STAAR Testing Info for Parents
A Ninja Pig News Addendum
Greetings!
I have purposefully reviewed for STAAR during the past few weeks. We have not worked every day for long periods of time on STAAR items. Instead, we've focused on reading non-fiction and using the text features to find important information. We've read poetry and fiction to learn more about characters, themes, summaries, and other reading comprehension skills. In a nutshell, we've done our normal reading schedule.
The same has happened in math. We've had a daily math talk, worked on a concept, and reviewed old skills.
Since the STAAR test is a week away, we will look at the genre of testing this week. That means that we'll spend time reading and finding topics to write down. We'll focus on specific questioning in a passage. We'll take down our anchor posters around the room. We will get ready for the STAAR tests.
Keep these things in mind, when you start to worry or hear your child voice a concern about testing:
1. Your children have been working hard and are dedicated to doing their best.
2. We've spent time taking apart the genre of STAAR testing so we can study it and understand this unique way of showing what we know.
3. All of the curriculum that will be tested has been taught.
4. We've been using scantrons and testing at the end of reading and math units all year. Your children know what to expect.
5. We've also studied data and set goals along the way. Everyone knows what they needed to work on and they request concepts that still get them tangled up. That right there tells me that your children can handle this test. They KNOW their stuff!
These tests are one piece of your child's academic life. They just show you what your child could do on those particular days. You are going to see the results and think, "Well, I already knew that about my child."
Please read over the few things that will make your child relaxed and ready for testing.
What You Can Do At Home:
**Make sure all electronic devices are far away from them on these nights. Their favorite books need to be taken and put under your bed. TV's should be unplugged...rest is the focus for the night!
(Please be at school by 7:30 or earlier on these days. We will start the test promptly at 8:00 and students must be in their seats ready to go.)
2. Your children are going to need/want snacks and a water bottle on these two days. Snacks and drinks provide mental breaks from testing. Your child will need to have these. Please plan on providing multiple snacks and a water bottle full of water only on these two days. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT pack anything that leaves stains!! (Orange chip dust, applesauce, yogurts, etc.)
3. All snacks must be unwrapped and poured/placed into containers or baggies that make no noises. The room will be deathly quiet and those crinkly package sounds seem to be a thousand times louder on testing days. *All snacks and water bottles will be on the floor next to your child at all times.
4. Send in gum or lollipops/hard candy for extra concentration support. Make sure things aren't crinkly sounding and are ready to go. A pack of gum is quiet enough. (Send these items early so I can make sure your child has this concentration tool!)
5. If your child has a runny nose, send in a travel size pack of tissues. If they don't usually have an issue, don't bother. It gets in the way. Please send in tissues only if allergies are really a mess on these two days. *Students can't get up during testing when they want. They have to raise their hand and wait for me to get to them. This helps my drippers!!
6. Talk positively with your child about this test. In our room we call this a "Celebration of Knowledge" or a "show what you know" day. Give them a good breakfast (let them research good brain boosters and help them have that kind of start). Hug that cutie and send them to me.
7. Let your child dress in comfortable layers on these two days. They are sitting/standing for a long time. They'll need a light jacket in case they get cold. They will take their shoes off; so, if they like socks, make sure they've got a pair on. *They do wear shoes to the bathroom.
8. Students have been working on self-monitoring when they need to take a brain break, pacing for getting finished before the four hours are up, and checking work for problems that were tricky the first time through the test.
9. Expect them to act insane when they get home on these two afternoons. They have been giving 110% these two days. They WILL be crazy at sport practices or at home. It's going to happen. Please just hug them and give them a lot of grace on these two days.
10. No school visits on testing days. That will be Monday- Wednesday for 3-5th grades.
The Wednesday - Friday AFTER STAAR Testing Plan:
Bring in a game that you can play with friends or a toy that you want to show and share. (no video games please)
Thursday - Reading Fort Day!
Bring your Lovey or a Stuffed Animal + a flat sheet for building forts and reading all day! Of course, we'll do other things this day. It's just that everything will be done in a fort!
Friday - Water Balloon Battle Day!
We will be having our second annual water balloon battle on Friday morning at 9:45. We welcome parent participation or come and be our official photographers! (Please fill out the form on our May newsletter with your plans.)