3-2-1 Summary-Formative Assessment

Looking for a new way to assess for learning? Here’s one that is easy to use and easily modified to fit the needs and grade level of your classroom. The 3-2-1 summary is a strategy that allows students to be reflective, while providing teachers with clear evidence of understanding and/or misunderstanding at the end of a lesson. This strategy can be adapted to any topic or content area. The numbers, 3-2-1, refer to how many of each kind of summary statement or response you are asking students to provide. For example:

·         3 facts I learned

·         2 questions I have

·         1 personal connection

Here are some examples of what this could look like in the classroom:

This sample is from the blog Create-Teach-Share

The possibilities are endless, and the responses students give will allow you to assess for student learning to guide future instruction and/or student groupings. The more focused the prompts are, the better the assessment will be to guide next steps.

Here are a few very focused examples for using the 3-2-1 strategy from the book “25 Quick Formative Assessment Strategies for a Differentiated Classroom” by Judith Dodge:

Math:

• 3 strategies for solving word problems
• 2 important things to look for when solving word problems
• 1 solution to a provided word problem

Science:

• 3 parts and functions of a plant
• 2 ways to keep plants healthy
• 1 way the earth would be affected if there were no plants

This strategy elicits student learning by nature, but remember it is only formative assessment if and only if evidence of learning is elicited and used by the teacher and or student to inform next steps.