So What Do They Really Know? Quotes

“Formative assessments nurture hope and say to students, 'You might not get this yet, but you will. Here is something else you can try that might help you understand and improve.' Formative assessment empowers teachers and students because it gives them specific information about individual performance. When teachers share the information with students, students have a concrete way to improve.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Sometimes I put a star in the right-hand corner to signal that this paper has thinking on it that I might want to share in a mini-lesson the next day.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Discussion Anchor Chart Ways to discuss Take turns sharing. Ground your group members in the article by sharing a line from the text that struck you. Share your thinking by reading what you annotated in the margins. Before letting the next person share, give your group members an opportunity to respond to your comments. Group members might agree or disagree with you. They might ask a question or piggyback on something you said. When you have talked and your group has responded, ask, “Who wants to go next?”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Anyone who doesn’t have a question, meet me at the table in the front.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“After about four minutes of modeling what I want students to do on their own, I release the class to choose an article for themselves that they think will address a question they have. Students head to the table at the front of the room where the articles are arranged.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“put my copy on the document camera so students can see how I read and annotate as I go.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Supplementary Articles for Immigration Study Alonso, Oswald, and Katherine Corcoran. 2010. “14-Year-Old: Mexican Drug Gang Made Me Behead 4.” Denverpost.com, December 3. Alonzo, Monica. 2010. “Seized! Inside the Brutal World of American’s Kidnapping Capital: Phoenix, Arizona.” Westword, August 12–18. Flores, Aileen B. 2010. “Separated from Family.” El Paso Times, September 12. Gergen, David. 2010. “A Smart Exception.” Parade, June 13. Glick, Daniel. 2010. “Illegal, but American.” Denver Post, August 20. Latimer, Clay. 2010. “Do Immigrants Reduce Crime?” Coloradoan, September. McCombs, Brady. 2010. “July Proved Deadly Month for Migrants.” Arizona Daily Star, August 3. Navarrette, Ruben, Jr. 2010. “Politics Interrupts Youthful Dreams.” Denverpost.com, August 29. Vaughan, Kevin. 2010. “Mexican Cop Slain; Probed Lake Case.” Denver Post, October 13. Vedantam, Shankar. 2010. “ICE Set to Let More Go Free.” Washington Post, August 28. Whaley, Monte. 2007. “Swift Raid Effects Still Felt.” Denverpost.com, November 1. Wilkinson, Tracy. 2010. “Mexican Drug Trafficker Blamed in Killing of Second Mayor.” Los Angeles Times, August 30. Zakin, Susan. 2000. “The Hunters and the Hunted: The Arizona-Mexico Border Turns Into the 21st Century Frontier.” High Country News, October 9.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Options for Debriefing: Create a class anchor chart that synthesizes thinking that students will need to go back to over time. Ask students to “turn and talk” to articulate their thinking. Next, have them write in their journals to solidify new thinking. Or reverse the order: write to synthesize, and then talk to articulate. Allow students time to reflect on the learning target by writing in their response journals. Have students write a lingering question on a sticky note to help you figure out the direction for the next day. Have students share orally how their thinking has changed since the beginning of class. How are they smarter now than they were ninety minutes ago? Have students share what they created during work time with a partner or a group. This allows students to see multiple models of a product and can help them build a vision of high-quality work.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Stiggins’s Seven Practices of Assessment FOR Learning Where am I going? Provide a clear and understandable vision of the learning target. Use examples and models of strong and weak work. Where am I now? Offer regular descriptive feedback. Teach students to self-assess and set goals. How can I close the gap? Design lessons to focus on one aspect of quality at a time. Teach students focused revision. Engage students in self-reflection, and let them keep track of and share their learning.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“In the book Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing It Right, Using It Well (2004), Rick Stiggins et al. offer seven strategies for assessing learning that I have begun to layer into my daily workshop (Figure 4.4).”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Before students leave, I ask for an exit ticket. I have students record on a sticky note one question they have about the book.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Hmm. I wonder if you got stuck somewhere in the last twenty pages, because you’re the first one to complain that this book is boring. What’s the last part you remember?”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

“Okay, you guys, look up here. Omar did something good readers do.”
― Cris Tovani, So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning