Inspired by the FLU

As I lie on my deathbed (okay, I'm being a little dramatic considering I'm finally up and sitting in front of my computer...but seriously...it was BAD for 2 days), I had nothing to do but think...  And I should warn you that I had 107 degree temperature for half a day (and my mother swears that high of a temperature causes brain damage), so what I have to say may only make sense to the weak in mind, like myself, but here it goes...

I seem to have a knack for looking at things and finding a completely "new" purpose for them.  You should see me go to town at Dollar Tree!  I was thinking about ways to make formative assessments or the idea of an Exit Ticket more fun for my students.  Because I teach 8th grade, I have to constantly change how I do things to keep the students from getting bored.  (Well, some 8th graders have the look of boredom permanently stuck on their face, so they are beyond the point of helping, but for the ones that still have a chance....)

I thought about these little puppies.  Pocket Cubes from Carson Dellosa!  Click HERE to be taken directly to the site.

Instead of always giving students an Exit Ticket...why not change up the last 3-4 minutes of class by letting students roll the dice to determine which question they'll have to answer???  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  I envision this working in many different ways.  The best part about these cubes is you can change out what you have in each pocket on a daily basis if needed, so they can be used all year.  They are a bit on the pricey side, but after that initial investment, the rest is just ideas and printer paper.  

You could start off having students in small groups roll the dice.  Whatever question they roll, they have to present the answer to the entire class before leaving to go to the next class (this would not only encourage them to work together quickly, but to present the information to the rest of the class quickly.)  In this particular case, I would think that 5-6 minutes would be more appropriate, depending on how many groups were going to present.    

Or if you want students to answer a question on their own, they could quickly roll and then pass to the next person (if you don't have enough dice to go around).  You could also use the dice as dice (I know...deep thoughts by Mrs. Aldrich...).  What I mean by this is... post 6 different questions on the board and have students roll the dice to see which question they have to answer.  

What other ways do you think these could be used?  Please share!

Formative Assessment Ideas