Formative Assessment overview

Formative Assessments are lightweight assessments that teachers perform daily to quickly gauge student understanding as the class progresses through a unit.

Teachers are able to combine the time savings of auto-grading with the power of multimodal tools to get deeper insights into student learning to target support and guide instruction.

ℹ️ Formative assessment creation is available for customers with paid subscriptions. Seesaw Starter teachers can use activities with formative assessments on them, but not modify. 

How do I use Formative Assessment?

Overview

With Formative Assessment, there is no need to do quick understanding checks or use another quiz app. You can do everything in Seesaw! Formative Assessment provides low-stakes practice for standardized tests in a mini-quiz format.

  • K-6 Teachers: Get immediate insights into who understands and who needs more support. 

  • K-2 Teachers: Drag and drop format designed for young learners. Create questions with shapes, images, emoji, and more! Start the year with pre-assessments that are ready to use, created by our Curriculum team. 

  • 3-6 Teachers: Formative Assessment offers two flexible formats for quizzes and polls. Students learn the test taking format, while also explaining their thinking in multiple ways.

How do I create questions? 
Overview
Questions can be added to new activities or existing activities in the Resource Library. Teachers select from several question types: multiple choice, true/false, poll, drag and drop sort. Teachers then write a question with list of possible response options, and indicate which response options are correct. All of Seesaw’s multimodal tools can be used along with questions so teachers can scaffold assignments, especially for younger learners or ELLs. Teachers can also search for relevant questions on a wide variety of educational topics with our AI-powered Find Questions tool, so it's quicker to create formative assessment activities. 

More Details
💡Check out our Help Center article for step-by-step instructions on creating Formative Assessment questions!

Practice mode 
In practice mode, students can check their work and receive hints in real time, helping them validate that they are on the right track and provide guidance while working independently. 
CleanShot 2024-04-01 at 14.57.50.png
Assessment mode
In assessment mode, students do not see immediate feedback. Instead, students and family members can review results once the student work has been approved by the teacher. 
CleanShot 2024-04-01 at 15.00.50.png
Reporting 
Overview
Teachers are equipped with live student response data that enables responsive instruction and differentiation. Teachers can show results reports to students and families after their work is approved by the teacher. Additionally, teachers can share Progress Reports easily via Messages to families or other support staff. 

More Details
💡Check out our Help Center article for step-by-step instructions on Reporting!

Ready to Use Formative Assessment Activities in the Resource Library  
The Seesaw Library has Activities that include ready to use Formative Assessments.  To find these Activities, look for Practice or Assessment tagged next to the Activity information. 
CleanShot 2024-04-01 at 15.03.04.png
What is the student experience? 
Overview
Students can use all of Seesaw's creative multimodal tools alongside formative assessment questions to explain their thinking. Questions grow with students to support their evolving developmental needs, from intuitive drag and drop format for younger learners to multiple choice format for upper elementary. 

More Details 
💡Check out our Help Center article for a deeper look at the student experience with Formative Assessment!

Have more questions? Submit a request