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Session 1. Diagnosing Needs Quickly in a Large Class
Objective. Run a five-minute diagnostic task with a class of 30 to 40, sort the responses into three flexible piles and plan one next step for each pile.
In a class of 35 you will always have pupils at very different points, and you will never have time to find out about each one in a long conversation. This session gives you a tool that fits a normal lesson: one good question, five minutes, three piles. It shows you what to teach tomorrow and to whom, using only paper. Used every week, it also protects pupils from being judged by one bad test or one weak day.
Key ideas
A different next step, not 35 lessons
- In a class of 35 you cannot plan 35 lessons. Personalization at scale means two or three pathways to the same goal, each fitted to what a group of pupils needs next.
- A need belongs to a topic and a day, not to a pupil. The same child may need support in fractions and stretch in reading. Differentiation basics are in courses 5.6 and 8.6; here we make them fast and repeatable.
The five-minute diagnostic
- Pick the one idea the next steps depend on and ask one or two questions about it. A good question has wrong answers that each show a different misconception.
- Every pupil answers at the same moment on a scrap of paper, a mini card (A to D) or a slate. With 35 papers, a quick glance sorting takes about four minutes.
- Ask for a short reason ('because...'). The answer alone hides lucky guesses and correct answers that rest on a wrong rule.
Three piles, one line each
- Sort into SECURE (correct and explained), NEARLY (right idea with a slip or no reason) and NOT YET (a misconception or blank). Look at the pattern of the error, not only the mark.
- Write one line per pile: how many pupils, the most common error, and the next step. This one-line summary is your whole plan for the next lesson.
Keep groups flexible and fair
- Regroup after every diagnostic. If the same pupils are always in the lowest pile, check your question: language or reading load may be hiding what they know.
- Give pathways neutral names such as routes 1, 2 and 3 or colours, and let pupils move. Keep your sort sheet with numbers or initials in your own folder; it is not for the wall.
From question to next step
Why one good question beats a long test
A long test mostly tells you a mark. A short diagnostic question tells you why a pupil went wrong. Its power comes from the wrong answers: each wrong option should be chosen by pupils who hold a particular idea, such as 'the bigger the bottom number, the bigger the fraction' or 'heavier things fall faster'. When you see which option a pupil picked and read one line of reason, you can name the idea you need to change.
Choose the question carefully. It must test the one idea that tomorrow's lesson depends on, be answerable in one or two minutes, and avoid heavy reading, so that language does not hide knowledge. Test the question on a colleague first: if every wrong answer seems silly, the question will not diagnose anything.
Turning piles into a plan you can actually teach
Three piles are useful only if each one leads to a different action. Secure pupils need a harder use of the same idea, nearly pupils need a reason or a picture that makes the rule meaningful, and not-yet pupils need you, with simple materials and a few questions. In a 40-minute lesson the realistic pattern is a short whole-class start, 25 minutes of work in routes, and 10 minutes at the end where everyone meets the same question again.
Keep the sort private and short-lived. Record numbers rather than names on the sheet, and treat the piles as a snapshot of one topic on one day. Next week the same pupil may be in a different pile, and the piles will be different again after your teaching.
Examples from the classroom
Navruz text in Grade 4
Scene. Malika in Bukhara reads a short text about Navruz to her class of 34 and asks, 'Which sentence tells us what the text is mostly about?' with four choices and the words 'because' written on the board. In four minutes she makes piles of 17, 10 and 7. The seven chose a detail about sumalak. She teaches those seven with her finger on the text while the others work in pairs.
Insight. A wrong option that names a typical error (choosing a detail) turns a score into a teaching decision.
Falling objects in Grade 7
Scene. Aziz in Tashkent asks 38 pupils to choose which of two balls, a heavy and a light one, lands first when dropped together, and to give one reason. About a third pick the heavy ball. Instead of correcting them, he plans to drop a heavy and a light notebook, then screw one page into a ball, and let the pupils predict again in pairs before he explains anything.
Insight. A diagnostic shows the misconception; a good next step lets pupils test it, not just hear the correct answer.
The slow reader in Grade 9
Scene. In Samarkand, Dilnoza gives a three-line history question. One boy leaves it blank, and she notices that he has been in the 'not yet' pile three times. She asks him the same question aloud in the corridor, and he answers it correctly with a reason. The next day she shortens the written questions and underlines the key words for everyone.
Insight. If the same pupils keep landing in the lowest pile, check the question's language load before judging the pupils.
Common pitfalls
- Asking a question that only checks recall, so wrong answers show nothing about the misconception.
- Making the groups permanent and visible, so pupils feel labelled for the whole term.
- Sorting by the answer alone and ignoring the reason line, so lucky guesses and rule-following pass as understanding.
- Collecting diagnostic papers and never using them, so pupils stop taking the question seriously.
Sort the Responses and Plan the Next Lesson
- Open the Activity Kit: 12 sample pupil answers to one Grade 6 fractions question. In trios, sort them into SECURE, NEARLY and NOT YET and name the error behind each NOT YET answer (15 min).
- Whole group (10 min): compare sorts. Where did you disagree and why? Agree what each pile needs in the next 40-minute lesson.
- Pairs (20 min): choose a real topic you will teach next week. Write one diagnostic question with a short reason line, say what a correct answer looks like, and fill in the three-pile planner.
- Second short activity (15 min): swap questions with another pair. Answer it as a pupil who holds the misconception. Does your wrong answer show the misconception clearly? Improve the question together.
- Alone (10 min): write your school-based task from the Kit and the date of the lesson in which you will run the diagnostic.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which pupil answers were hardest to place, and what did that teach you about the question?
- What would you do for the NOT YET pile in a real 40-minute lesson with 35 pupils, and how many minutes would it need from you?
- How could a pupil end up in the same pile every time, and how will you prevent it?
Reflect
- In which of your topics do you already know, from experience, what the three piles would look like?
- What do you do now when half the class has not understood? What would you change?
- Which pupils might hide what they know because of the language of the question?
Try it tomorrow
- Write one diagnostic question with three wrong options that each show a different misconception, and test it on a colleague.
- Run it in your next lesson, sort the papers into three piles in under five minutes, and write one line per pile.
- At the end of the following lesson, ask the same question again and note how many pupils changed piles.
Further reading and links
Ask one good question, sort the answers into three piles, name the error in each, and give each pile one next step. Regroup next time.