Questions Addressed
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- How can I tell if students really understand?
- How do I get reluctant students to answer questions?
- How do I know if everyone gets it, not just those I call on?
Why It Works
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- Planning checkpoints* allows us to align formative assessment with content and language objectives.
- Strategies to check for student understanding throughout the lesson help correct misconceptions quickly and deepen thinking.
- Students give higher-quality responses when teachers provide think time and allow students to talk through their initial thinking.
Suggested Strategies
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- Checkpoints*
- Tiered Questions
- Response Signals
- Response Cards
- Exit Ticket*
- Oral Scaffolding
- Teach Back*
- Circulate
- Pause, Prompt, and Praise
- Running Roster*
- Instead of "I Don't Know"
- Think Time
- Cold Call*
- Right is Right*
- Stretch It*
- Ask Three Before Me
* = PSD effective practices
How to Implement This Routine
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Predict student confusion and plan questions.
As you plan your lesson, anticipate where students may become confused or make procedural mistakes and build in checkpoints. Plan tiered questions aligned to the learning standard, including questions at the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Prepare materials (e.g., exit tickets* and response cards).
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Check understanding of instructions.
Have students list or summarize instructions to a peer or repeat after you in a choral response. For multi-step instructions, provide oral scaffolding then call on students at random to teach back*. Make compliance visible; for instance, ask students to point or hold up their papers. (See Turn the Light On for further suggestions for making instructions more comprehensible for students.)
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Use response signals.
Response signals allow you to check the pulse of the group quickly. Signals range from a simple Fist-to-Five to response cards, white boards, and tech checks*. When assessing individual understanding, give a countdown then have students display their answers all at once. To assess the whole group, ask pairs or small groups to confer first then signal in unison.
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Monitor students closely and address confusion.
While students interact with you and with peers, look for the “tells” that indicate a student is confused or disagrees. Address confusion patiently and as privately as possible. Circulate as students discuss and write. If they are stuck, use Pause, Prompt, and Praise to get them to the next step. Make notes (e.g., in a running roster*) to remind yourself who needs re-‐teaching or more scaffolding. Clarify how students can give and get help when you are helping another student (using strategies such as Ask Three Before Me and Seidlitz’ Instead of “I Don’t Know” prompts).
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Provide think time and talk time before cold calling.
When orally assessing student understanding in a whole-group discussion, pose and post the question and give think time. After allowing students to discuss with a partner, randomize responses by cold calling* a handful of students to share then ask if anyone has a different idea.
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Extend superficial responses.
For whole-class discussion of higher-order questions, implement Right is Right* and Stretch It* techniques to extend limited answers and correct inaccurate concepts or language.
