What to Do With an Exit Ticket After the Bell

Most exit tickets get collected, stacked on a desk and checked for right and wrong. That's fine for a quick look. It doesn't tell you what to teach tomorrow.

The tickets in this pack ask students to do three things. Draw it, calculate it and explain it. That takes about five to ten minutes. Speed isn't scored. A student can explain out loud or use counters if that's how they show their thinking. Just write down any help you gave.

Read the three parts together

Read the three parts together. A correct total alone isn't enough evidence. Say a student writes 4 + 3 = 7 for four bags with three shells in each. The drawing shows four dots next to three dots. The answer is wrong, but the more useful part is that the student isn't seeing what each number counts. That's a different next step than for a student who draws four groups of three, writes 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 11 and explains that each bag has three. That student understands the structure. The counting slipped.

Plan from the notes

The tickets use four planning notes. R means reteach the representation. P means practice with support. E means extend. And a question mark means ask before you decide. The question mark matters more than it sounds. If a student writes 12 and leaves the drawing and the explanation blank, you can't tell much. Try "Show me how you got 12" and listen. Missing work has a lot of possible causes.

I'd keep those notes loose. They're for planning, not for labeling students. Groups should change when new evidence shows up. One short ticket doesn't establish mastery, so compare it with what you see in classwork and in conversation.

The division tickets have a trap. Sharing and making groups look alike on paper. Eighteen beads shared among 3 children and 24 markers at 6 per cup both end in a division fact. But the known number is different in each. Students often switch which one they know. Ask what the numbers mean in the story before you put anyone in a group.

Check again later

After you teach, give Form B. Don't show the answers first. Look at whether the evidence is stronger, similar or weaker than Form A. Then give the Later Check a few days later. That's the one that tells you if it stuck.

A few small things

A note on language. The pictures are single objects meant as vocabulary cues, not solved models. Students can draw dots. You could offer a sentence starter like "I know because..." and I wouldn't count language difficulty alone as a math error.

If you want a way to keep track, there is a one-page observation sheet in the pack. Use initials or classroom codes, not names, and store it with your other classroom records. These are Grade 3 foundations, not a full curriculum. Some teachers may find them useful as a review in Grade 4.

If you wanted to try one, pick the skill you're teaching this week and print a single ticket. See what it tells you. Let me know how it goes at hello@polemountainlearning.com.

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