As a classroom teacher, I was always looking for quick and easy ways to monitor my students’ understanding. I didn’t want to constantly conduct a formal assessment to see where each child was at. Of course, there was a time for privacy folders, a quiet room, and a test, but that wasn’t the case for every single day.
One year I developed a Math Assessment Binder that had 40 quick math assessments. One thing I stood by then that I still stand by today is students don’t need to answer 50 questions to show me that they do or do not understand a concept. I can easily check for understand with just a handful of problems. My Math Assessment Binder helped me do just that.
Click HERE to go straight to the product!
Here’s how I set up my binder. I got a regular notebook and a set of page protectors.
I slid each quick math assessment inside of the page protector and kept a thin dry erase marker on hand. This binder stayed at my teacher table for math small groups and stations.
How did I use the binder and the assessments? Well, I called students back to my table either individually or during a math station rotation. If we were studying coins that week, I gave the student a dry erase marker and went through one of the counting coin sheets. If you notice below I even have two students working at one time. One student was identifying the coins and one student was counting a selection of coins. I was able to easily differentiate and notice within seconds if the students understood the concept or not. I could reteach the skill immediately after the quick math assessment. I always asked myself:
It didn’t take pages of worksheets or a stapled assessment for me to know if my students were grasping a math concept. It took a matter of minutes.
I think a lot of times as teachers we overcomplicate things. We want all the bells and whistles. And it truly comes from a good place. We just want our students to succeed. With the Math Binder I just kept things simple. I always had it on hand. I could pull it out at any given moment. I didn’t need to make class sets of every single page. I didn’t always need a grade in the grade book. Sometimes I just needed to see right then and there if there was concept mastery or not. And the Math Assessment Binder provided just that!
Don’t want to forget this idea or free sample? Save the image below to your Pinterest Boards!
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
