How to Make Formative Assessment Fun for Students

Would you like to try something new with a free tool that allows you to make formative assessment fun for students?

Formative assessment is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures conducted by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. It typically involves qualitative feedback (rather than scores) for both student and teacher that focuses on the details of content and performance. – Wikipedia

Use Quizlet to make formative assessment fun for students.

Quizlet is a free tool that allows you to create free review games and formative assessments. It's easy to sign up, simple to use, and works with most types of technology and mobile devices. Turning a traditional quiz into an interactive review game engages students and makes the assessment process much more fun for students and teachers alike.

After you register your free account, you'll be able to create your own study sets — materials for your students to study and be tested on. But you'll also have access to the millions of study sets already uploaded publicly by other Quizlet users. For example, let's look at the search results for one keyword, photosynthesis. For just that one term there are already 500+ study sets available that you could use with your students immediately (of course, you'll want to review the info yourself to make sure it fits your needs before using it). This is a huge time saver when looking to create review or test materials for the classroom!

To learn more in-depth about utilizing Quizlet, take a look at this online training video Structured Review Activities Using Free Web Tools and Mobile Devices. This video explores Quizlet, and explains how to make your own review activities in a few simple steps. Join experienced tech trainer David Faure as he demonstrates not only how to create flashcards, but also how to use some of the more advanced features in Quizlet, such as adding photos to flashcards and making self-grading tests. In addition, he will illustrate how easy it is to use these with other free web apps on an iPad or an Android mobile phone.

Have you used Quizlet with your students yet? How did they like it? Let me know your feedback in a comment on this article.

Kimber Thompson is a Lead Moderator for SimpleK12 webinars and a Contributing Editor for SimpleK12.com. She writes frequently about education topics, and is passionate about tools and techniques that inspire young learners. You may reach her with ideas and comments at editor@simplek12.com.