15 Quick Checks for Understanding in Explicit Teaching
Check for understanding ideas for your next lesson
Check for Understanding (CFU) is an important component of explicit teaching. It is gauging whether your students actually get what you have taught them. It should occur after a new definition (Concept Development), after a skill has been modelled (I Do) and again after the guided instruction (We Do). Essentially, it is measuring the impact of your teaching in real time.
For it to be effective, you must ensure that 80 percent of students in the class get the question correct. If less than 80 percent do not get it correct, you must go back and reteach.
It is important to remember to keep check for understanding short and to the point. Choose activities that involve one or two word answers, or that can be done in no more than five minutes. All students must be included in the check for understanding questions.
A common misconception of check for understanding is that you ask students to self reflect or report their own understanding. This is not accurate because students’ opinions of their own learning do not always match reality. Or perhaps they think they understand it when being told or shown it, but they are unable to articulate it or apply the knowledge. There is a place for self report in independent practice, but not while the concept is being taught.
You can be creative when checking for understanding. To inspire your creativity, below I have listed 15 ideas for you to check for understanding.
Ideas to Check for Understanding
On your whiteboard, fill in the missing word.
On your whiteboard, give an example of ___.
Think Pair Share. Tell your partner what a ___ is.
Think Pair Share. Tell your partner three examples of ___.
Make up your own gesture to show ___.
Which of these (A/B/C) is an example of ___? Answer on your whiteboards.
Which of these (A/B/C) is not an example of ___? Answer on your whiteboard.
How do I know this is correct?
Draw a picture to show ___.
Four corners. Students choose a corner of the classroom based on their choice of answer.
Create a mind map to show the main ideas of ___.
Give out flash cards. Stand if you have an example of the concept.
In your own words, write what you have just learned. Allow no more than one minute.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Answer on your whiteboards.
Is this statement true or false? Answer on your whiteboards. If false, why?
For Teachers Who Want Ready-to-Use CFU Tools
If you would like to strengthen your Check for Understanding and Daily Review routines without creating resources from scratch, the Structured Teaching Portal includes a full set of Response Cards for Explicit Teaching.
These are editable in Canva and provide more than 35 templates you can use during:
• Check for understanding
• Daily review
• Concept development
• Early guided practice
• Quick response routines
The collection includes true or false cards, multiple choice layouts, agree or disagree prompts, picture response frames, number lines and other formats that help you gather accurate whole-class responses rapidly.
These tools are designed to save time, build consistency and support explicit lesson delivery across all subjects.
You can access the full set inside the Structured Teaching Portal subscription.
Thanks so much for writing this. So much to think on and also for the back pocket in terms of what I can do tomorrow