Get Students Involved in Assessment with the Graffiti Wall
Every teacher knows the importance of assessment—but how do we get students more involved in the assessment process? One engaging answer is the Graffiti Wall strategy.
Developed by Brian Steel, the Graffiti Wall is a formative assessment tool that empowers students to create questions, review content, and cite evidence—all while working collaboratively. It not only helps teachers check for understanding, but it also encourages students to become active participants in assessment and learning.
What Is the Graffiti Wall?
The Graffiti Wall is a classroom strategy where students rotate around the room answering and writing questions. Teachers begin by posting questions at different stations, often near visual supports such as process grids, input charts, or poems. Students work in teams to answer the questions and then create a new question in the same format.
Over the course of the activity, students both answer and design a variety of questions—true/false, multiple choice, matching, short answer, or even sketch-and-write. By the end, the classroom “graffiti wall” is filled with student thinking, questions, and answers.
Why Use the Graffiti Wall?
This strategy provides benefits for both students and teachers:
Student-Developed Assessments: Students get hands-on practice writing and answering questions, which builds buy-in and ownership of learning.
Alignment to Standards: Many standards ask students to generate and answer questions. The Graffiti Wall makes this expectation authentic and engaging.
Exposure to Question Types: By practicing with different formats, students become more comfortable and confident when they see those types of questions on more formal assessments.
Formative Data for Teachers: Teachers can analyze student-created questions to see where misconceptions might be, which concepts need review, and how well students understand the content.
Most importantly, students are thinking deeply about the material, reviewing content in meaningful ways, and strengthening critical thinking skills.
How to Set Up the Graffiti Wall
Prepare Questions: Write one question per student group, using different formats (multiple choice, extended response, true/false, sketch-and-write, etc.).
Post Around the Room: Place each question at a station, ideally next to charts or resources that contain the answers.
Team Rotation: Students work in teams to answer the posted question and cite their evidence. Then they create a new question in the same format.
Rotate and Repeat: Teams move clockwise around the room, answering classmates’ questions and adding new ones.
Collect & Review: At the end, gather the student-created questions. Use them as a formative check or even include some in future assessments.
Graffiti Wall in Action
Imagine a second-grade class studying the 13 Colonies. At one station, the posted question asks: “List the Southern Colonies.” Students check the process grid, write their answer, and cite the chart as evidence. Then, as a team, they create a new question—perhaps “Which colonies belonged to New England?”
When the signal is given, they rotate to the next station, where they answer another team’s question and write a new one of their own. By the end, the class has built a rich wall of questions and answers together, reviewing content in a way that is active, collaborative, and fun.
The Impact
The Graffiti Wall transforms assessment from something that is done to students into something done with them. Students become question-writers, evidence-citers, and active participants in their own learning journey. Teachers gain insight into student understanding, while students gain ownership of the content and confidence in their ability to engage with assessments.
Ready to try it? Introduce the Graffiti Wall in your next unit and watch how your students’ engagement and thinking grow—one question at a time. Check it out in action here:
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