Exit Slips
(also called One Sentence Summaries)

Purpose:  To engage students in summarizing their learning

Description:  Using this strategy, students will synthesize learned information, skills, and processes by writing an Exit Slip. An Exit Slip can be a One Sentence Summary of what students learned or can be used in a variety of other ways. Other uses are: to answer a review question, to pose a question related to the topic studied, to make a short list of facts learned, to set a learning goal for the next day, etc.

Procedure:  

  1. Prior to using the Exit Slip as a summary activity in your classroom, decide upon its purpose (including whether or not it will be used as an assessment or evaluation tool).
  2. During the last 5-10 minutes of class, inform students of the purpose/task associated with their Exit Slip.
  3. Tell students to take out a half-sheet of paper and complete the assigned Exit Slip.
  4. As students exit your classroom that day, collect their Exit Slips as a pass out the door.

Hint: Exit Slips are a great way to assess your own teaching. They will often indicate whether or not students understood the presented material. When used to pose a question, they can provide discussion questions for the next day's lesson.

 

from Instructional Strategies for Engaging Learners
Guilford County Schools TF, 2002

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