Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning

7/8 Science teacher review: this is my go-to book when I'm writing lesson plans and need new ideas. The first section of the book is your "typical" teacher's wordy text that nobody ever reads. Then, the magic happens. LOTS of ideas to get the kids working in small groups, partner share-outs, simple graphic organizers, etc. LOVE IT. They are all numbered and easy to find again within the book. Quick explanations, some with student samples. I have a student teacher right now who also loves this book; he is planning on purchasing it.I also would like to add that any of the activities in this book are EASILY adaptable for any subject, pretty much any grade. My L.A colleagues like this book as well.

Whether you call these Formative Assessment or not they are great activities to engage your students during class. These make your lessons more enjoyable and entertaining for you and your students. At least they did for me. These activities are great ways to break up a lecture and get input on student learning at the same time. Most of these activities work for other subject areas as well. These activities are worth a look anyway. Give them a try. . . What can it hurt? Just so you know, I was a high school biology teacher for 25 years. I incorporated a number of these "Assessments" into my lectures the last several years (+/-) that I taught.

VERY useful as a middle school science teacher. Keeley very succinctly explains each FA, its purpose and when to use it in the teaching cycle. Seriously, all 75 FAs are useful to some degree; some more than others! Each FA also works equally well as simply an assignment, not necessarily a pre- or post-assessment...thus the book is really 75 ideas for higher-order thinking science assignments. But the greatest benefit of the book is in fact how convincingly she shows how easy and important it is to continually assess. My only "complaint" is that I would have loved a couple of examples to go with each FA. In many cases, she offers these; but I suppose that is the content of her other books.

Every science teacher at any level should have this book in their library. There is no reason for a teacher to "recreate the wheel" when trying to teach. This book is filled with useful examples that can be put into use immediately or modified, or enhanced or used as a springboard for a new formative assessment. As a teacher for 41 years, I believe that this is the kind of reference that should be part of a school's PD and every teacher's personal library. Enjoy!

Bought for class but was really happy with the informative content. I still have this book years later and would not think to get rid of it

I don't know why this is tagged as "Science". Except for a couple of assessments that are specific to data analysis, this book is a gold mine of assessments that can be used in any classroom. The assessments can be done with few materials (no using your ticks to copy 150 worksheets!), are clearly explained and are relatively quick to use while still giving you clear feedback on what the students know. The assessments are varied enough that you can find ones that are great for the very beginning of the unit, in the middle and as the students approach mastery. What makes this book really worth the price, though, is the first few chapters where Keeley explains how best to use formative assessment and why formative assessment is so necessary for student learning. The other teacher who put me onto this book and I agree that we now have a much clearer understanding on the role formative assessment, when used deliberately, has on student achievement. This book should be required for all teachers--and the principals who are assessing them! (And seriously, don't skip the first chapters!)

This book has wonderful and useful ideas--I personally have used several in my room. That said, the format is cumbersome and poorly done. I would love to see this reformatted into a formative assessment per page.

Not the book with the SCIENCE PROBES that I thought it was. Those are ready to copy.Worth the $, Page Rocks.

This is my new teaching bible