Lesson closures are important for several reasons. They serve as a quick review, help the instructor evaluate what was learned and allows the instructor to see where the students are to plan for the next lesson. A great way to provide closure is through the “exit slip.” Exit slips are short term assessments for what students have learned from the class. They are useful for the presenter to help understand what students took away from the lesson. These assessments can be oral or written; however, I prefer written exit slips as they can be used as artifacts for our personal portfolio. I also use them to plan and modify future lessons. “ Lesson Closure With Examples” by Ann Sipe is an excellent article about exit slips with 40 different ideas for leaving a lesson.
With our focus on differentiation to reach all of our students, exit slips should include several definitions for our ELL students and questions which require different levels of understanding. I am attaching a sample of an exit slip modified for ELL populations and an exit slip for the general population. We used these exit slips following a series of research classes where students created brochures about different planets.
I asked the question: “Which resources were most useful to you in your research? Why?”
Most of the responses were either “the internet” or “google.”
One student said Grolier, two said World Book and two said Wikipedia.
If you rephrase the question to state “List 1-3 resources you used in your library activity today and list some examples: Flushing High School database title, or LibGuide title” you may get more specific answers.
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