Therefore, I decided to change it slightly and on a "boarding ticket", I had one end as "what do I know already?" used as the starter activity. Students jot down any previous knowledge from the topic or infer from clues. Then the middle part (which is the largest) has the key question on it or learning objective. As an exit pass, students fill this in as best they can, in their own words, drawing upon what they also previously knew, if possible.
However, it does not stop there, because on the other end of the ticket is a small section named "feedback" and, as a follow up starter, peers have to assess the answer to the key question and provide feedback on the answer.
It is only then that it is handed to the teacher for a final time and, as a variation, if peers think and can justify that their partner has understood the key question, it can go in an "entry accepted" pile, but if not, it must go on the "entry denied" pile.
You could then follow this up in a number of ways, perhaps having those who have been successful in answering the key question, teaching those who have not, or even re-teaching part of the topic yourself, if there are many common misconceptions.
I have found this to be much more worthwhile than simply handing a post-it note as an exit pass, which, do not get me wrong, I still use and are great, but sometimes we just need a little more detail.
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