How to Use Math Exit Slips to Determine Intervention Needs, Before it's too Late!

 

Hello all you math workshop lovers! 

I absolutely love math workshop too. I've read so many workshop 'how to' teacher books and I'm constantly reflecting on ways to improve workshop instruction. There are lots of benefits to the workshop style of teaching, but one drawback can be finding quality formative assessment. 

Assessment seems to be an issue that comes up a lot with my colleagues. Teachers need to know what their students understand and what they need to practice.  Sometimes this is hard to assess in a workshop environment when students are working collaboratively and independently. 

So today I'm here to talk with you about one of the ways you can successfully formatively assess your students during workshop.

In true math workshop format, students are learning and discussing new skills during a short teacher led mini-lesson. Students then move into the workshop portion of the class to practice (either previous skills or the new skill they were taught that day) and the teacher works with small groups of students. Since students are authentically practicing skills (often without teacher support), they are hopefully growing and learning from their mistakes, but how do we know for sure? 

You can collect notebooks to assess student progress, and work with small strategy and intervention groups as well as confer with individuals to assess progress. But sometimes you need a quick way to spot check who has a skill and who doesn't yet. 

Enter The Exit Slip 

This little guy saved my life, literally. No more making up silly assignments just to get grades. (Gulp, confession time) And no more wondering who had a skill and who didn't.  This guy truly assessed my student's understanding each day (bonus) and could be entered into my grade book as a grade (double bonus). Exit slips became a routine at the end of math workshop time daily in my classroom.  

I loved exit slips so much that I ended up creating one for almost every school day.  They can be easily printed and placed in a binder to grab from all year long!  

Keep reading for some surprise math exit slip freebies at the end of this post! 

Click HERE to see ALL the 3rd through 6th grade math exit slips in my TPT store.

As mentioned earlier, math exit slips are designed to bring closure to your math lessons. These slips have fewer than four tasks to complete and should take students approximately 5 minutes to finish. 

You can collect the slips and your formative assessment needs are met. In just minutes you can quickly form piles of students who have a concept mastered, who are almost there, and who need intervention. You can use this data to plan your instruction for the next day. You'll instantly know who can move on or not, and who you'll need to check in with for extra practice. 

Exit slips will ensure 'No student gets left behind' in your classroom!!!

How did I create these exit slips? 

I created them based on each unit I taught. I'm a firm believer in backward design. Before I began a new unit, whether it was informational writing, character development, or order of operations, I started with the common core standards and created the summative (final) assessment (if one wasn't already provided by my district). (See my math assessment packs HERE) 

Then, I worked backward. I started by breaking the assessment into three or four chunks.  I created formative assessments to give along the way to inform my instruction and guide my intervention needs. 

Next, I broke each formative assessment into chunks which became lessons. Lastly, I create an exit ticket assessment for each lesson. Yes, I said EACH lesson. Exit slips are short and sweet. These are only a half page and usually consist of 2 to 4 questions. You can print them, copy them, and instantly have your daily lessons organized and ready to go.

Why use exit slips? 

Not only are they quick and easy to grade, but most importantly they are quick and easy to gather student data. They only take about 5 minutes for students to complete, and they tell you instantly who is ready to move on and who needs more practice. True formative assessment! Plus, double whammy, grades for the grade book. 

Don't wait for the big test to figure out who doesn't get it! With frequent math exit slips you can quickly assess your students and know immediately who has it and who doesn't. 

Math exit slips are a MUST in every best practice classroom!

If you'd like to try out using exit tickets in your classroom - here's a  Decimals FREEBIE  and Place Value FREEBIE from my Decimal Numbers Assessment Pack and Place Value Assessment Pack.  I hope you find them useful.

 

 

I would love to hear how you are already using exit slips in your classroom!!

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