Villa Maria School PARCC Newsletter
Edition II
Practice Makes Prepared
We are all familiar with the phrase "practice makes perfect", but our mantra for PARCC this spring at Villa should be "practice makes prepared". We need to give our students the best opportunity to showcase the academic skills they have learned this school year and make the information they are going to encounter on the test familiar to them. The best way to accomplish that task is to have them practice items similar to assessment items in the classroom so they have been exposed to the content prior to the test.
New information is mastered through practice and repetition. Doug Lemov the author of Teach Like a Champion refers to term the AT BATS, as an analogy to baseball. He describes the best way to teach someone how to hit a baseball is to show them the basics, and give them as many "at bats" as possible until they are able to swing quick at level with their eyes closed. We want our students to have as many "at bats" as they can so they can knock the ball out of the PARCC (pun intended). Providing more opportunities for practice will also lower the level of anxiety students will feel when they are taking the test because it will be more familiar to them.
PARCC has released a series of practice assessments to assist schools in preparing for the assessment. http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/. Please review the site and give your students a practice test so they can familiarize themselves with the assessment. The practice tests can also be utilized in the media center/computer lab to help prepare for the eventual switch to an online assessment.
In addition to the practice assessments PARCC has also publicly released prior test items, student responses, and scoring guides. These items will give us a better understanding of what students need to do in order to demonstrate mastery of the common core standards and how that translates into success on the assessments. https://prc.parcconline.org/assessments/parcc-released-items?utm_source=PARCC+Updates+1-23-2016&utm_campaign=1.23.16+PARCC+Updates&utm_medium=email
Changes from 2015 to 2016
In the spring 2015 administration the test was given in two parts PBA and EOY. In 2016 these two tests will be consolidated into one testing window.
Although the window is consolidated, some of the testing units can vary from 60 up to 110 mins. Please work on building your students' stamina for completing elongated academic tasks in the classroom.
March Math Madness
MSDE will conducting a Math Webinar Series each week in the month of March
- March 1st Using Technology to Support the Learner-centered Mathematics Classroom
- March 9th Using Close Reading Strategies to Solve Math Word Problems
- March 16th and 23rd Questioning and Discussion Techniques in the Elementary Math Classroom -Part 1&2
- March 30th What does the PARCC Assessment Ask Students To Do? How can you help your students be better prepared for the test format?
To register: http://.bit.ly/2016MATH
Important Dates
MSA Science
- March 2-15
MSDE Teacher PARCC Webinar
- December 12th 3:30 - 4:30
- http://bit.ly/1TwavcD (link for registration)
PARCC Assessment Spring Administration
- April 4th - May 13th (paper-based 1st two weeks of window)
High School Assessment (HSA) May 23rd- May 24th
- May 23 Government
- May 24 Biology