Pit Crew Training Session

1. Pit Crew Training Session Parent Meeting February 27, 2012 5:30-6:30 pm

2. Welcome Message • Mrs. Gorman (principal) • Ms. Enzor (school counselor) • Ideas to help your child with EOG tests

3. NC State Testing Program: EOG’s What is the EOG? • Curriculum based multiple-choice achievement tests • Each test is aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study and includes a variety of strategies to measure achievement. • Required by the NCDPI and driven by “No Child Left Behind” legislation

4. NC State Testing Program • When are the tests? • Tests are given the last three weeks of the school year; the dates are mandated by NCDPI. • May 16-24 – EOG test window • May 29-June 6 – Retest window

5. NC State Testing Program Where/ How long? The tests are taken in school, during the school day and will begin at 8:45am. Students that arrive late will not be admitted to classrooms. Est. time Maximum w/o accommodations EOG Reading 3-8 140 240 EOG-Math Calculator Active 3-7 135 240 EOG-Math Calculator Inactive 3-7 60 150 EOG Science 5 130 240

6. NC State Testing Program Who? • ALL students grades 3-8 are tested in reading and math. • ALL grade 5 students are tested in science.

7. EOG Scores • You will receive a copy of your child’s test results from the school after WCPSS sends the scores to us. • The scores range from 1-4. There are no 3*’s. • Your child’s performance report will describe each level.

8. Levels 1-4 • Students scoring a Level 3 or 4 have met or exceeded state standards. • Students who score a level 1 or 2 on the EOG are considered not proficient in that subject area. • Students who score a level 2 will be required to take Retest 1 given the week after the first EOG testing sessions. The higher of the two scores will count. • If the student scores a level 1, parents can opt to have the student retest. A letter will be sent home prior to testing for parents to choose to retest.

9. What can I do as a parent? • Doing well on the test is easier if a student has been consistently completing school assignments. Encourage your child to complete homework each day. Check to make sure it is done. • Make sure your child attends school regularly unless he/she is ill. Students can fall behind if they miss just a day or two every few weeks. • Lay out your child’s clothes the night before the test. Make sure they are temperature- appropriate and comfortable. • Make sure your child gets 8-10 hours of sleep regularly and particularly the nights before testing.

10. What can I do as a parent? • Provide a nourishing breakfast (watch the sugar!) • Avoid arguments the morning of the tests if at all possible. • Arrive early at school for testing. • Teach test anxiety management (imagery, deep breathing.) • Maintain enthusiasm, praise, and at times, small rewards for giving their best effort in spite of feeling worried.

11. What can I do as a parent? • Teach your child to challenge negative thoughts. • This can be done by looking at the evidence against the negative thought. • Negative Thought: I’m going to fail this test” or “I do badly on every test.” • Parent Comeback: “Do you really fail every test?” or “What is likely to happen if you study?”

12. Helpful websites • http://www.wcpss.net/curriculum-instruction/make_the_grade/ (Math & reading lessons for grades 3-5) • http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/eog/ (Everything you ever wanted to know about EOGs!) • http://www.wcpss.net/cass/counseling/parent-student-resources/ (Test taking tips and study skills)

13. Math Advice • Mrs. Turner (intervention) • Basic Facts • QISWA • Real-life Math

14. Example of QISWA Mrs. Gainey needs to buy string for 5 students to do a science activity. Each student needs 2 feet of blue string and 1 foot of red string. How many yards of string does Mrs. Gainey need to buy? • 3 yards • 4 yards • 5 yards • 8 yards Q: I am looking to find the number of yards Mrs. Gainey has to buy. I: 5 students and each student needs 2 feet of blue and 1 foot of red S: I am going to use computation. I can multiply and also add. W: 5 x 2 = 10 feet of blue 5 x 1 = 5 feet of red 5+ 10 = 15 feet of string in all A: 15 feet of string. Uh-oh, I need to find number of yards, not feet. 15  3 = 5 yards, because there are 3 feet in one yard. The answer is 5 yards, choice C.

15. EOG Preparation • Miss Edwards (teacher) • Mrs. Wenzel (teacher) • Sample Reading Question • Sample Math Question • Answer Options and Strategies Reading EOG: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/2003/grade3/read.htm Math EOG: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/2003/grade3/math.htm EOG Dates: Wednesday, May 16 - Reading Thursday, May 17- Math Calculator Active Friday, May 18 – Math Calculator Inactive Make-Ups: Week of May 22

16. Sample EOG Questions (Math) I chose this answer because I counted each of the edges. 1. How many edges does a cube have? • 12 • 8 • 6 • 4 2. John planted corn in rows. He planted 16 corn plants in the first row, 24 in the second row and 32 in the third row. If the pattern continues, how many corn plants will he plan in the fifth row? • 40 • 48 • 56 • 72 3. Kevin has an apple, an orange, and a banana. He is only allowed to have 2 fruits for his snack. How many different combinations of 2 fruits could Kevin choose for his snack? • 2 • 3 • 6 • 9 Each row increases by 8 because I continued the pattern. Row 4 would have 40, so row 5 has 48. I listed all the combinations for Kevin to eat 2 fruits at snack. Apple + orange, apple + banana, and orange + banana.

17. Reading Help • Miss Klingbeil (teacher) • Ms. Hamaker (Title 1 instructor) • Ms. Grzeszczak (teacher) • Read-Think-Write • Decoding • Comprehension

18. Read-Think-Write • Purpose: • To keep students engaged, thinking, and comprehending while reading the text • To improve accuracy in responding to questions

19. What Read-Think-Write Looks Like What Read, Think, and Write looks like: • making comments • to “think aloud” while reading • write the main idea of a paragraph • making connections • to show relevant prior knowledge • to use their schema to make sense of new information • asking questions before, during, after reading • to clarify meaning • to consider rhetorical questions inspired by the text • to focus their attention on important parts of the text • making predictions • to speculate about the text yet to be read • to show they are thinking about the text

20. Four-Leaf Clover by Kelly Hashway Erin held her four-leaf clover in the palm of her hand so the group of kids hovering around her could see it. “Why is it lucky?” Donnie asked. “Four-leaf clovers are hard to find,” Erin said. “I searched my grandparent’s backyard for hours looking for this one.” “But how do you know it’s lucky?” Donnie asked. Erin shrugged. “I just know.” She couldn’t think of a way to describe it, but she felt lucky and she figured it was because of the four-leaf clover. “Let’s test it,” Joannie said. “How?” Erin asked. Joannie looked around the school grounds. Trees lined the fence behind the swings. “We could all try to catch the leaves when they fall off the trees. Everyone knows it’s lucky to catch a leaf before it falls to the ground.” “Okay,” Erin said. “First one to catch a leaf wins.” “Five minutes left in recess!” Mrs. Roberts yelled. “We better hurry,” Joannie said. Example of Read-Think-Write This reminds me of last year, when the girls in my class searched the playground for four-leaf clovers. I wish our playground had swings! Why is it lucky?

21. Responding to Questions What responding to questions looks like: • rewriting questions in their own words • marking key words in the question ie. (most likely, least likely) • eliminating incorrect choices and explaining why it is not correct. • when appropriate, highlight the answer in the text and write the corresponding question number by the text. • writing definitions of words to better understand the question

22. Responding to QuestionsExample This means to play against someone and win What happened right after the leaf-catching competition began? a. Erin caught a red leaf. b. Erin tripped and fell down. c. The wind blew Erin’s four-leaf clover away. d. Erin made a wish. Right after they started the leaf-catching competition, what happened? Erin caught a red leaf at the end. This happened before the competition. This happened at the end.

23. Decoding Strategies Eagle Eye • Look at the pictures for clues. Skippy Frog • Skip the word (“skip it, skip it”) • Read to the end of the sentence. • “Hop back” and think of a word that makes sense. Flippy Dolphin • Try another vowel sound made by the letter • Try another sound made by the letter Stretchy Snake • Stretch the sounds out slowly. • Put the sounds together to figure out the word. Chunky Monkey • Look for a “chunk” that you know (-ing, -and, -art, -old) • Look for a word part (-er, be-)

24. Spot and Dot This technique enables students to divide multisyllable words into smaller parts that they can pronounce. • Identify the vowels in the word. • independent • Divide up the consonants between the vowels • in-de-pen-dent • Blend the parts together.

25. Homework and Agendas • Ms. Kulik (teacher) • Checking agendas and Tuesday folders • Reviewing homework • Website

26. Closing • Mrs. Gorman(principal) • Questions?