What works really well is going over some released test questions and teaching them HOW to answer the questions. A lot of it has to do with the language of the test. For example, a lot of students don't know that when it says "choose the best answer" that does NOT mean the answer you LIKE the best. There is a question that says, "Choose the title that is the best" and kids often just pick the one they like. So teaching the language really helps.
QAR (Question Answer Relationship) is another technique that helps not only with standardized tests, but ANY comprehension questions. And it really does help. I used it in the clinic last semester (I'm getting my reading specialist credential) and it really helped the student I was working with. It is important to teach this one correctly - you have to teach the ctegories first, then practice with a few and build on it, but it is really powerful. On 8/21/07, Maggie Dillier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I am not sure what I've decided! Some responses were helpful - i.e., while > teaching a strategy like making connections, work in a test-type question > at > the end of the minilesson - but my personal Achilles heel is not having a > year-long framework. I just start improvising and waste too much time! I > would be very afraid of not teaching all the types of questions > completely. > > Does anyone else have fresh insight into authentic, non-boring test prep? > > ~Maggie > 5th/TX > > > On 8/21/07, Melinda Haynes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I teach 5th LA/SS in TX, too....I am having the same questions!!!! What > > have you decided? > > > > Melinda Hawkins > > 5th Grade ELA/SS > > McCulloch Intermediate School > > Highland Park ISD > > (214) 780-2325 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >>> "Maggie Dillier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 07/21/07 16:13 PM >>> > > Hi all, > > I am thinking about how to best prepare my kids for the state reading > test > > this year. I don't want to do a very traditional, "here are the 12 types > > of > > questions and I'll cram passages down your throat for 12 weeks" approach > - > > I'd like to make it as authentic and workshop-esque as possible. > > > > Does any recommend *A Teacher's Guide to Standardized Reading Tests*: > > *Knowledge > > is Power*< > > > http://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Guide-Standardized-Reading-Tests/dp/032500000X/ref=sr_1_1/102-8169924-2470553?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185051526&sr=8-1 > > >by > > Lucy Calkins et al.? A review says it is strategies-based, but there > > isn't much more information about it. I did read *Test Talk: Integrating > > Test Preparation into the Reading Workshop *on the Stenhouse website, > but > > it > > was too general for my taste. I'd like to figure out, very > > specifically, when and how to integrate these lessons. Anyone have ideas > > or > > know the Calkins book? > > > > Thank you! > > ~Maggie > > 5th/TX > > > > -- > > Maggie Dillier > > > > -- > > Maggie Dillier > > > > "If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood > > and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for > the > > endless immensity of the sea." (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
