How is it possible to assess a whole classroom in a moment? One great tool for this is pinch strips. To use these, the children are asked a question, for example, “How much is $1 minus 95¢?” The children then pinch the strips on the segment showing the correct answer – in this case, the nickel – and all hold them up to show the teacher.
I prepared these pinch strips for lessons on money, and then I realized other teachers would probably find them useful, so here they are.
These get printed on card stock and can be folded in half to be double sided, or save paper and just print one side. They may be modified for children just learning to identify coins by putting the Tails side on the reverse.
Pinch strips can be used for many types of assessment, including multiple choice questions, using the letters in the questions as the answers in the strip segments.