TeachersFirst Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is a term that refers to a wide variety of strategies and methods that teachers use to provide ongoing feedback to students. Before the final assessment, a formative assessment evaluates student comprehension, academic progress during lessons, and learning needs. These assessments help teachers check for understanding, determine skills mastery, and choose topics to review. Peruse the resources shared in this collection to find unique and engaging tools to use as you assess your students throughout your daily lessons. 

If you are looking for more tools to use for formative assessment, view our complete list of resources for assessment, our collection of polling tools, and our game-based learning tools that you can use to create your own formative assessments.  

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EdLight - Ryan Knight

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
EdLight offers tools for capturing and providing feedback for student work products. Follow the three easy steps to create assignments, take a picture of the work, and provide feedback...more
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EdLight offers tools for capturing and providing feedback for student work products. Follow the three easy steps to create assignments, take a picture of the work, and provide feedback on any device. Provide student feedback using rubrics, text, stickers, or record an audio message. Share EdLight tasks using Google Classroom, Clever, or student codes. Free accounts allow you to save up to 1000 images with up to two co-teachers.

tag(s): assessment (134), communication (113), editing (86), Formative Assessment (42), Learning Management Systems (19), Teacher Utilities (198)

In the Classroom

Make grading student work more accessible and more effective using EdLight's included tools. Use tools to draw on submitted work to point out specific areas of interest. Leave audio feedback that is specific and focused on each student's needs. Use EdLight to create portfolios for use when conferencing with parents. EdLight is an excellent tool for remote learning and hybrid learning situations as it allows flexibility in sharing work and providing timely feedback. Learn more about different implementations of EdLight at the site's blog.
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Floop - Floop Edu, Inc

Grades
5 to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
Use audio and text (and save valuable time) to provide teacher and peer feedback on any assignment with Floop's easy-to-use web tools. Students upload images, PDFs, or Google Docs from...more
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Use audio and text (and save valuable time) to provide teacher and peer feedback on any assignment with Floop's easy-to-use web tools. Students upload images, PDFs, or Google Docs from any device to your educator account. After creating a class, follow the directions to add an assignment and adjust settings. Options include uploading documents for student use, setting a due date and time, and adjusting permission settings for student feedback. Enroll students in your class by providing a join code or upload a CSV file to enroll students automatically. Provide feedback by clicking on any area of the student document to create a hotspot. Students find and click the hotspot to read and respond to feedback. If you teach students under 13 years old, follow the directions to provide school or district consent to sign up students. Free accounts offer unlimited classes with unlimited active assignments. The audio feedback is not on the free plan.

tag(s): assessment (134), editing (86), Formative Assessment (42), homework (28), Online Learning (32), proofreading (17), rubrics (35), Teacher Utilities (198), writing (311)

In the Classroom

Use Floop to provide timely and specific feedback for any assignment. Floop is a great resource for teaching students how to provide and respond to feedback in purposeful ways and engaging them in the learning process. Floop chose to use hotspots on documents to access feedback so that students have to revisit and refer to items shared. Take advantage of this by strategically placing feedback within documents in areas where students are to focus. For example, place a hotspot on an area with grammar mistakes that need correction and guide learning by asking students to revisit that portion of the text. Allow peer feedback when working on group assignments or create rough drafts to encourage students to provide input and direction as a class. After using Floop for several assignments, encourage students to reflect upon common mistakes found in their work. Extend learning by asking students to create a tutorial using FlexClip, reviewed here, explaining how to avoid these errors. One example will be in math class if a student makes an error in several assignments, such as forgetting how to borrow and carry when subtracting. Ask them to create a video tutorial demonstrating the proper steps to reinforce the concept and share it with peers.

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IdeaBoardz - IdeaBoardz

Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
IdeaBoardz is an easy-to-use a collaborative whiteboard created for brainstorming and sharing ideas. Instead of starting with a blank board and adding information, IdeaBoardz provides...more
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IdeaBoardz is an easy-to-use a collaborative whiteboard created for brainstorming and sharing ideas. Instead of starting with a blank board and adding information, IdeaBoardz provides several options for creating boards from templates. Choose to create a board, add a name and description to begin. Use the dropdown box to select the type of board from choices such as pro and con or creating from up to ten sections. Next, share your board using the URL provided. Finally, participants select the plus sign located next to a heading to add a sticky note and type comments. Registration is not required; however, creating an account allows participants to revisit saved boards.

tag(s): collaboration (79), graphic organizers (51), iwb (28)

In the Classroom

Use IdeaBoardz as an engaging way to brainstorm ideas, share student comments related to any classroom conversations, or as a tool for exit tickets. For example, use the two-column option as a schema activator when introducing a new lesson. Create a column for students to share what they know and another column for sharing what additional support is needed. Include a link to your collaborative board on your class webpage for students to view and add items as desired. Share with students to create boards for use with their presentations. Use the multi-columns to organize information by topics. For example, for book reports, create a board with columns for setting, character, theme, etc.

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Blooket - Blooket LLC

Grades
1 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Blooket is a digital review game built for classroom use. Educators create game sets, and students join on their device to play a variety of game options using the provided ...more
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Blooket is a digital review game built for classroom use. Educators create game sets, and students join on their device to play a variety of game options using the provided code. Games include options for solo or group play. Build sets using your own questions or search Blooket's library to find games created by other educators. Save favorite sets to your account for later use, then duplicate sets and edit to fit your needs when ready to play. Blooket also offers the option to import quizzes directly from Quizlet, reviewed here. As students join a game, they choose a Blook, a character that serves as an avatar. When ready, choose the "host" option to begin play by selecting a game mode and following prompts. Some games offer the ability to assign homework, allowing students to complete the game within the selected time frame.

tag(s): assessment (134), Formative Assessment (42), game based learning (214), gamification (75), quizzes (86), vocabulary (241), vocabulary development (96), worksheets (71)

In the Classroom

Discover and use Blooket's many engaging games as a resource for practicing and reviewing information within any area of content. Use the score results to provide feedback for guiding further lessons. Some games are more fast-paced than others; use this to your advantage by sharing different versions for different groups of students. Use Blooket to differentiate instruction by adjusting the difficulty of question sets based on student abilities. Introduce new content using Blooket as a pre-assessment before starting any new unit. Use Blooket as an ice-breaker or get-to-know-you activity at the start of the school year or at the beginning of a new semester to build comradery within your classroom.

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ziplet - ziplet

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
ziplet is a free student response system that works on all devices. Use ziplet to send questions to students instantly or schedule them in advance. After registration, follow the steps...more
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ziplet is a free student response system that works on all devices. Use ziplet to send questions to students instantly or schedule them in advance. After registration, follow the steps to create a group, invite students, and ask questions. Choose from different options for student responses, including multiple-choice, short answer, emoji reactions, or a scaled score from 1-7. Invite students into your group using the provided code. Students use their Google account to login and access questions. Upon receiving responses, Loop provides options for responding to students. Free accounts allow two teachers to use the application with three groups and 50 students per group.

tag(s): assessment (134), game based learning (214), gamification (75), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Use ziplet to engage students throughout your lessons and to provide feedback on student understanding. ziplet is also perfect for use as an exit ticket response or use as an informal formative assessment. Use ziplet to create pretests that allow students to "opt-out" of material they already know or use it to create review activities that students participate in as teams.

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Slido - Slido.com

Grades
5 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Slido is an instant question/answer and an interactive polling application. Create an account to begin using Slido. The free version allows you to crowdsource questions, share three...more
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Slido is an instant question/answer and an interactive polling application. Create an account to begin using Slido. The free version allows you to crowdsource questions, share three polls per event, and brainstorm ideas. After creating your session and questions, provide participants with the code to access your event. Other features include a word cloud option created from audience responses and the ability to crowdsource questions and upvote favorites, so they move to the top of the list.

tag(s): Formative Assessment (42), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Use Slido to engage students and for use as a formative assessment tool. When introducing a new unit, use Slido as a pre-assessment to determine student knowledge and guide instruction. Use the anonymous feature to make it easy for students to ask questions in real-time without raising their hand and identifying themselves. Share Slido with students to use during presentations to interact with peers.

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Microsoft Forms - Microsoft

Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Do you need a quick and easy way to create forms, quizzes, and polls? Microsoft Forms has you covered. Create surveys and collect data in real-time, assign quizzes with your ...more
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Do you need a quick and easy way to create forms, quizzes, and polls? Microsoft Forms has you covered. Create surveys and collect data in real-time, assign quizzes with your point values for automatic grading, and create polls on the fly to receive responses for immediate use quickly. Sign in to your Microsoft account to begin (or make a free account) and select either a new form or quiz. Click on the plus mark and follow the prompts to add new items. Add an image to any form part using the search bar or upload your own. Forms also offer the option to add a YouTube video within questions. A recent addition to this tool includes an option for practice mode, which allows students to take quizzes and receive feedback on correctness without submitting data to the teacher. Forms works on all devices, use the preview to see your form as it appears on computers or mobile devices before sending. Share your form using the URL or QR code, or embed it in a website or email. View responses through the response tab created with your form. Return to previous forms to review the collected data or duplicate forms to make new polls or surveys.

tag(s): assessment (134), polls and surveys (42), spreadsheets (20)

In the Classroom

Discover the benefits of using Microsoft Forms in your classroom to create surveys for parents and students at the beginning of the year to learn about student interests, create parent volunteer lists, and much more. Create a sign-in and sign-out sheet for classroom library materials, including books and digital equipment. Use Microsoft Forms to set up and collaborate on lesson plans, including checkboxes to standards, materials needed, and covered content. Microsoft Forms is perfect for assessment - create online quizzes and exit tickets. Have students use Microsoft Forms to prepare and submit reading logs, brainstorm and collaborate with fellow students, create "choose your own adventure" stories, or schedule reading and writing conference times. Use Microsoft Forms to set up and share rubrics for any project, have students complete the rubric, and turn it in with any completed assignment. Use the practice mode feature to build student confidence by providing practice and review materials before final tests. The uses for Microsoft Forms are as unlimited as your imagination; this is a must-have tool for all classrooms!

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Gimkit - Josh Feinsilber

Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Gimkit is a quiz learning game for students and teachers, created and maintained by students. After signing up, you begin by creating "kits" (live learning games) to create quizzes....more
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Gimkit is a quiz learning game for students and teachers, created and maintained by students. After signing up, you begin by creating "kits" (live learning games) to create quizzes. Create from scratch, import an existing quiz from Quizlet or a CSV file, or copy quizzes from the Gimkit gallery to modify for your use. Follow the prompts to add questions, four answer choices, and add an image if desired. Add class rosters and assign kits for student completion within a specific time frame. Students complete quizzes at their own pace within the due date. As they complete quizzes, students earn money to reinvest in Gimkit upgrades that align with their strengths. Use your Gimkit dashboard to view student progress and earnings and additional formative data. Free accounts provide all core features and the ability to create unlimited kits. There is also a restriction on how many players (5) can join your live game.

tag(s): assessment (134), collaboration (79), game based learning (214), gamification (75), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Use Gimkit as a formative assessment tool for all subjects. Create pretests and allow students to opt out of some introductory assignments and choose other options like research projects or multimedia presentations. If you want to share a quiz as a class, project a quiz onto your interactive whiteboard and discuss question options together. Use the data collected from student quizzes to guide instruction both individually and for whole groups. Don't forget to take advantage of already created quizzes found on the site and available to import from Quizlet! For the live game student limit, try having Gimkit at a "center" or "station" that students rotate through over a week.

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Quizlet Live - Quizlet

Grades
3 to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Quizlet Live is a classroom quiz game for groups created by the makers of Quizlet, reviewed here. Follow directions to create and share a quiz set...more
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Quizlet Live is a classroom quiz game for groups created by the makers of Quizlet, reviewed here. Follow directions to create and share a quiz set and assign to student teams. At least six students are needed to create and play a Quizlet Live game. When students receive the code and log in, they find other team members and begin competing. Accuracy is encouraged over speed; providing a wrong answer will send teams back to start from the beginning of the quiz.

tag(s): collaboration (79), DAT device agnostic tool (124), game based learning (214), quizzes (86), spelling (96), vocabulary (241), word study (57)

In the Classroom

Use Quizlet Live to introduce new topics or content, or as a review before testing. Quizlet Live would be an excellent tool for the start of the year to help students get to know each other, or use throughout the year to have students work with different students in cooperative learning activities.

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Quizalize - Zzish

Grades
4 to 12
7 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Track learning in real-time with Quizalize. Student answers are color-coded on the teacher dashboard for ease in identifying who needs more help. Create scrambled word, multiple choice...more
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Track learning in real-time with Quizalize. Student answers are color-coded on the teacher dashboard for ease in identifying who needs more help. Create scrambled word, multiple choice questions, and ChapGPT quizzes, and each question can have a custom timer. View reports for each student's progress and learning gaps. Create a quiz or select one from Quizalize's growing library. Quizzes can be "gamified" by showing the teacher dashboard as a leaderboard to see progress against other contestents. Quizalize works on any device with a browser and Internet connection. Sign up with an email and password. Create a quiz, assign it to classes, get a code, give it to students, and let the fun begin! The free account provides 3 classes and 5 activities.

tag(s): differentiation (77), game based learning (214), gamification (75), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Make a class challenge! Create practice quizzes to review the material just learned in class. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector for students to view the "leaderboard" (teacher dashboard) as in a game. Students score more points by answering questions quickly. As with other tools with a leaderboard, it is helpful to have a collaborative environment where competition is not the goal, instead working together and improving is important. Use Quizalize as a formative assessment and to differentiate to see what material needs more review with classes (or individual students). Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content (subtopic/standards); quickly see who understands a concept and who needs some individualized practice. Share with students as a resource for creating quizzes for studying at home. When students are using surveys and polls for reports, introduce them to Quizalize since it works on any device. Share quizzes with your fellow teachers.

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SurveyPlanet - SurveyPlanet, LLC

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
SurveyPlanet makes creating surveys, polls, and quizzes quick and easy. Create an account with your email and see how many free features they have for you! The basics include unlimited...more
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SurveyPlanet makes creating surveys, polls, and quizzes quick and easy. Create an account with your email and see how many free features they have for you! The basics include unlimited questions and responses, color themes, various types of questions, a bank of questions for many different industries, and then there are special free features. Some of these are storage of your survey and results for a year, four types of results charts, duplication of surveys, survey embedding and much more. SurveyPlanet supports over 20 languages.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): assessment (134), polls and surveys (42), quiz (64), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Use SurveyPlanet for daily quiz questions as a formative assessment or to check for understanding of a previous lesson. Use as an anticipatory guide for introducing new content. Use to check for understanding after a lecture or demonstration. Use a class account to have student groups alternate to create a new poll for the next day. Older students may want to include polls on their student blogs to increase reader engagement. Have students create polls for after a project presentation. Use polls to generate data for math class (graphing), during elections, or for critical thinking activities dealing with the interpretation of statistics. Engage students using "real" data from a survey of issues and current events that matter to them. Use it to serve as a class voting device. Students can use their mobile devices to answer the survey. However, it is best to create them on a laptop or desktop.

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Plickers - Nolan Amy

Grades
1 to 12
4 Favorites 0  Comments
 
All-inclusive student response is what Plickers is all about. Students do not need to have Internet access. Responders use individualized QR Code cards (print a set FREE from Plickers),...more
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All-inclusive student response is what Plickers is all about. Students do not need to have Internet access. Responders use individualized QR Code cards (print a set FREE from Plickers), to answer questions. You use your mobile device to read the QR Code cards that students hold up. Create an account and get started immediately. No need to wait for an email response. There is a demo to use, or see the Support page on the bottom menu for detailed instructions for adding classes, students, questions (with or without images), and folders to organize your questions by unit, topic, lesson and more. You can save student responses to your online Plicker account.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): assessment (134), DAT device agnostic tool (124), game based learning (214), gamification (75), qr codes (15), questioning (34), quiz (64)

In the Classroom

Create greater student engagement and increased student interest in your classroom with Plickers. Students give their input anonymously. Print out Plickers' cards and hand out to students. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to explain how the Plickers cards work. Create questions, with or without images, and add multiple choice answers. Project your questions and possible answers. Have students hold up their card in the position that reflects their answer. Use your mobile device and Plickers mobile app to scan the cards. You will see a bar graph with student responses on your mobile device. These can be saved to your Plickers account. Use Plickers to answer exit questions or to see what students remember from the previous day. Use for formative assessment to identify misconceptions that students may have at the start of a unit. There are cards with larger fonts for young students or the visually impaired. ENL/ESL teachers could use this for vocabulary or sentence structure practice. Unless your school or district has access to a matte-finish for laminating or matte-plastic pockets, you may want to collect the cards at the end of class.

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Wayground (formerly Quizizz) - Quizizz

Grades
K to 12
12 Favorites 2  Comments
  
Wayground (formerly Quizizz) is a free assessment tool that includes much more than quizzes. Quickly create assessments, lessons, and interactive videos using your materials or those...more
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Wayground (formerly Quizizz) is a free assessment tool that includes much more than quizzes. Quickly create assessments, lessons, and interactive videos using your materials or those from the site's library. Choose from the delivery of activities in live mode or the student-paced feature. Additional features, including a dyslexia font, options for reduced answer options, and translation tools support special needs and diverse learners. After signing in to your Wayground account, choose from the options on the dashboard to explore options available in the library, add a class, or use AI to create activities. Choose the "Create" link to build assessments, lessons, reading passages, and flashcards. Assign activities directly to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, or other Learning Management Systems. In addition, students can access Wayground using the link or join code provided after assigning the activity.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (217), DAT device agnostic tool (124), differentiation (77), flash cards (43), game based learning (214), gamification (75), polls and surveys (42), quiz (64), quizzes (86), spanish (107)

In the Classroom

Use Wayground (formerly Quizizz) to generate lessons and formative assessments that engage students in learning. Assign solo quizzes for students to review classroom information and easily differentiate learning by adjusting the reading level and content of the questions. Host a live quiz before starting a new unit to guide lesson planning based on students' prior knowledge. Create and share flashcards with students to use as a study tool, build flipped learning lessons using the interactive video option, or use AI features to generate questions using your documents and websites.

Comments

Melissa, , Grades: 0 - 5
Great way to conduct formative assessments that students love! Its got a great quiz creation interface and many useful customization options too. Deepak, , Grades: 0 - 12

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Sway - Microsoft

Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Microsoft Sway is an online tool from Microsoft that lets users design interactive presentations, newsletters, and digital stories that display smoothly on any device. It allows you...more
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Microsoft Sway is an online tool from Microsoft that lets users design interactive presentations, newsletters, and digital stories that display smoothly on any device. It allows you to easily drag and drop text, photos, videos, and links from your computer, social media, or the web directly into your project. After signing in with a Microsoft account or creating one with your email, you can build your story using a simple, scroll-based layout. The Design tab provides options to personalize colors, fonts, and layouts, while the Share feature makes it simple to publish through a link, post to social media, or embed on a website. Sway works in all modern browsers, and while its iOS app is no longer updated, the web version remains fully functional. Instructional videos and tutorials are hosted on YouTube, though schools that block YouTube may not be able to access them. Microsoft has confirmed that Sway will continue to operate, though it has been removed from the Microsoft 365 Copilot "Create" tab due to low usage. Some tools, such as in-app audio and video recording, have been retired, but users can still embed multimedia files. The core features remain supported through sway.office.com and the Microsoft 365 Apps section, though no major updates are planned.

tag(s): communication (113), digital storytelling (151), Microsoft (54), multimedia (55), slides (41), visualizations (10)

In the Classroom

Use Sway as an alternative to Prezi or PowerPoint presentations. Sway is perfect for use in your BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Use during your presentations to increase student engagement and interaction. Check understanding of your ENL/ESL students by having them respond or pose questions throughout the presentation. Enhance student learning and understanding by sharing with students for them to use during their own presentations, inviting other students to comment and answer questions. During Open House night with parents, demonstrate how Sway provides interaction. Use Sway during professional development presentations to invite discussions from colleagues.

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Formative - Newsela

Grades
K to 12
7 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Looking for real-time feed back from your classes? Use tests and quizzes to get immediate feedback with this tool. You can even upload a document to Formative for students to ...more
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Looking for real-time feed back from your classes? Use tests and quizzes to get immediate feedback with this tool. You can even upload a document to Formative for students to annotate. Enter questions that require a variety of answers including true/false, text answers, or student drawings. It will even mark answers for you! Setup a marking key and view instant data on who is correct. Students can create an account to get access to the materials you create. The site works on all devices and integrates with Google Classroom. Formative is aligned to many standards including Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and many other common standards. Create a free account. All assignments are organized in the dashboard. Click on New Assignment to begin and choose to start from scratch or upload a document. Choose the type of question and even add content such as text, whiteboard, or YouTube videos. Be sure to set up a key for automatic grading and watch the live results as they come in. Formative is optimized to work on any device with a modern web browser and an Internet connection. Formative now has AI in beta. There are directions for signing up for the AI part of Formative.

tag(s): assessment (134), commoncore (60), personalized learning (7), playlists (5), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

Use this tool at the beginning of chapters or units to identify information students are already familiar with. Be sure to use this tool to check for understanding. Use as an exit slip, to identify material that needs to be retaught, or to locate specific students that need remediation. Students can easily see the choices and choose answers using a browser on a laptop or any device. Use this formative assessment tool to create pretests to offer to gifted students to "test out" of already learned material. Make it a class challenge! Project your quiz to the entire classroom using a whiteboard or projector. Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content. Use this tool to give students the opportunity to predict the content of tomorrow's lesson based upon today's.

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Pear Deck - Pear Deck

Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Plan and build interactive presentations directly from your Google Drive! Share your presentation on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Your participants can contribute to your...more
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Plan and build interactive presentations directly from your Google Drive! Share your presentation on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Your participants can contribute to your presentation using their own device! You and your students will find Pear Deck to take the stress out of presenting and following a presentation, reinforcing SEL (social-emotional learning). Simply install Pear Deck and go to your Google Drive. Next, click Create and choose the Pear Deck icon (in your Google Drive). An untitled Pear Deck file can be found in your drive. Click on "Untitled Pear Deck" and rename this file. To create slides, choose "Normal slide" for standard text slides that are not interactive. Add images and text blocks, and a title. Choose a "Draggable slide" to enter a question for input. Add a line or dot for participants to answer the question. Use the "Multiple Choice" slide to enter a question and answer choices. To present, click "Start Presenting." You can use the option to "Open Session Dashboard" and see all of the participants who joined the presentation. You can also choose "Open Projector View." While presenting, use the "Add a Question" tool to enter a last minute question. That can be as simple as a thumbs up or thumbs down choice to check on understanding. Make sure you "End Session" to save the results from the questions. The free account provides basic interactive questions and is especially good for formative and summative assessments and automatic graded answere. Help can be found by clicking on Menu and then Support. Find more information about Google Drive here.
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tag(s): assessment (134), differentiation (77), emotions (53), gamification (75), slides (41), social and emotional learning (111)

In the Classroom

Invite students to join. Students will not see your slides UNTIL you start the presentation. Use the presentation tools. Students' view of the presentation follows the changes you make. Be sure to become familiar with these tools before using the tools with students. As students join, their names appear in the dashboard view. Tools include Lock and Unlock Responses from students, Hide and Show Responses, Ask Again, and more. Answer the questions more than once if desired. Pear Deck maintains the results of both attempts.

It may be a good idea to open both the Session Dashboard and the Projector View before using with the students. Keep each in separate tabs (or use a different device such as a tablet for one of these). Be sure to turn off student responses and lock responses UNTIL every student has responded (so students will not be swayed by other responses or change answers). With the draggable slide, insert an image that requires quick input such as where a basketball thrown at a hoop will land, where on a timeline image a specific event occurred, or where erosion would be deposited on a river bend picture. You might consider using Pear Deck as a check in or exit ticket using emojis for feelings or depth of understanding. This resource is invaluable for presenting questions for quick formative assessment of the content that students are to learn in any subject area!

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Nearpod - Nearpod

Grades
5 to 12
16 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Use this free slide-based multimedia app to put lessons and other material on any web browser OR iOs and Android devices. Build your presentations using pre-made templates. The site...more
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Use this free slide-based multimedia app to put lessons and other material on any web browser OR iOs and Android devices. Build your presentations using pre-made templates. The site does offer ready-made presentations (some free). The interactive, pre-made videos and text presentations are from Ted-Ed, Khan Academy, Nearpod, and others. Some include questions to answer as you work through the presentations. What is the best part of Nearpod? There are now three different presentation modes.

When in the "live presentation" mode (in person or remote web conferencing), teachers control the lesson's pace, and students do not move to the next screen until advanced by the teacher. With the "student pace" mode, students progress through independently, whether at home or in class. The third mode is "front of the class;" you project your presentation, and the students do not use their devices. Use the teacher version of the app to push out the presentation to your students. For the first two modes, every student uses their own student app to follow the screens and answer the questions. This provides immediate feedback about every student. The feedback can be emailed to the teacher for later review. This formative assessment tool is invaluable and a unique part of the app. The tool also includes drawing for students to work out problems. Teachers can identify students who are not "on task" and not working within the app when a little red light pops up. Absent students can complete the assignment at home.

The free version of Nearpod for Educators is called Silver; you get 100 MB of storage, 40 students per session/lesson, access to standard formative assessments features, pre-made interactive lessons up to your storage limit, pre-made interactive videos up to your storage limit, create interactive videos, lessons, and activities, upload PDF, PPT, and Google slides, and more. Again, how many lessons and videos will depend on your storage.

tag(s): assessment (134), classroom management (105), DAT device agnostic tool (124), differentiation (77), Formative Assessment (42), gamification (75), Learning Management Systems (19), multimedia (55), Online Learning (32), personalized learning (7), playlists (5), remote learning (31), slides (41), Teacher Utilities (198), teaching strategies (52)

In the Classroom

This is an exciting way to begin iPad (or BYOD), blended learning, or remote learning integration into the classroom. Initially it may be difficult to determine the best pacing of the lesson, the ability to slow down the advancement of the next screen allows more time to digest the information. Be aware that students needing more time may be very frustrated as the screen may advance before they are able to finish. Start small by uploading presentations and using JPEG and other images. Add interactive elements such as polls and videos. Grab students attention by using the first slide to deliver a piece of humorous information. Create guided learning stations and push out several presentations to different devices as students move through the various lessons to be learned. This technique can be helpful for struggling learners. Use this tool to help reinforce the most difficult parts of the lesson. Use the app to create schedules for training, clubs, and more. For English, learn about grammar rules, sentence structure, and other elements necessary for good writing. For ENL/ESL classes and world languages, practice various vocabulary words and learn tenses of verbs. Learn vocabulary and basic scientific concepts in any science class or facts about historical periods in history classes. This app is a valuable tool in any classroom.

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Kahoot! - Mobitroll

Grades
K to 12
9 Favorites 1  Comments
 
Ask meaningful questions and see responses in real-time while creating an exciting, game-like environment. Build instant polls, quizzes, or responses through a simple drag and drop...more
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Ask meaningful questions and see responses in real-time while creating an exciting, game-like environment. Build instant polls, quizzes, or responses through a simple drag and drop interface. Once you create your account, be sure to take the Intro Quiz to learn how to use this tool. When you start the quiz, you will be prompted to open a new tab, create a nickname, and enter the game pin. Now you will be able to take the quiz to learn how Kahoot! works AND be able to see what a teacher sees in your original tab. You will have to go to the Main tab to launch the next question in the Quiz. Find ready-made quizzes on the public Kahoot! menu by entering search terms. Create questions, quizzes, and polls with an optional uploaded image. Kahoot! also has a team option. Groups can use one computer to answer questions. The best part about the team option is it allows groups wait time to discuss their answer before submitting it. The teacher gets the data back instantly, and it is stored on the site or can be downloaded. This is superb for checking the knowledge of your audience/students or to see if they are still paying attention and understand concepts. Scroll past the 3 plans that cost money to find the basic plan that allows for upto 40 participants, multiple choice quiz questions, 5 teams, and more.

tag(s): assessment (134), DAT device agnostic tool (124), Formative Assessment (42), game based learning (214), gamification (75), polls and surveys (42), quizzes (86)

In the Classroom

This is a powerful formative assessment tool that is also fun! Create pretests to offer to gifted students to "test out" of already learned material. Students can easily see the choices and choose answers using a browser on a laptop or any device. Make it a class challenge! Use this tool at the start of a new chapter or unit. Project your quiz to the entire classroom using a whiteboard or projector. Students can easily see the choices and choose answers using a browser on a laptop or any device. Use the Team choice when reviewing for a unit test. Students can see who is at the top of the leaderboard during the play and can even ask questions while going through the quiz. Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content.

Comments

What makes a good web tool? In my opinion, a web tool should be two things. They should be easy to look at, and easy to use. When you use these tools you need to be able to see clearly what a site does and the purpose it serves. Not only do you need to be able to see what you are doing, but do it easily. If it takes students more effort and energy to use a web tool or website, they will stop using it. You have to be able to keep the attention of the user. Beyond that an education tool needs a few additional items. Education tools need to be fun and interactive to continuously grab the attention of students. Students should have fun when using the site/tool.

Kahoot fits all the above criteria. Not only is it fun and easy for students to use, but easy for teachers to set up and use for students. Kahoot is a fun quiz tool that teachers can use to build discussions, polls, and quizzes for the classroom. Students can then log into the quiz using smartphones, tablets, or computers. The tool is designed for students and works for students. Kahoot is well thought out, and well executed. This tool really brings the learning experience to students who are so familiar with technology.
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We Do Listen Foundation - We Do Listen Foundation

Grades
K to 3
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Songs, video book readings, lesson plans, and more abound at this fabulous site for young children! At We Do Listen you will find activities to build character traits (such as...more
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Songs, video book readings, lesson plans, and more abound at this fabulous site for young children! At We Do Listen you will find activities to build character traits (such as honesty) and social skills (such as anti-bullying). There are many video animations of the books. Choose the lessons link to find printable lessons to accompany each book to teach character traits and social skills. Under Fun Stuff there is also online coloring and a place to write and color your own story! Download song videos to your computer for use at any time. Choose the color and print your own book to color on paper, computer, and create stick and paper puppets.
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tag(s): bullying (45), charactered (77), preK (289), social skills (24)

In the Classroom

All primary classrooms should take advantage of this wonderful tool. Share the songs on your projector and interactive whiteboard. Use the songs, stories, and lesson plans to teach about various character traits: honesty, anti-bullying, good sportsmanship, courage, and more. Use these stories during class meetings to discuss issues happening in your own classroom. Share a link to the site with parents as a resource for use at home. Share the songs with your PE teacher to reinforce the concepts during movement activities.

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ClassTools - Russel Tarr

Grades
K to 12
10 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Classtools offers online game, quiz, and concept map generators to use in any classroom with any subject. Templates make it easy. NO registration is necessary. Just start right in!...more
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Classtools offers online game, quiz, and concept map generators to use in any classroom with any subject. Templates make it easy. NO registration is necessary. Just start right in! Make games public on their website or blog using the link provided upon completion. Templates include Fakebook, Twister (fake Tweets) Generator, an SMS conversation (text message) simulator, QR Treasure Hunt, Fishbone, Random Name Generator, Burger Diagram (essay writing), Countdown Timer, and many more. Use the dropdown box to view the complete list of tools or search for a template. Follow the easy step-by-step directions provided. Some items are now considered as premium options which require payment; however, much of the site is free. Avoid the tools with the yellow "premium" banner on the top-right portion of the icon.
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tag(s): essays (20), qr codes (15), quiz (64), social networking (56), spelling (96), twitter (13), venn diagrams (15), vocabulary (241), word choice (13), word study (57)

In the Classroom

The possibilities abound in nearly any subject area. Be sure to check out all of the free templates to use. Use the many tools yourself or have your students create a Fakebook page or use the Z (still called Tweet) Generator to present information in any subject area. Create a Fakebook page about a famous historical person or government figure in social studies or science class. Share the Burger Diagram for writing essays. Use the Arcade Game Maker to create practice activities for students who need the extra help. Create a random word generator with vocabulary from a science or social studies unit to review before testing. Allow students to create Venn diagrams to be posted on the class website using information from current lessons. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Save this site in your Favorites on your teacher computer! Use the embed code or URL created when saving your project to include with other items such as maps, videos, and images within class presentations made using Sway, reviewed here or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here.

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