Can you say "Highly-Effective" teacher?

Never work harder than your students. How can you engage all students and

check their understanding without increasing your workload? Using engagement

strategies at key moments during instruction makes your classroom responsive and
active. Attend this session to learn dozens of easy-to-use ways to increase your
repertoire of formative assessment strategies, engage students in academic

Objectives:

Create a common understanding of

student engagement: active vs. passive
o 3.3 Seek Professional Skills and
Knowledge
o 3.2 Collaborate with Peers

How do we anticipate key instructional

moments to check for understanding?
o 2.4 Check for Understanding
o 2.6 Develop Higher Level of
Understanding

Learn easy to implement engagement

strategies
o 2.3 Engage students in academic
content
o 2.8 Create Classroom Culture of
Respect and Collaboration

Create a common understanding of

formative assessment
o 1.5 Track Student Data and Analyze
Progress

content, and create a classroom culture of respect and collaboration.

Lightning Round

How it Works:
1. Teacher poses a question as gives students time to think
and/or jot down a brief response. (This ensures students
have an individual response and do not just mimic a
classmate.)
2. Teacher facilitates lightning-quick reporting (moving around
a circle, up and down rows, from one group to the next)
where students share their response.
3. When everyone has shared, facilitate a discussion (or graph)
the most- and least-common responses.

Using the Data Formatively:

Make sure that all students have a
response before standing the activity.
If you know students will have
difficulty with a response, you may
want to prepare them ahead of the
activity.

How it Works:
1. Provide a statement to students.
2. Ask students to respond to the statement with fist
representing little knowledge (Im here to learn!) and 5
fingers for confident in this area (I could offer suggestions!)

Using the Data Formatively:

Ask students to write their number
on a sheet of paper followed by
questions they still may have or
would like to address in this area.
This will help tailor instruction.

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.4

Fist to Five

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.4

Debate Carousel

Return back to
original writer and
reflect

Write a claim about

student engagement

Add evidence to
support the counter
claim

Add evidence to
support the claim

Make a counter
claim

RISE 2.2, 2.3

Movement/Pantomime

How it works:
1. Create a prompt that requires students to use their
judgment and the content presented to take a position.
Ensure the students can read and refer to the prompt while
they complete the activity.
2. Ask all students to record their judgment and a rationale for
what they believe
3. Ask students to pass their papers to the right, and read and
add a supporting rational that goes along with their peers
judgment (even if they dont agree).
4. Ask them to all pass their papers to the right, read what has
been written, and add something that might be used as an
opposing rationale (whether they agree with the rationale or
not).
5. Ask them to all pass their papers to the right and add their
own opinion, supporting it with their rationale.
6. Ask student to give the paper back to their original owners.
Volunteers can share some of the arguments with the class.

Using the Data Formatively:

This activity naturally lends itself to
the analysis and evaluation of a topic.
Let students come to their own
judgments based on learned content.
Use students responses to determine
which concepts they fully grasp and
which may need whole-class or smallgroup review.
Pause to Apply:

How it Works:
1. Identify content-specific concepts that are important for
students to remember.
2. As you discuss the concept, pair movements for students to
mimic with a concept. (You could pre-determine the
movements or ask students to create the movements.)
3. Ask students to repeat the movements while learning. The
motion will help their brain remember the content.

Using the Data Formatively:

Watch to see which students grasp
the movements and which students
struggle. Review these critical
concepts with the students who need
support in order to create a device
that will help them learn.
Pause to Apply:

NOTE: This activity also works well for remembering vocabulary.

RISE 2.3
3

Think-Pair-Share

RISE 2.3, 2.8

Thumbs Up,
Thumbs Down

RISE 2.4

How it Works:
1. Ask students to reflect on a question or prompt. Give them a
brief amount of time (perhaps 30 seconds) to formulate a
response. You might consider asking students to jot down
their thoughts.
2. Ask students to pair up or to turn to their assigned partner.
3. Ask them to discuss their responses.

Using the Data Formatively:

Listen it to conversations, noting
follow up items (either whole-class or
small-group). You can also use data
from previous learning to pair
students strategically.
Pause to Apply:

NOTE: To avoid repeating directions, you can use Pair-Shares to

review procedural directions you have just explained to students.
Example: Turn to your partner and explain what you have been
asked to do first, second, and third.
How it Works:
1. Ask a question for which a yes/no or agree/disagree
response is appropriate.
2. Ask students to put their thumb pointing up if the answer is
yes, or if they agree. Ask students to put their thumb
pointing down if the answer is no, or if they disagree. You
could also give in-between options (for example, thumbs
sideways if theyre not sure).
3. Follow through! If you ask students to vote, dont move on
until they all have done so.
VARIATION:
Fist to Five: ask students to rate how strongly they agree or
disagree. A fist is total disagreement. Showing five fingers
would indicate total agreement.
Use charades/gestures/Pictionary to communicate your
answer without speaking.
For privacy, ask students to keep their thumbs in front of
their chests instead of above their heads

Using the Data Formatively:

Link your votes with a quick PairShare for students to justify their
votes.
Pause to Apply:

Confer, Compare,
Clarify

RISE 2.3, 2.8

Get Five From Five

How it Works:
1. Ask students to pair up
a. Confer: share a one-sentence summary of what they
believe was the most important part of the
presentation.
b. Compare: read each others notes to compare what they
each recorded and add to their own notes as necessary.
c. Clarify: record any questions that they have regarding
what was presented.
2. Ask pairs to join other pairs, forming groups of four, and
share questions.
3. Ask student to record the questions that could not be
answered in the larger groups of four on the board.
Alternative

Using the Data Formatively:

Students can reflect on their note
taking skills and abilities to determine
if they are effective. Listen into the
conversations and review students
writing to determine what instruction
student groups may need next.
Pause to Apply:

Students can compare and revise summaries.

How it Works:
1. Ask students to generate a list of words or phrases in
response to a question or prompt.
2. Students then walk around the room to collect FIVE other
names from FIVE different students while sharing ideas from
their own list
3. Students return to their seat when they have collected 5
from 5.

Using the Data Formatively:

This is a good review. Watching and
listening for students responses will
allow you to determine the level of
support students will need and allow
you to group and plan accordingly.
Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.3, 2.8

5

Save the Last Word for Me

RISE 2.7, 2.8

Philosophical Chairs

How it Works:
1. After students finish reading a text they highlight the
three sentences that had the greatest impact on their
thinking.
2. Star the sentence that is most important to you.
3. Respond to your top sentence in writing.
During collaborative time:
1. Each member reads the sentence to the groupand says
nothing else!
2. The other members react to the quote.
3. The member who read the quote has the last word about
its significance based on what he/she wrote.
NOTE: Use the time students spend reading and annotating to
work with a small group of students who may have difficulty
comprehending the reading and/or determining importance
within it.
How it Works:
1. Students are presented with a higher-level question that
will elicit thought and discussion.
2. Chairs are placed in a horseshoe seating arrangement,
with the two ends longer than the back.
3. Students argue the merits of the question; their choice of
seat during the discussion will illustrate their position.
(Yes on the right, No on the left, Undecided in the middle)
Students can move as their minds change.

Using the Data Formatively:

This can be used to determine the
level of comprehension of a piece
and the level of analysis of a piece.
Use the information from students
conversations and annotations to
determine the students who may
need more instruction.
Pause to Apply:

Using the Data Formatively:

If the culminating assignment for
learning is an argumentative piece,
this activity will give the teacher an
indication of which students have
well-thought out and articulated
arguments and which students may
need some support in formulating
support.
Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.3, 2.6, 2.8

6

Bounce Cards

RISE 2.3, 2.8

Dinner Party

RISE 2.3, 2.6, 2.8

How it Works:
1. Model the wrong way to hold a conversation. Discuss
the importance of conversational skills that allow ideas to
bounce from one person to the next. This is also a
Common Core Literacy Standard.
2. Discuss the three approaches (on your bounce card) to
responding to peers comments:
o Bounce
o Sum it up
o Inquire
3. Model a conversation using the Bounce Card sentence
starters.
4. Allow the students to practice, using prepared topics or
prompts.

Using the Data Formatively:

Ask students to think about the
relevance of developing these
converstaiona skills for their
everyday lives. If we can get students
to feel comfortable in the art of
conversation with each other, it will
have the potential of not only
building community within our
classrooms but also allowing for
deeper extended conversation
regarding the content that we teach.
Pause to Apply:

How it Works:
1. Decide which personas will be a part of a panel discussion.
Generally, about five or six participants is right. Create
large nametags for each person so the students can
identify who is speaking.
2. Assign one of the group members the role of moderator.
3. Provide an initial prompt question to get the discussion
rolling.
4. Use an excerpt from the text to engage students in the
discussion.
5. Debrief at the end of the roll playing to illuminate any key
issues that were revealed in the discussion and any
content area concepts that were clarified.

Using the Data Formatively:

You can assign roles for students
based on the understanding students
have about the topic. Use a checklist
or other tracking sheet to indicate
follow up questions for individual
students or groups of students.

Pause to Apply:

Inside/Outside Circles

How it Works:
1. Prepare prompts that allow for discussion by a pair of
students. Allow time for students to see the questions, jot
down notes, and bring their books to use as a reference.
2. Students stand in two concentric circlesthe inner circle
faces outward; the outward circle faces inward. Students
are facing the person across from them.
3. Ask students to refer to their first prompt and take turns
talking it over. Inside partner responds first
4. Signal for everyones attention. Ask students to thank
their line-mate. Ask the circles(s) to move to the right/left.

Using the Data Formatively:

Steer clear of literal or factual
questions. You want to hear the buzz
of student conversations, opinions,
and personal judgments. Move along
the perimeter of the circle (or stand
on the inside) to listen to the
interactions. Doing so will give you a
feel for the various levels of
understanding as well as provide you
with excerpts on which to focus a
closing discussion.
Pause to Apply:

How it works:
In this strategy, participants are divided into small groups,
gathered around a piece of paper.
1. First, participants will individually think about the question
posed by the teacher.
2. Participants then write down their ideas on their own
section of the paper.
3. Students share ideas to discover common elements, which
are written in the center of the chart paper.

Using the Data Formatively:

Listen to the conversations students
have as they discuss the thinking
behind their answers.

RISE 2.3, 2.8

Placemat Consensus

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.3, 2.4

Three-Sentence Wrap Up

How it works:
1. At the end of content learning, have students summarize
the material in three sentences (or in three words).
2. Have small groups get together to share their summaries.
3. Groups collaborate to write a summary incorporating the
most frequently mentioned ideas.
Adaptations:
Ask students to mix their small groups to compare
summaries. Challenge them to pare the summary down to
fewer sentences or words.
Ask students to add a fourth sentence that addresses the
topics relevance. (e.g. This is important because)

Using the Data Formatively:

Students must be selective in their
responses. Use students responses
to determine which concepts they
fully grasp and which may need
whole-class or small-group review.

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.4

IDEAS FOR MY UPCOMING UNIT

OTHER STRATEGIES TO TRY

Thinking Hats

How it Works:
1. The teacher poses a question in which students will look
at a problem or decision from all angles...generating
possibilities and solutions to solve the problem or come to
a decision.
2. It's a simple mental metaphor. Hats are easy to put on
and to take off. Each hat is a different color which signals
the thinking ingredient. Students can wear the same hat
color at the same time (parallel thinking) or each student
can represent a different hat color.

Using the Data Formatively:

You can assign hats for students
based on the understanding students
have about the topic. Use a checklist
or other tracking sheet to indicate
follow up questions for individual
students or groups of students.

How it Works:
1. Put students in groups of four. Distribute one note card to
each member of the group identifying each person's
unique role (Summarizer, Questioner, Clarifier, Predictor)
2. Have students read a few paragraphs of the assigned text
selection. Encourage them to use note-taking strategies
such as selective underlining or sticky-notes to help them
better prepare for their role in the discussion.
3. At the given stopping point, begin the activity.
4. The roles in the group then switch one person to the right,
and the next selection is read. Students repeat the
process using their new roles. This continues until the
entire selection is read.

Using the Data Formatively:

Throughout the process, the teacher's
role is to guide and nurture the
students' ability to use the four
strategies successfully within the
small group. The teacher's role is
lessened as students develop skill.

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.6, 2.8

Reciprocal Teaching

RISE 2.3

Pause to Apply:

10

Quick Write

RISE 2.3, 2.4

Three 3s in a Row

RISE 2.3, 2.8

How it Works:
1. Select a prompt you would like students to address.
2. Give students a specified amount of time to collect their
thoughts and jot down a response (approximately 3-5
minutes).
3. Follow this up with a Pair-Share, a Networking Session, a
Chalkboard Splash, or another engagement technique.

Using the Data Formatively:

Look for a pattern of misconceptions
or a lack of knowledge in students. If
students exhibit a pattern, take the
opportunity to work with students to
clarify or augment instruction.
Pause to Apply:

NOTE:
Use a word bank to ensure that target vocabulary or concepts are
embedded.
Could be used as an anticipatory or reflective activity.
ADAPTATION: Quick Draw: Students represent their
understanding of an abstract term or concept by representing it
in a drawing.
How it Works:
1. Prepare nine questions based on the content being
learned and type them in a tic-tac-toe template.
2. Students walk around the room asking peers to explain on
answer (only one answer) to them.
3. Students summarize their peers responses in their box.
CAUTION: dont let students write in each others
template, or youll end up with a passive game of passthe-paper.
4. Students find another peer to answer another question
and repeat the process. (Students talk with nine others to
fill in their paper.)

Using the Data Formatively:

Listen to students conversations.

If there is one question that
students struggle to answer,
review the content inherent in
that question. Be sure to include
some higher-order thinking
questions.
Pause to Apply:

NOTE:
This activity could be effectively used at the beginning of a unit of
study to determine what students already know about a topic.

11

One Key Word

RISE 2.3

TPT: It Says, I Say

How it works:
1. After reading or learning about a topic, ask students to
determine what one key word best captures the content.
2. They record that word on a sheet of paper.
3. Follow this up with a Pair-Share, Get Five from Five, or
other activityor ask students to write their reasoning
behind choosing this word.

Using the Data Formatively:

Evaluate the students understanding
of the content by the word they
choose. If a student has a hard time
choosing a word or chooses
something random, follow up with
that student to ensure
understanding.

ADAPTATIONS:
Students could make a top 10 list of nouns/verbs that are
important to the topic
Students brainstorm top three words and then rank the
words in groups

Pause to Apply:

How it Works:
1. Give a student- or teacher-created question or prompt.
2. Students find information (or use supplied information)
that will help answer the question.
3. Students think about what they know about that
information and react.

Using the Data Formatively:

This activity helps students by guiding
them through the process of drawing
inferences from information. Also, it
provides an opportunity to synthesize
the information with their prior
knowledge.
Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.3

12

Impromptu Presentation

RISE 2.3, 2.4

Selected-Response
Hold-Ups

RISE 2.3, 2.4

How it Works:
1. Place students into small groups to develop a
presentation.
2. Give students an area of focus (a certain person, event,
topic) to create the presentation [Art, Song, Story,
Interpretive Dance, Tableaux (Living Pictures)] around.
3. Set a time limit and determine their limitations (must be
silent, can/cannot use props, etc.)
VARIATIONS:
Each small group could have different focus. The activity could be
like charadesthe class must guess the topic during
presentations.
If each group has the same focus, you could pair groups to share
in order to maximize instructional time.

Using the Data Formatively:

Watch as groups create their
presentations to determine the
students who may need additional
support and which may need
enrichment opportunities.

How it Works:
1. Ask the students to think about and discuss their
responses to a set of prepared questions.
2. Before students hold up their cards, they may pair-share
or confer in small groups (optional).
3. Ask students to hold up their card indicating their
response.
4. Students hold up their cards. Select students to share
their rationale for their choice.

Using the Data Formatively:

Use wrong answers as teachable
moments. Provide students with an
opportunity to explain their thinking,
hear opposing responses, and come
to their own conclusions.

Pause to Apply:

Pause to Apply:

Adaptations
Selected response: fact/opinion; branches of government;
types of rock; true/false/true with modifications;
agree/disagree; number cards/multiple choice cards
Whiteboards or desks with dry erase markers (socks to
erase)
Dont have to be premade (students can use scrap paper)
13

Line Ups

How it Works:
1. Prepare prompts that allow for discussion by a pair of
students. Allow time for students to see the questions, jot
down notes, and bring their books to use as a reference.
2. Indicate the neutral zone. Determine if a student may be
neutral or if they must declare a side.
BEWARE! Folding the ends of extreme beliefs together can cause
trouble. It is better to ask the middle of the line to lead the
others to another to end avoid pairing the extremes.

Using the Data Formatively:

This could be used as an activity at
the beginning of the unit for students
to indicate how sure they are of an
answer a classmate has given or a
statement the teacher has made

Pause to Apply:

RISE 2.3
Write Around

RISE 2.3

How it Works:
1. Pose a question or prompt. (It could be as simple as Write
down everything you remember from class today.)
2. Students respond in writing for a specified amount of
timeno talking!
3. Teacher asks students to pass their papers.
VARIABLES:
o Times that students pass papers is variable
o Papers can continue in a circle or back and forth between
to students.
o Students can add on to the thoughts or respond to the
thoughts on the paper
o Build writing stamina by starting with a relatively short
amount of time and slowly increasing that time
o Students can draw and add to drawings as paper is
passed.

Using the Data Formatively:

Look for a pattern of misconceptions
or a lack of knowledge in students. If
students exhibit a pattern, take the
opportunity to work with students to
clarify or augment instruction.

Pause to Apply:

14