Did you know InnerOrbit informal assessments are a great way to scaffold student sensemaking?
Informal assessments give you a snapshot of learning in progress—capturing how students approach phenomena and practice 3D sensemaking before they’re ready to show independence.
To make this easier, we recommend four Sensemaking Practice Activities—read on to learn more!
What This Help Article Covers:
🧠 What are Sensemaking Practice Activities?
Sensemaking Practice Activities are a set of structured activities designed to guide informal assessments and scaffold student thinking. These routines are built to:
Build student resilience through sensemaking
Strengthen teacher confidence in facilitating and informally assessing sensemaking
Support instructional goals with easy-to-facilitate, low-stakes activities
Each activity comes step-by-step directions, out-of-this-world extensions, and classroom tips to make prep and facilitation easy!
📅 Question of the Day
What it is:
Students answer one InnerOrbit question a day about a single phenomenon, starting with simple prior-knowledge questions on Monday and building up to a 3D sensemaking question by Friday.
Why use it:
Establish a quick classroom routine for sensemaking
Scaffold thinking from simple recall to complex 3D reasoning
Review and reinforce concepts before a unit or summative assessment
Time needed:
About 5 minutes per day.
📌 Pro Tip: At the end of the week, release scores to students and then hold a quick review where they talk through both correct and incorrect answers and explain their strategies. This builds confidence and normalizes mistakes as part of learning.
📊 SEP Practice Problems
What it is:
Students strengthen their use of Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) with InnerOrbit questions built around phenomena that are not tied to specific performance expectation content.
Why use it:
Gather insights into how well students use SEPs
Preview or practice a focus SEP before a lab, project, or activity
Strengthen SEP proficiency through repeated use
Time needed:
About 15 minutes.
📌 Pro Tip: Use the Dimensions Report to filter by SEP after students complete the activity. This helps you spot where students excelled, where they struggled, and which SEP elements need more practice.
💬 Science Talks
What it is:
Students engage in a structured discussion about a new phenomenon, answering 2D and 3D questions and building shared understanding through collaborative sensemaking.
Why use it:
Familiarize students with new phenomena and question types before formal assessments
Surface student thinking in ways peers can learn from
Encourage students to explain reasoning and build on each other’s ideas
Time needed:
About 20 minutes.
📌 Pro Tip: Project the phenomenon and questions so the whole class has a shared view, but also let students log in on their own devices. This balance anchors everyone while giving students ownership.
🗣️ Transfer Stations
What it is:
Student groups rotate through multiple stations, each with a different phenomenon and 3D sensemaking questions, collaborating to connect ideas across contexts.
Why use it:
Build connections between knowledge, skills, and concepts in different scenarios
Strengthen transfer of learning to new phenomena
Encourage collaboration and confidence through group sensemaking
Time needed:
About 60 minutes.
📌 Pro Tip: Give each group a recorder role to capture answers and reasoning. This helps quieter voices contribute and gives you a clear look at group thinking as you circulate.
Need more help?
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