already know, or misunderstand simply by watching and listening to their interactions with peers as they manipulate an activity’s materials. Teachers can then use their observations to select individual interventions for students struggling with a specific component of the lesson. A lesson plan is provided where students investigate the properties of various materials to determine a suitable container for holding specific food choices. Then students build their containers. As the teacher facilitates learning, he/she uses the information collected about “if they are getting it” to determine any gaps in understanding and to help plan additional instruction.