Formative assessment is a term used to discover what students know while in the midst of still learning the material. This type of assessment is used to determine what steps need to come next. Are the students understanding the concepts and ready to move forward, or do we need to revisit specific skills with individual students or whole classes? When determining what students really know and understand, it is imperative that teachers look at multiple data points to determine their next steps forward. Learning tasks can be measured in multiple ways. Teachers, like 7th grade math teacher Mrs. Sandberg, utilize formative assessment tools to gather information to get insight on her students’ progress.

The 7+ math classes have been studying components of geometry such as surface area and volume of three dimensional figures, composite figures, and the like to begin the school year. Throughout this unit the students are learning how to calculate the thickness and the depth of objects. To assess the students’ understanding of these concepts, they were presented with the problem of finding the surface area and volume of a sand castle. Sandcastles are composite figures that include three dimensional shapes that students have not learned about yet. This creates a problem for the students challenging them to research new formulas for three dimensional figures they haven’t discussed yet.  Students are also tasked with using the Pythagorean Theorem to find missing information in a cone or pyramid. They collaborate with peers to work through struggles on process, checking their progress along the way. On the last day of class work, students were given the opportunity to use Formative (a web- and app- based interactive and response assessment tool) to check answers for individual pieces of the composite figure before determining total surface area and total volume.