I wrote recently about using reciprocal teaching as a way for students to make their own meaning after reading (and re-reading) as an alternative to repeating back to them what they already read in the textbook the night before. Another simple checking-for-understanding strategy that I use after students read is something I call the Round Robin. I learned this strategy from a math consultant that worked at my previous district, and I feel it's a great way to get students engaged in their own learning. Here's how it works:
1) Write a series of "question and answer" cards, with an answer first and a question second. The catch is that the answer on a card is NOT the answer to the question that is on the same card; it's an answer to another question on another card. Check out the example below to see what that look likes. (The example below was written for my AP Environmental Science class, and the goal was to review an entire chapter, which is why it's so long. Normally I write these to be only about 15-20 questions long.)
(If you notice in the example above, the question written at the bottom of each card is answered by the answer on the next card. What I do is write the questions in "sequence" like this just for ease of keeping track of what question goes with what answer. Also note that the answer to the last question is on the first card.)
2) Cut out each card (each one will contain an answer and a question).
3) Mix up the cards so they are not in the order they were written (if you wrote them sequentially like I did).
4) Number the now mixed-up cards.
5) Make an answer sheet so students can keep track of their answers when they are experiencing the joy that is the Round Robin.
6) Hang up the cards in any order around your room.
Students can start at any card, but they need to note what number card at which they start. Students answer the question at their first card, and then go and hunt down the answer to that question on another card. They then answer the question below their newly-found answer, and so on and so forth until they have visited all of the cards. Students know they have gotten all of the answers correct if they end up at the card at which they started, making this a self-checking activity.
Round Robins can be used the like one above to review concepts and content after reading, or they can be used to practice and review skills, like this oneI wrote about transcription and translation. I also plan on using a Round Robin as a review of Punnet squares in Biology, and I used these quite regularly when I taught basic physics when we were working on math skills.
A good Round Robin also gets students up and engaged with their own learning. I often simply stand in the center of my room during one of these activities, and, as students wander by looking for an answer, field any questions they have about the content and concepts being assessed in the Round Robin. I have to say that this is, for me, much better than standing up in front of students talking and watching them write down things without reaching any real understanding and then wondering if anyone is really listening to you after about ten minutes.
I know some people like to lecture, but, like I've said before, lecture isn't my thing. My thing is having students doing the learning, and that's what this type of activity accomplishes.