Check+for+Understanding

=Overview= On this wikipage, you will learn about a formative assessment strategy called “checking for understanding.” This assessment technique is important to master if you believe that you should provide students with many different ways to receive feedback //__**during or immediately after**__// the lesson as opposed to finding out what they know at the end of a unit.

=What Does it Mean to Check for Understanding?= Teachers, who check their students’ understanding during a lesson, can use any number of formative assessment tools to find out what the students are getting out of a lesson. Fisher and Frey (2007) explicitly state that “checking for understanding” is NOT a final exam or state achievement test; it is an assessment technique that should be conducted every 15 minutes DURING a lesson (2007). Once you understand when to check for understanding, the next question is: //__**How can you do it**__//?

**Choose a "Checking for Understanding" Formative Assessment Strategy**
The West Virgina Department of Education (WVDOE) has compiled a decent list of formative assessment strategies that you can review. Once you have reviewed them, please select one to use. >
 * Here is their list - click here -

How to use a **"Checking for Understanding" Formative Assessment Strategy - an example**
I would like to provide you with an example of how I would use "Checking for Understanding" in a math lesson about equivalent fractions. There are two STUDENT actions I would check. 1.) **Use of the Manipulative**: I would like to see if students can can use the virtual manipulative, shown in Figures 1, 2 & 3, to produce equivalent fractions. In order to make equivalent fractions, they must:
 * 1) Use the arrow tool located below the fractional circle to change the number of total pieces in the circle until the lines "line up" - see Figures 1 & 2
 * 2) Count the total number of pieces in the circle and type that number in the space reserved for the denominator. In Figure 2 the number would be 10.
 * 3) Count the red-shaded pieces and type that number in the space reserved for the numerator. In Figure 2 the number would be 6.
 * 4) Choose the CHECK button to receive corrective feedback (Moreno & Mayer, 2007) - see Figure 3.

|| **Equivalent Fraction Example** || ||  ||
 * **Non-Equivalent Fraction Example**
 * [[image:teachwithvideo/Screen Shot 2014-01-13 at 7.31.36 AM.png width="499" height="315" caption="Figure 1: Non-equivalent Fractions"]] || [[image:teachwithvideo/Screen Shot 2014-01-13 at 7.03.36 AM.png width="490" height="307" caption="Figure 2: Equivalent Fractions"]] ||
 * **Corrective Feedback**
 * [[image:teachwithvideo/Screen Shot 2014-01-13 at 7.40.50 AM.png width="473" height="298" caption="Figure 3: Corrective Feedback Provided by the NLVM"]] ||  ||

2.) **Self-Assessment:** From the WVDOE list above, I will use the self assessment strategy called the Windshield Check to assess my students' understanding of //__**producing**__// equivalent fractions using the NLVM manipulative shown in the figures above.

The //__**Windshield Check**__//, which uses the analogy of a windshield, can be used to help students self-assess what they know about the concept of equivalent fractions: The criteria they would use are:
 * CLEAR = I get it! I thoroughly understand the concept.
 * BUGGY = I understand it for the most part, but a few things are still unclear.
 * MUDDY = I don’t get it at all.

I could have the students self-assess on a wikispace discussion board or on a piece of paper. For this lesson, I will have the students use paper and write CLEAR, BUGGY or MUDDY and a sentence to explain what they understand or do not understand.

Write Your Checking for Understanding Procedure on the Lesson Plan Template

 * 1) You can add your "checking for understanding" strategy to section 7 of your lesson plan by finding your wikipage (links will open in new tab, close the tab when you are finished adding your strategy)
 * 2) Your lesson plan is on //__**THIS**__// wikipage - click here -