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Informal Assessments with InnerOrbit
Informal Assessments with InnerOrbit

Do you want students to explore phenomena and 3D questions, but you need to provide scaffolds? Check out these informal assessment ideas!

Erin Cooke avatar
Written by Erin Cooke
Updated over a week ago

InnerOrbit's Phenomena and 3D Questions are GREAT independent assessments where students are formally demonstrating mastery, without any scaffolds.

But, did you know that the same Phenomena and 3D Questions can be used more INFORMALLY? Meaning, you can provide a scaffolded experience for students to explore a new phenomena and engage with the 3 dimensions using the exact same assessment items!

We call these scaffolded experiences "informal assessments" because students are not formally (independently) demonstrating mastery, yet you can gather anecdotal data on how students are progressing toward the standard while exposing them to new phenomena and 3D questions.

Here are 3 informal assessment ideas with InnerOrbit:

  1. Phenomenon Discussion

  2. Transfer Stations

  3. Question of the Day

Phenomenon Discussion

What: Students explore a novel phenomenon, describing what they notice and wonder, to practice transferring classroom learning.

Preparation:

  1. Search by a standard/keyword or use the "Browse By" tiles.

  2. Select ONE phenomenon in the "Build From Phenomena and Questions" section.

  3. Select ONE question.

    1. This can be a question to discuss OR just a placeholder question so you're able to create an assessment in your Library with the phenomenon.

  4. Click "View Your Assessment" then Title and Save.

Facilitation:

  1. Go to your Library Tab.

  2. On the assessment tile, click the 3 dots.

    1. click Preview

  3. Introduce the phenomenon by:

    1. Read aloud the whole phenomenon (or have volunteers read aloud).

    2. Focus in only on one figure (click on figure to expand whole screen).

  4. Ask students:

    1. What do you notice?

    2. What do you wonder?

    3. How is this phenomenon/situation/figure similar or different to ideas we have been exploring in class?

Transfer Stations

What: Introduce students to new phenomena and practice 3D questions as a small group activity.

Preparation:

  1. Select standard(s) you want students to practice. Options include:

    1. Pick 1 standard, each station is a different phenomenon for that standard.

    2. Pick 3-5 standards from a unit, each station is a different standard.

  2. Search by a standard/keyword or use the "Browse By" tiles

  3. Select a premade assessment or build your own assessment.

    1. (Learn more about premade formatives and premade summatives.)

  4. Select questions for this one station activity.

  5. Click "View Your Assessment" then Title and Save (this is one station activity).

6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each station.

7. When all station activities have been built, go to your "Library" tab.

8. For each activity, click the 3 dots and select PRINT

Facilitation:

  1. Place printed copies at different stations throughout the room.

    1. You might want one copy of each activity per group OR just one copy and students have paper to take notes.

  2. Assign roles for each group, like: reader, note taker, timer, etc.

  3. After each group goes through all stations...

    1. Discuss answers to questions.

    2. Ask: How is this phenomenon/situation/figure similar or different to ideas we have been exploring in class?

    3. If all stations are the same standard but different phenomena, ask: How were these phenomenon/situations all similar to each other?

Question of the Day

What: Explore a phenomenon through one question a day that build in rigor throughout the week.

Preparation:

  1. Search by a standard/keyword or use the "Browse By" tiles.

  2. Select ONE phenomenon in the "Build From Phenomena and Questions" section.

  3. Select 1 question for each level of rigor below (learn more about question rigor here).

    1. Look at the tags at the top of each question!

      1. Monday: Prior-Knowledge Question

      2. Tuesday: Core Content Question

      3. Wednesday: Content and Concepts (2D) Question

      4. Thursday: Content and Practices (2D) Question

      5. Friday: Sensemaking (3D) Questions

  4. Once you have 5 questions selected, one from each level of rigor, Click "View Your Assessment" then Title and Save (this is one station activity).

Facilitation:

  1. Go to your Library Tab.

2. On the assessment tile, click the 3 dots and click PREVIEW.

3. On Monday, read through the whole phenomenon and ask:

  • What do you notice?

  • What do you wonder?

4. Also on Monday, read and discuss the "Prior knowledge" question.

5. For each day after, quickly review the phenomenon and progress to the next question to discuss as a class.

  • Tuesday: Core Content Question

  • Wednesday: Content and Concepts (2D) Question

  • Thursday: Content and Practices (2D) Question

  • Friday: Sensemaking (3D) Questions

6. On Friday, ask:

  • How is this phenomenon/situation/figure similar or different to ideas we have been exploring in class?

Need help?

Chat with us through the purple chat box in the bottom right of your screen (it's real teachers on the other side!) or email support@innerorbit.com.

We'd love to hear from you :)

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