The ABC’s of Informative (Possible Pre-assessments and Formative Assessments) For a Unit on Owls www.whooooknew.com

1. The ABC’s of Informative (Possible Pre-assessments and Formative Assessments) For a Unit on Owls www.whooooknew.com

2. Most of the ideas here can be used for ANY topic of study. Some have specific examples about owls, others are just general ideas that could be adapted to a unit on owls/owl pellets.

3. Alphabet Graffiti (pre- and formative) A • In groups of 3, have students brainstorm ANYTHING they know about owls and owl pellets. • Have students write the ABC list (on the left) on Chart Paper, with OWLS in the box on the top. • Assign the roles of RECORDER, REPORTER, AND SPY. • Give the students 2 minutes to brainstorm as many words or very short phrases about owls/owl pellets (RECORDER records the words on the chart). • (Example: S = Silent Flight, P = Pellets, B = Barn Owls). • After 2 minutes, the SPIES can look at other groups’ chart paper to get ideas for the letters they are missing. • They have 1 minute to get ideas from other groups. • Next, the group discusses what they would like the REPORTER to tell the class the most important things they know about owls. • Conduct a class discussion. This can be done as a pre-assessment, then later as a formative assessment.

4. Anticipation Guides (pre- and formative) A Focused on key learning targets, Anticipation Guides list 1-6 (less for primary grades, more for upper elementary) true and false statements. Teachers lead students through a discussion surrounding the statements, with students sharing their rationale, prior knowledge, or current thinking about each statement before marking their predictions.

5. Bump in the Road or Fogginess(formative) B • Write down something from the lesson that they find confusing or difficult. • Collect responses and review, OR • Form small groups and ask students to share their “bumps” and seek clarification. • This could be used as an “Exit Card.”

6. Crumpled Question Toss(formative) C • Each student writes a question about something discussed during the unit (or questions are pre-written). Here are some good pre-written questions on owls: • What do we know about the digestive system of the owl? • What important job does the owl have related to the rodent population? • What could happen if there were no owls to eat the rodents? • What could happen if there were no rodents for the owls to eat? • What happens to owl pellets after they are expelled? • What happens to the owl when it dies? • Crumple paper and gently toss to another. • Open crumpled paper and answer the question. • Re-crumple and toss. • Add any needed additional information. • Re-crumple and toss a third time. • Final student makes changes/additions, the presents the question/answers with class.

7. Card Trick(formative) C This is just a way to have students report out after a Think/Pair/Share. • Each student picks a playing card. • When the teacher asks a question or gives a problem, discuss it with your partner. • The teacher will say something like, “all red cards stand” or “all Kings stand.” • The teacher will pick someone who is standing to respond.

8. Dry-Erase Back to Back Boards(formative) D • Pairs of students each get a mini-white board and stand back-to-back. • The teacher asks a question and students each answer on their individual board. • When the teacher says “turn around” they show each other their answers and discuss.

9. Entrance or Exit Cards(pre- or formative) E • Students write a response to a teacher generated question on a slip of paper. • After reviewing results, teacher can review and re-teach if necessary. • Entrance cards – questions related to upcoming learning. • Exit cards – questions related to completed instruction. • Variation – use same question for both Entrance and Exit.

10. Exit Card (formative) • Name: • Question: What kind of animals are found in the owl pellet? Not at this time YES Rate yourself: 1 = high confidence 2 = medium confidence 3 = I’m not sure on this Would you help someone else learn this?

11. Four Corners(formative) F • Teacher posts questions, concepts, or vocabulary words in each of the corners of the room (Example: Consumer – Producer – Predator – Prey). • Each student is assigned a corner. Once in the corner, the students discuss the focus of the lesson in relation to the question, concept, or words. • Students may report out or move to another corner and repeat. • After students have moved, as a writing assignment they should be encouraged to reflect on changes in opinion or what they have learned.

12. Graphic Organizers or Learning Logs(pre- or formative) G

13. Human Graph(pre-assessment or formative) H • This can be done using the Anticipation Guide questions. • Students record their results on paper (they do not put their names on the paper) • The teachers asks students to form a circle with their papers in-hand. • The papers are crumpled up and thrown in the middle of the circle. • Students pick up someone else’s paper and then the teacher has students form a “human graph” with the results. This works well, because the results are anonymous and the teacher can then discuss the results in a more general way without pointing the finger at students who do not yet know or understand the concepts being taught/learned. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Agree Disagree

14. Idea Spinner(formative) Predict Explain I Evaluate Free Summarize • The teacher creates a spinner marked into 4 or 5 quadrants and labeled “Predict, Explain, Summarize, Evaluate” and “Free.” • After new material is presented, the teacher spins the spinner and asks students to answer a question based on the location of the spinner. For example, if the spinner lands in the “Summarize” quadrant, the teacher might say, “List the key concepts just presented.”

15. Journal Entry(formative) J • Writing done to encourage reflection or exploration of ideas or interest. • Questions for reflection are often given by the teacher. Sample questions for the unit on owls/owl pellets are shown below. • How does the formation of owl pellets increase an owl’s chances of survival in an ecosystem? • How many different trophic levels are represented in an owl’s food web? • Why is the quantity of prey important to the owl’s diet?

16. Key Concepts(formative) K • Explain the key concept “_interdependence__.” • Give a definition (in your own words), draw a symbol/picture to represent it, give an example of the concept, and a big idea to go with it. Definition Big Idea Interdependence The way in which living organisms depend on each other to remain alive, grow and reproduce. Species depend on one another and on the environment for survival. Picture/symbol Examples Predator/Prey relationship Commensalism Parasitism Mutualism

17. Letter to Principal/Parent(formative) L • Write a short letter to the principal/parent telling him or her all of the ideas you have learned about this week about owls and owl pellets.

18. Magnets(formative) M

19. Instead of Magnets, Use Post-its

20. Note-Taking Specialist(formative) N • Switch notes with your partner. • Look at your partner’s notes and enhance his/her notes by underlining key terms/ideas, drawing symbols for key ideas, adding in any important notes that are missing, asking questions about key ideas.

21. ONION Circle orOutside/Inside Circle(formative) O • Inside and outside (concentric) circles of students face each other. • Within each pair of facing students, students quiz each other with questions they have written or problems they have created. • Outside circle moves to create new pairs. • Repeat.

22. O-W-L(Pre and formative) O Adapted from: Ansberry, K. & Morgan, E. (2010). Picture-perfect science lessons: Using children’s books to guide inquiry, 3-6. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

23. P-M-I(formative) P

24. Quick Write/Quick Draw (pre-assessment or formative) Q Draw Draw the food chain or food web of the owl and explain the flow of energy in the food chain or food web. Explain

25. Rock, Paper, Scissors(formative) R • Another way to do report out a Think/Pair/Share as you discuss some aspect about owls and/or owl pellets. • Listen to the question or the problem the teacher asks and discuss it with your partner. • Do “Rock, Paper, Scissors” with your partner. • The winner stands and the teacher will choose one or more of the winners to answer the question. Repeat several times.

26. Spinner – Used with Think/Pair/Share(formative) S • Students number off from 1 - 8. • In response to a teacher prompt or question, students THINK, • Then PAIR (discuss with a partner), • And then SHARE ideas with the whole class – only those whose number is called (using the spinner) share.

27. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

28. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

29. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

30. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

31. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

32. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

33. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

34. 1 2 8 3 7 4 6 5 SPIN

35. Tear and Share Activity(formative) T • Students are given a piece of paper with 4 questions written on it. They answer all 4 questions. • Then, students are assigned to a cooperative group of 4 students. Students in the group number off from 1-4. • Each student tears his/her paper into 4 pieces and gives the #1 question to person #1, #2 question to person #2, etc. • Each student reads the 4 responses silently, then summarizes all 4 responses orally for the group – starting with person #1 who summarizes the #1 responses. Continue to #2, etc. 1 1 1 1 2 • Most of these owl pellets came from owls from the Rocky Mountain area. Would you expect to find the same results from barn owls in New York? Why or why not? • What are the most important prey items for the barn owl? 3 4 • List and explain 3 adaptations that owls have for hunting silently at night. Do you think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owl's? Why or why not?

36. Understanding Check with Signaling(pre-assessment or formative) U 4 Fingers – Very Well 3 Fingers – Well 2 Fingers – Somewhat Well 1 Fingers – Not Very Well Fist – Not At All

37. Informal Formative Assessment:Red, Yellow, Green - Cups RED: Show red if you… • feel I have not explained this clearly; • still have many questions; • can’t work without assistance; or • do not understand what you are supposed to do. YELLOW: Show yellow if you… • have a question; • need more information; or • need more time to think. GREEN: Show green if you… • really understand; • can explain what you know to the class; or • are okay if I call on you.

39. Venn or H-Diagram(formative) V Compare the owl pellet and an eagle pellet.

40. Whiteboard or Chart Paper Champs(formative) W • The class is divided into 5-6 teams. • The whiteboard/chart paper is divided into a large space for each team. • Each person needs a writing utensil. • When the teacher says “Go,” all team members rush to their area and write or draw (symbols/pictures) to represent key ideas in the current topic of study. (It will be crowded!) • At the end of 3 minutes, each team must present 2-3 ideas from their whiteboard or chart paper creation.

41. Websites – Wallwisher(pre-assessment or formative) • http://www.wallwisher.com/

42. X Marks the Spot(pre-assessment and formative) X • Have students track their progress on the targets. X X

43. Yes/No Cards(pre-assessment or formative) Y • Students make a large index card with Yes (or "Got It") on one side, No ("No clue") on the other side. • Teachers ask an introductory or review question. • Students who know the answer hold up the Yes card, if they might have the answer they hold the No card. • Then do a quick Think/Pair/Share. • This short assessment can give a quick look at what the group is ready for/understands/'gets'. • Example: Use when introducing vocabulary words that students need as a knowledge base for a specific unit of study.

44. ZAP Game (Like Password)(formative for a vocabulary check) Z • One student looks at the screen – one does not look at the screen. • The student looking at the screen gives clues to the student not looking at the screen. • As soon as someone “gets” the word, the team raises their hands. • Other teams quietly say “ZAP.” • Do 6 words, then switch partners.

45. A Vocabulary Review Activity ZAP (Like Password)

46. Predator is… The

47. Adaptation is… The

48. Prey is… The

49. Interdependence is… The

50. Ecosystem is… The