3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment

The exit slip is a formative assessment that allows a teacher the opportunity to monitor student understanding after a lesson. An exit slip is student feedback collected and used by instructors to improve their teaching. These exit slips are generally ungraded because their primary function is as a progress monitoring tool.

5 Advantages of Using Exit Slips in any Content Area

  1. Exit slips increase student participation: Asking one student to summarize at the end of a class is not as effective as a feedback strategy. In contrast, the use of an exit slip means that all students will summarize and write an answer to a question. Each exit slip provides information on individual student understanding. 
  2. Writing an exit slip is thinking on paper: Asking a student to write out how he or she would summarize a day's lesson means that students are required to think critically. The act of writing allows a student an opportunity to either solidify understanding or identify an area of confusion.
  3. Writing improves teacher/student relationships: Writing is personal. Reading what a student writes can help a teacher understand how a student thinks. Writing is also a way to determine a student's ability: a teacher can look at exit slips as a measure of an individual student's comfort in the class and with the material.  
  4. Exit slips record class progress: While a teacher at the secondary level may cover the same material during a day over several periods, individual student understanding can differ from class to class. The exit slip provides a "snapshot" of what the class understood at the conclusion of the day's lesson. This "snapshot" gives the teacher important information in order to address specific concerns, questions, or problems one class may have. Looking over the previous day's exit slips can help a teacher better plan for the next day's lesson. This use of the exit slip can record classes' and their progress as they follow the same pacing guide. The exit slip can also inform a teacher what worked well so that the same strategies can be used again for a class. 
  5. Good writing skills are good life-long skills: Communication between teacher and students or between students in the learning process can Using the authentic formats below can also be one way to build student communication skills.

Adapting Real World Forms as Exit Slips

The following three (3) forms that can be adapted to be used as exit slips are already in use in the real world. Each of the iconic forms has a specific function that is suited for use as an exit slip. For example, a "Guest Check" can be adapted as a way to respond to prompts that ask students to order or to rank information they learned during class. The "While You Were Out" form can be adapted as an exit slip that students could complete to provide information to an absent classmate. The "Hello, My Name Is" form can be adapted as an exit slip that allows students to introduce and share their understanding of the qualities of a character, a person, an event, or item.

All forms suggested are readily available for purchase (under $20/each) in bulk. 

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The "Guest Check" Form as Exit Slip

Use a Guest Check for an Exit Slip. E+/GETTY Images

 The premise for using the Guest Check exit slip form to determine student understanding is to have students rank or "order" information in their summary. This Guest Check form could be used for the following prompts that can be used in any discipline:

  • Rank what you learned in order of importance
  • Write down one order you would like to see covered in tomorrow's lesson
  • Write down one thing you would like to have help with (re-order)
  • If you were to order a quiz to cover today’s material, what are questions that you would put on it?

For content specific questions:

  • What would (character name, person in history) order for a meal and why? (ELA, Social Studies)
  • What would (character name, person in history) need to order as a purchase and why? (ELA, Social Studies)

Where do you get the forms?

Amazon sells:

  • 100 sheets per pad, 12 pads per pack; Adams Guest Check Pad, Single Part, White, 3-11/32" x 4-15/16" (1200 sheets for $10.99).
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The "While You Were Out" Form as Exit Slip

Use a "While You Were Out" Form as an exit slip.

The premise for using the familiar" While You Were Out" form is to have students complete it as if they were helping a "missing" or absent student. This could be used in any discipline, and could actually be used for absent students.

  • Write down one question you would like to share with your classmate(s) about today’s lesson.
  • Write down one thing that you totally understand and briefly explain it to ​your classmate.
  • What one thing remains most difficult or confusing about this (chapter, lesson)?
  • What do you think your classmate needs to do to prepare for the upcoming test?

Where do you get the forms?

Amazon sells:

  • Adams While You Were Out Pads,pink paper stock; 4.25 x 5.5 inch sheets; 50 sheets/12 pads per pack (600 slips for $6.99).
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The "Hello, My Name Is" Label Form as Exit Slip

Use a "Hello" Sticker as an exit slip.

 The use of the familiar "Hello, My Name Is" label as an exit slip can be adopted by any discipline. The premise for using the label is to have a student exit the class by creating a label for a character (English), a historical figure (Social Studies), an element on the periodic table (Chemistry), a statistic (Math), a sports rule (Physical Ed), etc. 

Some prompts could be worded:

  • Complete the label by sharing one characteristic about_________.
  • What is the most important characteristic about _________ that we learned today?
  • What are 2 questions that you would like to ask _________ and why?

Where do you get the forms?

Labels and More sells:

  • 500 Labels 3-1/2" x 2-3/8" Hello My Name Is BLUE Name Tag Identification Stickers (500 for $13.50).

Conclusion on Using Real-World Exit Slips

Teachers can easily adapt (3) iconic forms (a guest check, a "While You Were Out Form", or a "Hello, My Name Is" label) to use as a formative assessment exit slip that measures individual student understanding. Each of these adapted exit slips could be used by a specific discipline or as multi-disciplinary formative assessments.

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Bennett, Colette. "3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/real-world-exit-slips-for-formative-assessment-3996502. Bennett, Colette. (2020, August 27). 3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/real-world-exit-slips-for-formative-assessment-3996502 Bennett, Colette. "3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/real-world-exit-slips-for-formative-assessment-3996502 (accessed March 29, 2024).