Prepping for the Test

It seems like everything we're doing right now circulates around preparing for ISTEP and IREAD. Test taking strategies, constructed response formats, working in a time frame, reading longer passages, taking tests on a computer, writing math procedures... So much goes into getting the kids comfortable to sit down and take a lengthy, high stakes test. And no matter how we feel about the testing itself, we want them to feel as though they can tackle whatever "The Test Lady" throws at them.

The good news is, even with all this test preparation, it's not sacrificing quality instruction and the learning of skills to be successful next year. We'll still do reading, writing, and math--there will just be time set aside to show how test questions could be asked about what we're doing! (PS--Science and Social Studies will be taught too! But since we don't test over them, I won't tie it into test taking prep).

Things We're Doing In Class To Prepare:
*IREAD practice test (coming soon)
*ISTEP practice reading test (closer to the multiple choice test in May)
*Daily Reading Review
*Reading lessons:  reading longer passages, finding the answer in the text, constructed responses, multiple choice questions
*Reading small groups:  targeted practice on skills that need support
*Online reading tests
*IREAD practice packets
*Writing prompts:  how to answer a prompt, prewriting, organizing into paragraphs, editing, grading
*Daily Math Review
*Math problem solving:  multi-step problems, explain how you solved, key words
*Math work stations:  leveled activities to brush up on difficult skills based on the Math AYP
*Multiple Choice practice:  how to read, 50/50 strategy, go back to the text
*Reading/Math/Grammar practice book:  worksheets and games to be completed every two weeks

Things You Can Do At Home:
*Homework
*Moby Max:  both reading and math (Login information:  Username--96 number, Password--last name in all capital letters)
*Optional practice packets
*Open ended question practice:  criteria, ideas, and procedures will be coming home in the next two weeks
*Word games
*Read and ask questions
*ISTEP questions from previous years

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Keep checking out the blog for ideas for how to prepare!

IREAD Parent Meeting Thursday, January 23rd at 8:45 and 6:00. Please plan to attend.

ISTEP/IREAD Practice

A whole extra week of Winter Break! As much as I LOVED the extra time with Emily, we were going pretty stir crazy. It's amazing what a trip to Target can do when you've been stuck inside for three days!

But with this week off, I've done lots of planning, creating, and Pinterest-ing for ideas to make practicing for our upcoming standardized tests meaningful, targeted, and fun. It's going to be an intense couple of months! Our third grade team has already collaborated on some practice packets, which you'll see coming home soon.

We're really targeting the open ended questions:
*Reading Response:  Read a lengthy passage and answer a question using evidence from the text (length:  approximately 8-10 sentences)
*Writing:  Write a story from your life with a focus on organization and word choice
*Math:  multi-step problems solving and explaining how to solve the problem

For in-class practice, I'll be creating binders that will change each week (Reading will change every other week).
*4 Reading Activities
*1 Reading Game
*4 Grammar/Phonics Activities
*4 Math Activities
*1 Math Game

But this is where I'll need your help! Putting these binders together is a pretty laborious project, and while I think it's HUGELY important, any help you can provide would be much appreciated!
--Run copies
--Change out the activities (These will be switched out of the plastic page protectors each week)

Send me a note or email to let me know if you're interested in helping out. The binders will change every Friday, but whenever you're available will be great!

Point of View

This week our writing has focused on Point of View. We've looked at the similarities and differences between 1st person and 3rd person. We sorted books based on the POV.

And then we started writing from different points of view. I've attached the dogs power point that we used in class. The kids wrote 3-5 sentence stories from a third person POV about the picture. Then they switched to 1st person and they pretended they were the dog. This a great activity to do with any picture!

Dogs Point of View
(all images are from Google)

Order in the Court

On Friday, Judge Burleson came for a question/answer session with the class. For 45 minutes, she entertained the kids with stories from her career, legal vocabulary, and connections to The Trial of Cardigan Jones. Thanks so much for volunteering to come in--the kids learned so very much!

Since the kids were so excited about everything they had learned, we wrapped up our crime scene from Monday with a trial. The kids looked at the evidence and drew conclusions based on what they observed. Four people were accused:  a random stranger, Emily (my daughter), Mr. Mastain, and me.

The class was divided into lawyer teams based on who they were accusing and used the evidence based statements to support these accusations. The jury decided which team gave the most convincing argument. And I pulled out my college graduation robe to be the "judge."

The jury

Key pieces of evidence:  books knocked over, scribbles on the whiteboard, footprints, and a piece of hair

Winning argument:  The only lawyer team that didn't focus on the footprints in the rug.

Winning team

CSI

Monday morning, this is what the kids found in our classroom...

Begin crime scene investigation...

This week our reading strategies are Inferring and Drawing Conclusions. On Monday, the kids wrote observations about the crime scene. No inferring what happened or why. Just observations! Then Tuesday, we used those observations to draw conclusions about what happened and who created the mess in our room. Friday's lesson will focus on using these observations as evidence to write sentences. A huge part of reading this year is using the text to support your responses, so we created a list of sentence starters to do so. Since we didn't have text for this activity, we used our observations!

This activity provided the students a real life reason to observe. Then those observations were used as evidence to support their conclusions. This is also an easy activity to recreate at home to have your child practice these thinking strategies! We'll do more detective work as the year goes on, so students get used to looking for evidence within the text.

Evidence Sentence Starters
*On page _______, it said...
*The author wrote...
*For instance...
*According to the text...
*From the reading, I know that...
*For example...
*Based on what I read...
*The graphic showed...
*Based on the illustration...

Retelling

This week, we're reading the story A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech. It's a humorous fiction story about an enthusiastic principal  who keeps adding more school...weekends, holidays, and the summer!

from Amazon

We'll be studying story elements and retelling this week. Attached are two graphic organizers to help students identify story elements (character, setting, problem, and solution) and retell the story. Keep in mind, the these responses should be in complete sentences. I also tell the students that each section of the retelling should have two or more sentences in it.

Retelling Graphic Organizers
from CFClassroom.com and Journeys Reading Series