Hi,
We will be taking our first STAAR tests of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we will be revising and editing passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of a one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). On Wednesday, we will revise and edit some more passages using a multiple choice format and will be planning, drafting, revising, editing, and writing the final copy of another one page composition (either a personal narrative or an essay). The children have been working hard and are ready to show off their awesome writing talents! I am excited for them.
Some things to remember:
No cell phones are allowed in the classroom. If your child has a cell phone in his/her backpack, then they will need to turn it into me and I will turn it into the office. All phones will be returned at the end of the day. The teachers will also be turning in their cell phones. Be sure that NO cell phones are left in back packs.
No visitors are allowed past the office tomorrow to be sure that our testing areas are secure. Please don't plan to come and eat lunch with your child.
Our school will be offering free breakfast in our cafeteria all this week from 7:15-7:45am. Be sure that your child has a healthy breakfast.
We will be testing for three hours then stopping for lunch (about 30 minutes earlier than our normal lunch time)and then we will test for one hour more for a total of four hours.
Your child may bring in a healthy, clean snack and a water bottle. (Nothing that will leave fingerprints on the test) If he/she needs a snack, he/she will need to stop testing, give me his/her test and answer dccument, and eat neatly and quickly at his/her desk. The time will not be stopped for snack breaks or bathroom breaks, it will only stop for lunch.
I have encouraged the children to take mental breaks as needed. They can put their head down for a few minutes, go take a drink from the water fountain, or go to the bathroom, then come back to their desk to get back to work.
The directions for the composition will come first on the test and then the passages to revise and edit. I will be reading all of the directions and then they are on their own to manage their time and get it all done in four hours. We have talked about reading the directions for the prompts very carefully so they know whether they are writing a personal narrative or an essay. Personal narratives will have the words "write about a time...." and the words "write about a personal experience" in the directions. Essays will have the words "explain" and the words "include a central idea". I am suggesting that they use their time in the following way. They will have to plan their composition by creating a graphic organizer, they will draft their composition, they will revise their composition (add details, show, not tell,include a strong conclusion, etc...) and they will edit their composition (check for correct sentence structure, paragraphs, spelling, capitals, punctuation, etc...)Then they will work on their multiple choice sections carefully. Finally, they will reread their rough draft and make any necessary changes and improvements. Lastly, they will write their final copy in their neatest handwriting with good spacing and they need to be sure to reread their final copy. They need to check that they didn't skip words or write words twice, and that it is the way that they want it.
Thank you so much for encouraging them this year in their writing. I am very proud of their progress and know that they are going to shine!
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
No comments:
Post a Comment