Blue Mountain Math

Making Math Fun with Engaging Activities

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Free
  • Videos
  • Links

Quick Assessments

I was going to save this for tomorrow and then call it Tech Tuesday, but I have learned not to procrastinate.  A few weeks ago I was looking for a way to quickly assess my support class without it being formal, and without grading, and make it non threatening to students.  Once upon a time, I had seen students clickers used in the classroom and wanted them desperately.  I even went to a training, and entered every raffle I could find to win a class set.  They are expensive.  I never won.  I am glad.

Then a few weeks ago I stumbled across Plickers.com.  It is free.  It is easy.  It is doable without a lot of training.  It has reports that I can download to record the results if I want. All I had to do it to make a class, enter my students and then print out cards–one for each student.  They look like puzzle pieces, the kids saw them and said “Bar Codes”, which I thought was brilliant.

I didn’t read directions first, I rarely do.  I am bad that way.  So I started printing the cards on whatever paper I had, which was purple.  They print two on a page.

                                                                                
The directions, when I finally looked at them said to print the cards on white card stock, laminate them on low glare or matte finish and give to the students to put in their notebook. Supposedly to carry back and forth to school and bring out when it is time to quiz.  Well, this direction was written by someone who has never taught middle school.  Any paper that leaves my class room, goes into the Bermuda Triangle and never is seen again.  And if by some miracle I did see it again, it would be crumpled, have holes poked it in, etc.  So after I reprinted the class set on white card stock, I wrote students names on the card number assigned to them and put in an envelope.  When we used them, I had a student pass them out and when we were finished I had a student collect them.     I asked a practice question “What is your favorite color” and the choices were Red, Green, Blue, Yellow.  I wanted students to practice with the cards before we actually tried assessing knowledge.  No one in the room likes yellow BTW, but they were fascinated with the cards.  So I let them use my phone and scan my card on the same question to show them how it works.


  Each side of the square or rectangle has a letter A, B, C, D,
printed on it.  These are the answer choices, so I had to ask only multiple choice questions, but that doesn’t bother me because I was trying to get a quick assessment to see if I needed to review sorting rational numbers again or review locating rational numbers on a number line.  This saved me a lot of wasted time because I was convinced that students were having problems with the number line. 
I put the questions on power point and had a number line with 4 points labeled and asked where the square root of 5 was located.  The other question that day was to identify which of the 4 numbers was irrational.  I added 2 questions to the library and didn’t even type the questions in since they were really on power point.  I did type in the answer choices so I couldn’t get confused (I’m confused a lot).  I read the question and the answers and asked the students to look at their cards and pick the answer and hold that side of the card up toward the ceiling.  Then I took out my cell phone where I had the app and scanned all the cards.  It tells me when I have scanned all the cards, I had 21 students in the room and it kept a running total of how many I had scanned.  If I missed someone, I scanned again.  We played with it a bit, to see how far away I could stand, students did need to be reminded to keep their fingers off the dark portion of the card.  Then I immediately could see the results on my phone.  
95% of the students got the number line problem correct, but only 40% could identify an irrational number, so I was really wrong. But instead of wasting time, either reviewing or grading a formal quiz, we quickly moved on after the quiz results.  The kids liked it, they thought of it as a game, so they were relaxed and comfortable instead of being stressed about taking a test or quiz.  And recently when I asked them to do a quick write and tell me what they wanted to see in the classroom to help them learn, one fourth of the class said the “game where we held up the cards, because I felt smart that day”.  I have used this several times since, mainly with my support classes.  It’s a great way to check the warm up answer or to do an exit ticket.  I am in favor of anything that saves time and gives results.  And this did.

Filed Under: activities, checks for understanding Leave a Comment

« Puzzling Math
Teaching to Better Brains »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Categories

Boom Learning

Teachers Pay Teachers

Amazon Disclosure

Blue Mountain Math is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The links that are indicated as "affiliate links" mean I will be paid a small sum at no additional cost to you. Blue Mountain Math uses links to provide a service to the reader about products that have been used.

Latest on Pinterest

  • Practice finding perfect square roots in  a fun new way.  No PREP, NO PRINTING, NO LAMINATING. Just practice, feedback for students and auto grading for teachers. Great for differentiating and works well in centers, stations, as review or homework.  Print
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to practice every day skills like using percents. You can assess their understanding and students can play again to keep improving. This set uses a variety of word problems using percent. This set of Boom Cards features 40 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Boom Cards: Digital Task Cards are great alternatives to those printed, laminated task cards. Infuse your class with technology.  Students love these cards so much, they ask to use at home.  Use in math centers, as individual learning or assign for additi
  • Boom Cards™ are a great way for students to practice every day skills In this deck, students practice finding combination and permutations. This set of Boom Cards features 35 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Students practice using the distributive property, both in distributing and combining like terms, in these 2 puzzles in google slides. There are 2 puzzles--one in each simple level and challenging level. In the simpler level, the outside edges are blank, so if students are having difficulty, have them arrange the pieces so the blank sides are on the outside.
  • Sector Area in a Circle Paper Chain is a fun, engaging  activity that is self-checking, collaborative. Set of 15 problems that need to be cut apart, reassembled in the correct order and fastened together like a chain until the end is reached. Great worksh
  • Great practice, worksheet alternative, formative assessment for students that you can HEAR if they are successful.  No printing, no laminating.  A Lifetime tool for the classroom.
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to finding gross pay by pay periods. This deck has 40 cards for students to practice finding Gross Pay in a variety of ways. For example: Mary makes $400 per week, how much does she make annually or Joe makes $2000 per month, how much does he make weekly. This will help reinforce vocabulary of Gross Pay, Bi-weekly, Bi-Monthly, Semi-monthly, Weeky, Annually and Weekly. This is part of a life skills/ personal finance/ comsumer math curriculum.
  • This is a twisted trivia game where students (either in groups or playing individually with white boards) practice identifying solutions and writing inequalities from graphs. Check out the video preview to see the type of questions included.

Latest on Instagram

Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and mo Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and more tech savvy than people who wear neck ties.....just a thought..... #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I expla My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I explained that National Cat Day is October 29. So Happy Dog Day to all your fur family. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
And for my southern relatives, have some fried chi And for my southern relatives, have some fried chicken with those waffles #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
AT last, a day for those of us who are over a cert AT last, a day for those of us who are over a certain age. Although, the picture does not reflect many of us. We are not sitting with our hands folder, we are still active and making a difference. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed to a lot of talk radio, but it got so negative that I noticed it was influencing my day. Are you a talk radio person and do you notice that? #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are cred Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are credited with the first airplane flight were not funded by the government? The government had funded several others, who failed. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Tuesday?  We could have Fajita Friday each week  So today enjoy the fajitas and think about having them weekly--like tacos. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
We have already used our colored markers and penci We have already used our colored markers and pencils.  Yeah, I love color. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that left handed people have brains t Did you know that left handed people have brains that work differently? Their brains communicates differently and have greater verbal skills....⁣
#teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt

Latest on Facebook

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Type: OAuthException
Copyright © 2025 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.