Practicing in Class

I’ve been writing here about getting students to practice in class. Many of our students don’t (and probably shouldn’t) be doing practice math questions at home. We need to build opportunities into our lesson for them to do some questions. Kate Nowak has provided us with two great ways to get students to practice some questions in class in more compelling ways. This practice is formative assessment. I would classify both of her activities as activating students as instructional resources, using the language of Dylan Wiliam.

I have nothing to add to Kate’s work, other than to tell you I’ve used this stuff and it works. I’m just pointing you in its direction and making a link between what she has shared and the formative assessment I’ve been writing about in my recent posts.

Check out Kate’s Row Game and Speed Dating. She has several already prepared that fit our WNCP curriculum. It looks like she has been collecting other people’s Row Games here.

Both activities are easily differentiable, and allow kids to practice their math. They have built in accountability because students are responsible to each other. They are both fine examples of embedded formative assessment.