Exit tickets are a purposeful and reflective way to end class. If you teach bell-to-bell, add in this quick and easy informal assessment at the end of the class period.
For this "What Stuck with You?" exit ticket idea, all you need is a wall, sticky notes, and pens. I used a window in my classroom since bulletin board space was limited. I found that the sticky notes adhered well to the glass. You might want to create your bulletin board near the door that your students will exit.
At the end of the class period, hand out one sticky note per student. I do not pass around the large sticky note pad because students are likely to grab a handful rather than just one. If your students have these in their supplies, you're in luck.
Students answer the question, "What stuck with you?" This needs to be related to our classroom learning. Before starting this daily exit ticket, I like to give some positive examples and non-examples. I will pick something silly for my non-example like "I learned that Riley wears braces."
I'm sure you're thinking what about the dreaded, "I don't know." I've found sentence stems are a great way to provide scaffolding for students to begin thinking and writing. This can be a great way to overcome the "IDK" or the single-word response. Here are some helpful sentence stem ideas for your social studies class:
I learned…
I was surprised by…
I am amazed at…
I didn’t know that…
I feel puzzled by…
I learned…and now I’m wondering…
One thing that challenged my thinking is...
One thing that supported my prior knowledge was...
I agree/disagree with…
I can apply … in real life
Today I enjoyed....because...
Today I accomplished...
While students are writing their exit tickets, I position myself near the bulletin board. Students show me their tickets before they place them on the wall. At the end of the week, I will take a moment to read out some of the sticky notes. You can also rotate students to do the weekly sharing too. If you have multiple Social Studies classes, you can share out what students are learning or reflecting on in your other class periods.
If you are using exit tickets as a participation grade, you can simply keep a checklist with student names and dates. Check off their participation as they bring it to the board. I've found that this is more effective than trying to go back and figure out who created sticky notes. Students won't need to write their names on the sticky notes, and you won't have to worry about lost or missing sticky notes either.
I also use this exit ticket bulletin board as a way to help me evaluate my teaching. I look for patterns, for key understandings, for misconceptions, or things I may need to reteach. This is an informal but regular way to check in with my teaching.
Do you have other exit ticket ideas? Share in the comments.
