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https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/resources/en/collection?collectionId=gttWNhT3uEiG3xSdfwn9YQ

This resource has lots of planned lesson plans, material lists, and assessments aligned with Alberta science outcomes from grade 1-3. These assessments can be used as is or adapted to better suit the classroom you are in (recommend the second).

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This assessment tracker and planner helps to organize assessment ideas or plans each specific outcome from the program of studies. I could easily insert the SPs from any unit I plan to teach and directly under each outcome I am able to insert assessment ideas that can or will be used.

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Magic school has multiple AI tools that can be used to assist teachers in the development of assessment and lesson planning in the classroom

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Join over a million teachers saving hours of time using the #1 AI Platform for Education, MagicSchool, to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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An integrated lesson planning platform

All your tools in one place

Source It

The act of using a Large Language Model to write the basis for a generative educational resource. Generating content is only the first step.

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Look at generated content as a sculptor might a block of marble. Shape the raw material to suit your unique context. Use our suite of personalization tools to more deeply differentiate instruction.

Share It

Cultivate expertise and collaborate with other users. Share your educational resources with a community of practice to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute to find what works best for students.

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1. Join us on Discord

Get help, ask questions, and interact with other Eduaide users and learn how they are using Eduaide.

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Learn more about our Advisory Board and how they are helping us build the best lesson planning platform for teachers.

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If you want to learn more about Eduaide, our philosophy, and our mission, check out our featured podcasts and press.

Copyright © 2024 Eduaide.Ai. LLC All Rights Reserved. Icons provided by Icons8. Site elements by Denys Koltovskyi - stock.adobe.com

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Eduaide.Ai is an AI-driven platform that helps educators create lesson plans, teaching resources, and assessments.

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Word clouds, if technology is prevalent in the classroom, can be a great tool for formative assessment. With specific and target prompting questions, word cloud can be used for formative assessment in a variety of ways. This can be used as a baseline pre-assessment tool or a quick check-in for students understanding on a specific concept. These are just a few ideas for this formative assessment tool.

Mentimeter is also a great tool for this

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Free online word cloud generator and tag cloud creator

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Wordclouds.com is a free online word cloud generator and tag cloud generator, similar to Wordle. Create your own word clouds and tag clouds. Paste text or upload documents and select shape, colors and font to create your own word cloud. Wordclouds.com can also generate clickable word clouds with links (image map). Save or share the resulting image.

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This year plan template allows you to plan out the outcomes you will teach and start to generate ideas for what assessments will be used on a larger scale without diving to deeply into all of the specifics

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Here is a list of authors who have written material about assessment. Consider researching and reading their work to learn more about the assessment process, tips and tricks, and more:

Dylan Wiliam

Rick Wormeli

Rick Stiggins

Wiggins/McTighe

Anne Davies

Sandra Herbst

Myron Dueck

Thomas Guskey

John Salvia

Robert Marzano

Susan Brookhart

Katie White

Tom Schimmer

Robert Tierney

Alfie Kohn

James Popham

Douglas Reeves

Carol Ann Tomlinson

Jan Chappuis

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Diffit can help to create text at different reading levels to help prepare students or alter questions to better suit their abilities. This could be a good resource when creating rubrics, analytic rating scales, or 'I can...' statements to share with students.

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Use existing curriculum, or generate standards-aligned content with real, cited sources.

Choose a grade level and language, and watch Diffit create complete, differentiated resources. ✅

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Use existing curriculum, or generate standards-aligned content with real, cited sources. Choose a grade level and language, and watch Diffit create complete, differentiated resources. ✅

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Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reforms - Thomas Guskey

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"Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reforms" by Thomas R. Guskey offers practical strategies to help educators involve families in grading changes. Guskey emphasizes the need for clear communication, trust-building, and simplifying report cards to ease concerns. By including parents in the process, schools can create stronger support systems and make grading reforms more effective. It’s a valuable tool for improving assessment through collaboration and transparency with parents and students.

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This can be used in class as well as be sent home to help students prepare for PAT or Diploma exams

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Copyright 2024, the Crown in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education, Alberta Education, Provincial Assessment Sector, 44 Capital Boulevard, 10044 108 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 5E6, and its licensors. All rights reserved. Special permission is granted to Alberta educators only to reproduce, for educational purposes and on a non⁠-⁠profit basis, parts of this test that do not contain excerpted material. Excerpted material in this test shall not be reproduced without the written permission of the original publisher (see credits, where applicable).

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The article challenges the idea that the highest level on proficiency scales ("Extending") should be reserved for only a few students. It argues that all students should have access to this level and encourages educators to use clear, specific criteria to support growth for everyone.

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Lately, as I’ve engaged in conversations in person, webinars, works, and social media, I’ve noticed hesitancy about last level on proficiency scales. You know the one. It’s called Exte…

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This post has some ideas to collect formative assessment in ways that don't include technology. Some are quick and can be done in a few minutes while others may take a little bit longer to do, both can be useful depending on how in-depth you want the assessment to be.

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Fun formative assessment: 12 easy, no-tech ideas you can use tomorrow

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Formative assessment means providing students with opportunities to show you what they are learning while you are teaching it. These assessments inform

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This post has many options that can be used for tech-based formative assessment. This is a great way to integrate technology in the classroom and gather formative assessment different ways.

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Draw, choose, write or say: Fantastic formative assessments

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Formative assessment can be fantastic! Here are options for letting students draw, choose, write and say as a formative assessment tool. Formative

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This is a great list of formative assessment strategies that can be used in the classroom. Each strategy has a brief explanation, making the list easy to navigate to find a strategy that would work for the outcome or setting you are planning for.

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Dylan Wiliam - List of formative assessment strategies.docx

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This can be used for a type of written assessment for students who may struggle with typing or spelling. One slight limitation is students have to verbalize any punctuation so students would have to know where to insert the punctuation or have the skills to read it over and check their punctuation

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This is a tool that can be used to deliver feedback to students who may not be able to read written feedback. You can attach an audio file with verbalized feedback for students

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Mote | fast, friendly voice notes & feedback

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Mote saves you time and builds relationships with fast, friendly voice notes & feedback. Start today at https://mote.com/signup

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The linked website is able to take text and read it to students who may struggle with reading or comprehension. This tool can be useful if there is little opportunity for the teacher to pull a student aside and read to them or would like to make themselves more available to all students.

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Dyslexia and other reading-based learning disabilities are most common among students. NaturalReader text-to-speech makes learning more accessible by assisting with any reading, taking tests and promoting independence.

Students can have any text they need to read, read aloud to them so they can read along. Having the text provided both visually and auditory, allows the student to focus less on the act of reading, and more on the comprehension of the content. Other features like dyslexia font, flexible reading speeds, and highlighted text also ease the task of finishing readings.

For most students, learning does not stop when school ends. NaturalReader EDU enables students to be more independent and assists with learning at home. Whether they're doing homework, reading at home, or just surfing the web, our Chrome Extension and Mobile Application are always available.

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NaturalReader: Free Text to Speech for Online, Mobile App, Commercial license and Education with AI voices.

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This tool can be used to have students create a project for as assessment, make study guides for a future assessment, and so much more! This is a great tool that can be used almost everywhere in the classroom

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Genially, the platform for interactive animated content

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Engage your audience with clickable, gamified, media-rich experiences. Create your interactive content now!

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"Softening the Edges" by Katie White explores how to create assessment practices that support both the academic and emotional needs of K–12 students. She encourages shifting from rigid, high-stakes assessments to more supportive methods that include preassessment, formative feedback, self-assessment, and meaningful reporting. By “softening the edges,” teachers can build trust, boost student confidence, and create more authentic learning experiences. It’s a valuable tool for making assessment a positive tool in the classroom.

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Teaching test-taking strategies like covering answer choices, highlighting keywords, eliminating wrong answers, and analyzing language helps students better demonstrate their knowledge during assessments. These strategies not only support critical thinking but also reduce anxiety and improve equity, making assessments more reflective of what students truly know.

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The same thing was happening over and over: I taught using research-based, high-yield teaching strategies. I knew my content. My students knew this material too. I could ask them rigorous questions verbally, and they were able to answer me correctly every time. Yet, my students' standardized test scores were well below average. How could they score so low but be so knowledgeable? Why were my students missing questions they knew the answers to?

Over the last few years, I've analyzed what it takes to become a good test-taker. I've looked at my own testing experiences, researched new strategies, and tried to figure out how to apply those strategies to assessments today, which are mostly timed and computerized. After each assessment, I would sit down with my students and note all of the reasons they answered incorrectly.

To my surprise, I found that the most common reasons for missing questions weren't really about subject knowledge. Instead, it came down to a lack of critical thinking and test-taking strategies-misreading the question, overthinking or second-guessing, misinterpreting answer choices, lack of test-specific vocabulary, rushing through the test, misaligning the question and answer.

In response, I developed the following four strategies to not only help my students improve their test performance, but also help them build their critical thinking skills beyond just a testing environment.

Strategy 1: COVER THE ANSWER CHOICES

How to do it: Instruct students to cover the answer choices. This can be done by using a sticky note, their hand, or a notebook, or zooming in on their Chromebook so that only the question is in focus. Then, have students write down their own answer based on the question. If there is a visual, such as a chart or graph, students should analyze it and write a one-sentence description before moving on. Finally, have them uncover the answer choices and match their response to the correct answer.

Imagine being a kid again: You've got this tough question, followed by a ton of information that looks right at first glance. It's just too much. Utilizing this strategy teaches students how to focus on the question and actively recall information. I tell my students they need to take control of the question. When they block out all of that extra information-the answer choices-they're able to really focus on and look for what they knew all along was the right answer. Over time, students can wean themselves off of writing down their thinking by just focusing on the question, taking a mental moment to think of the correct answer, and matching their initial thoughts with an answer.

Strategy 2: HIGHLIGHT KEYWORDS

How to do it: Have students use onscreen tools to underline or highlight key terms. If they prefer to write, they can jot down the important words from the question on scratch paper. Encourage them to rewrite the question in simpler terms.

I remember learning this strategy back when I was in elementary school many years ago. We had printed texts and questions, and I would go through and use an actual highlighter to highlight the key words. This tried-and-true strategy emphasizes crucial information and reduces the need to reread a question or passage. In 2024, a study showed that when key terms are highlighted correctly, students are more successful at comprehending information. Remind students not to highlight everything. You can model this skill for the entire class and then allow students time to practice finding only the most important information independently.

Strategy 3: ELIMINATE WRONG ANSWERS

How to do it: Cross out obviously wrong answers. Focus on the remaining options and justify the correct one.

This might feel instinctive to most adults, but young minds can easily become overwhelmed and struggle to process all the information. Our students often don't know how to do this correctly unless they are explicitly taught. Through my work with the Texas Education Agency on analyzing assessments, I've seen how multiple-choice and multiple-select questions are intentionally designed with answer choices that are close to the correct one but slightly off or even contain correct information that answers a different question. These are called distractors. When we teach students to eliminate these incorrect answers, it helps them narrow their focus and apply their critical thinking skills more effectively.

Strategy 4: USE ACADEMIC TESTING VOCABULARY DAILY

One key realization I had was that my fifth graders often misunderstood questions that seemed simple to me, especially when common testing words like "advantage" or "decrease" were involved. To tackle this, I introduce common key terms throughout the year and pair them with a visual signal, like a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down, for each word and its counterpart. When students hear or use these terms, they make the signal, which reinforces the word with a visual representation of its meaning.

In our classroom, students incorporate motions for all units, aiming to connect each motion to the concept being studied. For example, when we explore conductors of electricity and heat, students move their hands back and forth, similar to a music conductor. This motion represents how conductors in the science classroom allow energy to flow in and out through a medium. Research shows that TPR is a proven strategy for improving long-term memory retention. Students also benefit from word walls or anchor charts for the same reason-the visuals help create more connections in their minds.

After each assessment, I recommend sitting down with students to determine if they're struggling with the skill itself or simply misinterpreting a question due to unfamiliar academic vocabulary. Ask them, "Before we get started, can you write down or tell me what this word means?" You'd be surprised how often clarifying these small misconceptions can significantly boost student success.

Using these strategies, my students have consistently outperformed campus, district, and state averages-but more important, they no longer fear assessments. Instead, they look forward to their chance to show off their hard work and take pride in their own academic growth.

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4 Test-Taking Strategies That Help Students Show What They Know

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By teaching students to approach test questions critically, you can help them accurately show what they've learned and avoid picking wrong answer choices.