Let's talk about exit cards...

Do you use exit cards?  I do  and I love them.  They are quick, easy formative assessments that can give you a quick snapshot into what your students are taking away from your lesson.  But just as with any good strategy:  Don't forget to model!

Last week, during our mentos experiment the students had a chance to present their wonderings for us to choose the next day's experiment.  We always collect the cards to see - who wants to try a different soda, different candy or different number of mentos?  This is our introduction to the terms variables and constants.  After the kids leave, my colleagues and I will sort them out and "choose" the best one to try the next day.  This year we tried it with White Lightening Mountain Dew and also Root Beer.  The Root Beer was cool because it made a lot of bubbles! But the white lightening was a dud - too much sugar I'm guessing....

Anyway...when it was time for the exit card I wrote on a model:

I wonder what will happen if....

I hope you can read the responses of several of my students.  They were excellent and detailed.  You can see my model that is in the middle of the stack.  The more I model, the better the students responses are.  I truly think the model helps to take the guesswork out of how should I start and what should I say?

Anyway...this week, we will be designing our own Mentos and soda investigations and will (hopefully) blast them off on Friday.  I am hoping to take some pictures to post of the explosions!

For more information about the Mentos experiment, check out some of my "older" blogs!