Fist to Five!

In RED 4519, I learned a new scale technique that is used in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and can even be used by students in a classroom. This kind of scale is called the “Fist to Five” scale and this is where students hold up their hands and show the teacher how well they are comprehending the material using a 0 to 5 scale with their fingers. Depending on how well they can comprehend, students will show a number from 0 to 5, 0 being the least and 5 being the greatest. This gives the teacher an understanding of where her students are. Students can also use this Fist to Five scale when they are going over the standards for the week and they can show how well they understood the concept. I think this strategy would work well with ESOL students, because although they may not be able to fully grasp new concepts, they can use their fingers to show how much they know. Teachers can also use this to recognize indicators of learning disabilities and see how well they can comprehend and if they are not, the teacher should spend extra time with the child. (ESOL Strategy 25) Sometimes, they know more than we think!