20 formative assessment examples you can use this week
Formative assessment is any check whose results change what you teach next. Here are 20 examples, grouped by when you use them, each with how to run it and what it tells you.
Updated October 2026
During the lesson
Quick checks that show the whole class at once, while you can still change the next ten minutes.
1. Hinge question
At the turning point of the lesson, ask one multiple-choice question where each wrong option matches a specific misconception. Everyone answers at the same moment.
What it tells you: Whether to move on, and if not, exactly which wrong idea to address.
2. Mini whiteboards
Students write a short answer, a number or a sketch, then hold the boards up together on your signal.
What it tells you: Every student's answer in five seconds, including the ones who never raise a hand.
3. ABCD cards
Each student has four cards (or holds up one to four fingers) to answer a multiple-choice question all at once.
What it tells you: The split across options, so a hinge question works without any devices.
4. No hands up
Ask a question, give thinking time, then call on a student at random (names on sticks or cards) instead of a volunteer.
What it tells you: What a typical student thinks, not what the most confident student thinks.
5. Think-pair-share
Students think alone for a minute, talk it through with a partner, then a few pairs share with the class.
What it tells you: Listening in on the pairs shows you reasoning, not just answers.
6. Traffic light cups
Each desk has a green, yellow and red cup. Students show the color that matches how they are doing as they work.
What it tells you: Who is stuck right now, without anyone having to ask in front of the class.
7. Live poll
A one-question poll on students' devices, results on the board after everyone has answered.
What it tells you: The class picture instantly, and a reason to discuss why people chose differently.
At the end of the lesson
Three to five minutes before the bell, so tomorrow's lesson can start from what students actually understood.
8. Exit ticket
One to three questions on today's goal, answered on a slip before leaving. How to run exit tickets.
What it tells you: Who met today's goal, who almost did, and who did not, sorted into three piles.
9. 3-2-1
Three things I learned, two things I found interesting, one question I still have.
What it tells you: What stuck, and the questions students are still carrying.
10. Muddiest point
What was the most confusing part of today's lesson?
What it tells you: The exact step where the explanation lost people.
11. One-minute paper
In one minute: what was the most important thing you learned today, and what question do you still have?
What it tells you: Whether students can name the big idea, in their own words.
Thinking and writing
Short tasks that make reasoning visible, not just answers.
12. Quick write
Two or three minutes of writing in response to a focused prompt, such as "Explain why the moon has phases."
What it tells you: How students explain an idea when there is no multiple choice to lean on.
13. Concept map
Students connect the key terms of a unit with labeled arrows that say how they relate.
What it tells you: Which connections students see, and which they are missing or have backwards.
14. 25-word summary
Summarize today's lesson in exactly 25 words.
What it tells you: Whether students can separate the main idea from the details.
15. Error analysis
Show a worked example with one mistake in it. Students find it, fix it, and explain what went wrong.
What it tells you: Whether students understand the method well enough to spot where it breaks.
Practice and feedback
Students using the success criteria themselves, so the feedback does not all have to come from you.
16. Self-assessment against success criteria
Before handing in, students mark which criteria their work meets and where they are unsure.
What it tells you: How well students can judge their own work, and where their judgment and yours differ.
17. Peer feedback with a rubric
Students review a partner's work against the same rubric you will use: two things that meet the criteria, one thing to improve.
What it tells you: Whether the criteria make sense to students, and gives every draft a second reader.
18. Comment-only feedback on drafts
Return a draft with specific next steps and no grade. Students act on the comments before the final version.
What it tells you: Whether students can use feedback, and gives them a reason to read it.
19. Practice quiz that doesn't count
A short quiz on earlier material, reviewed together, with no grade attached.
What it tells you: What students have retained over time, while the practice itself strengthens memory.
20. Student-written questions
Each student writes one test question on today's topic, with the answer.
What it tells you: How deeply students understand the topic: good questions are hard to write about ideas you only half get.
Choosing one
- Need a decision in the next minute? A hinge question on whiteboards or ABCD cards.
- Planning tomorrow? An exit ticket. The free exit ticket templates print four to a page.
- Before a big piece of work is due? Self- or peer assessment against the rubric.
- Checking long-term memory? A practice quiz on last month's material.
Whatever you pick, decide in advance what you will do with each possible result. That decision is what makes it formative. The five strategies behind these examples explain why they work.
The checks are quick. The reading is not.
Mentora grades written answers against your criteria as students turn them in, and writes a debrief: what the class understood, which wrong answers came up, who needs help, and what to do in the next class.
Frequently asked questions
What are examples of formative assessment?
Exit tickets, hinge questions, mini whiteboards, think-pair-share, quick writes, self-assessment against success criteria, peer feedback with a rubric, and practice quizzes that don't count. Any check is formative when its results change what happens next.
What is the quickest formative assessment?
A question the whole class answers at once: mini whiteboards, ABCD cards or a live poll. It takes under a minute and shows you every student's answer.
Are quizzes formative assessment?
They can be. A quiz that doesn't count toward the grade and is used to decide what to reteach is formative. A graded quiz that ends a unit is summative.
How many formative assessments should I use in a lesson?
One or two well-placed checks are enough: one mid-lesson, at the point where you decide whether to move on, and one at the end.
Free tools
- Free exit ticket templates: 3-2-1, rate your understanding, muddiest point and more, printable or ready for Google Docs.
- Free easy grader: the percentage and letter grade for every possible number wrong, printable.
- Free AI essay grader: grade one written answer against your own criteria, in seconds.