Test Taking as a Genre

NOTE: This blog is not finished. I will be updating this page throughout the summer.

“. . .if we think about the test as a sort of genre, bizarre though it is, we could teach kids how to negotiate it in much the same way that we teach them how to negotiate any other genre.”
~Donna Santman
POWERPOINT

Last year, the new strategies applied in reading instruction in my classroom focused on helping struggling readers to grow. My research found two resources topics that proved helpful.

1. Fluency: I used DIBELS (requires registration; click on FREE testing materials) and easyCBM to practice and measure fluency on a consistent basis. The DIBELS provided a large number of passages to record words per minute. Also, the narrative format of most of the selections served as models for writing.

2. Visual Vocabulary: I used articles from Highlights, Cricket, Hopscotch and Ranger Rick children's magazines to introduce a wide variety of content as reading material. The difficult words from the passages were introduced and practiced with picture/word flashcards made for the SmartBoard and cloze sentences as homework and testing material. The SmartBoard files were also printed and used as flashcards for students to practice in class and at home. NOTE: Google and Yahoo offer image searches. Simply search for your word and scroll to select an appropriate image.

My students showed high growth and above expected success on the End of Grade tests. However, I see areas that they need to achieve more. This summer, I am going to research and find resources to help me provide better instruction and practice with Content Question Stems- including question/answer relationship and Test Taking Tips.

Research Sites for Test Taking Tips (QAR - Question Answer Relationships and Distractors)

• Put Thinking to the Test (online book)
  
• Mission Literacy


• Like to Read


• Platinum GMAT
• Test Talk PowerPoint


• NC EOG Question Stems


• Richard Allington


• K-8 Visual Reading


• BulletRead


• Speed Reading for Kids


• Self Growth


• BackWoods


• Rocket Reader


• Rocket Reader software


• Reading Comprehension software also science and math


• Video Teacher Guide Test Taking Tips


• Contest Clues


• Info on Misconceptions and Student Errors ****


• Lesson Plans and Answer Choice Categories


• Writing Test Questions and Answer


• Teaching Hasty Test Takers to Think


• NAEP Question Stems and Student Misconceptions
• Conventions of Non-Fiction Text
• Lesson Plans Map
• Test Talk
• Coding Non-Fiction Texts
• Textmapping Lesson for Non-Fiction
• How to Mark Non-Fication Text for Conventions
• Examples of Michigan Question Stems and Descriptors
• Standardized Test Publishers

Continued Resources for Vocabulary and Fluency
Learning Vocabulary through song
GREAT example

What about Read Alouds?
"Remember: There are many "band-aids" that can be applied to cover over reading difficulties - from reading books aloud to reluctant readers to using audio tapes, but the only real solution is to give these kids materials they can read and the skills to tackle that reading with success."

http://www.hip-books.com/teachers.php?p=155

Reaching Reluctant Readers by Paul Kropp

For young students, reading aloud is an effective way to foster comprehension of written language, concept development, and oral language development (Bus, van Ijzendoorn and Pellegrini 1995; Dickinson and Smith 1994).

At the same time, classroom observations reveal that a read-aloud session by itself is not sufficient to increase comprehension. To understand a text, students must be able to relate both their existing knowledge to the words and ideas in the text, and to understand how different kinds of text ‘work’.

This can be a challenging task, especially for students with limited oral language vocabularies (Whitehurst et al. 1994). For read-aloud sessions to be most productive, they should be accompanied by a focused teacher-student talk. The value of talk around book reading is in the way it helps students gain experience with abstract and decontextualised language (i.e. the language used in books to represent ideas and concepts) (Beck and McKeown 2001).

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READ WRITE THINK - Using pictures for Questioning

Tools to Create:

• Interactive Games

1. Oswego

Gamequarium

Ben and his book about Harry Potter

Find the story on BEN . . . . .
Show how working hard and reading higher level books helped him overcome DYSLEXIA.

He has written a book . . . MY YEAR WITH HARRY POTTER.

Great inspirational video for struggling readers!

Learning Upgrade

Find reading demos - - - long word chunking, short vowels, great for SMARTBOARD!

Another section for COMPREHENSION!

NOTE: This product is linked to:
Let's Go Learn

Turtle Dash Blend Game

This game can be played with 4 players. If you have 4 computers in the classroom, (SMARTBOARD counts as 1) . . . . then you can play a game with 3 other students at the same time. HOW EXCITING!

In the lab, assign teams of 4. Assign a leader for each team. The leader creates the game. Each team must have a different password!

Classroom Tools.Net

Classroom Tools - Build your own custom flash activities and games!

Turn a Page -

Reading Keys Assessment Online

Use this online assessment to determine level of instruction for Reading Keys Vocabulary.

Learning Today

Sample Interactive Reading Lessons! Levels K-4

• Highly interactive
• Large format for SmartBoard
• Reads text aloud online
• Includes instruction, practice and assessment
  

Also includes FREE Games online!

Whaddaya Know Quiz Show

Great Computer Ongoing Activity:










WHADDAYA KNOW QUIZ SHOW - Students can register (FREE but requires E-mail address) and collect points. They earn certificates which can be viewed or e-mailed from a list of games

Teachers can make custom quizzes also.

Story Plant

Use this BBC site to write a story with your class.

Chicken Stacker

Child matches vowel sounds.

I Can Read Game

Build basic reading skills with I CAN READ GAME. Choose NOVICE or INTERMEDIATE level. Online audio support reads the highlighted words in a sentence. Then, child clicks on the word heard.

Brain Sparks

Register for a FREE 5-day trial.

BrainSpark is a family of interactive learning programs designed to maximize your child's learning potential by building the cognitive skills critical to improving brain fitness: Sequencing, Processing rate, Attention, Recall and memory, and Knowledge.

After completing BrainSpark Learning, participants are prepared to listen, think, learn to read or become better readers and can have the ability to follow directions and take tests better.

• Improved Self-esteem, including participation in classroom and group activities as well as enthusiasm about school.
• Better Listening and Understanding, including response time to questions, ability to follow the flow of conversation, and humor comprehension.
• Clear Communication, including pronunciation, participation in conversation, vocabulary, spontaneity, and ability to stay on topic.
• Enhanced Reading Skills, including recollection of details and event sequence, ability to understand complex sentences, and confidence when reading aloud.
• Academic Achievement, including sounding out new words and spelling as well as attention span, writing, and math.
• Stronger Memory, including better retention and recall of phone numbers, event sequences, and details.

Building Language and Literacy

Scholastic sponsored activities focused on vocabulary and language development. Each character shares a group of games relating to vocabulary, letter/words, or rhymes.

Roy: Tale of a Singing Zebra

ROY READING GAMES: Find interactive reading games on this site that are ideal for developing reading skills of emergent readers. The reading games are large format and suitable for SmartBoard, or computer, at school or at home. Registration is requested.

Choose games by word level and sentence level. To find a game quickly please use the 'quick game finder'.

Software is also available for less than $10. (The Long Vowels games are demos and can only be played after downloading the software. Free 5 day trial.

Guided Reading lessons for Roy the Singing Zebra include nine delightful stories about following your dreams, making friends and seeking adventure. The online stories have been developed to make learning to read enjoyable and fun for emerging readers. Use the stories with your interactive whiteboard or computer, at school or at home.

The stories come complete with guided reading discussion sheets that can be used to discuss the story before and after reading each part. In addition, there are also printable literacy worksheets focusing on specific learning objectives (e.g. capital letters, full stops and words that rhyme).

Totlol Video

Totlol is a video website designed specifically for children. It is community moderated. It is constantly growing. It is powered by YouTube.

The videos were submitted, screened and rated by parents. The selection is huge and if you like, you can participate too.

Totlol is literally Video-on-Demand. Many educational content titles. Requires subscription. One month = $3 or One year = $18

Reading Ware

Reading Ware is a subscription based online pre-primer reader collection.

Vocabulary Cartoons

• Teaching Strategies to use with book
• Example of techniques demonstrated in cartoon

Vocabulary Cartoons works on the principle of mnemonics. A mnemonic is a device that helps you remember something by associating what you are trying to remember with something you already know. A mnemonic device could be in many different forms like; rhymes, songs, pictures to name a few. For example, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two" is a classic mnemonic rhyme which helps you remember when Columbus discovered America.

Following the mnemonic principle of association, Vocabulary Cartoons link together an auditory (rhyming) word association and a visual association in the form of a humorous cartoon. These powerful mnemonics help students retain the meanings of words longer and with less effort than trying to memorize definitions straight out of a dictionary.

Headsprout

Click here for sample lessons from HEADSPROUT! Also, Home Free Trial available for your preview!

• Free READY TO READ downloadable stories.


• Online Materials
  • 80 adaptive online episodes• Ability to repeat or reset episodes• 80 online stories and over 400 printable flash cards• Secure, automated assessment and performance reports• Email and telephone instructional and technical support

Purchase subscription prices:

Home - single copy of lessons 1-40 ($99 with installment plan available)

Into the Book

http://reading.ecb.org/index.html

This highly interactive site will engage students while teaching them about comprehension strategies. The student pages introduce:

• PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
• MAKING CONNECTIONS
• QUESTIONING
• VISUALIZING
• INFERRING
• SUMMARIZING
• EVALUATING
• SYNTHESIZING
• USING STRATEGIES TOGETHER

The teacher pages give lesson ideas (Gradual Release Lesson Plan ), extra demonstration videos, downloads for songs and lyrics, previews of the student interactive activity, and much more.

For example, the lesson plan to introduce PRIOR KNOWLEDGE incorporates a STUDENT VIDEO with a featured text, viewing timing and discussion questions, and a themed song. Program Synopsis: In this episode, Mrs. Pingel teaches the students the strategy of activating prior knowledge. During a read-aloud of The Story of Kate Shelley, Emmet is so engaged that he goes "into the book" and helps Kate. He then uses the strategy to help him with his rock climbing.