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Reading for the Test
Lesson 17 of 18
Objective: Students will be able to determine central ideas and word meanings by reading and discussing a short Revolutionary text.
Big Idea: Ready, set, discuss--preparing for a skills test.
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Do Now: Are You Ready?
We're closing in on the goal, our first skills test. I ask students to check their progress: have they completed all the formative assessments for the skills in questions? Have they studied?
I require my students to complete all formative assessments before taking a test unless they can earn a 4, the highest score, on an early practice. This seems harsh to some students, but I encourage them to think of it like a sport--a football player wouldn't just show up on game day and hope it all worked out on the field.
Students check their PowerSchool grades while I take attendance, and I then ask for thumbs to show readiness: thumbs up = good to go; thumbs middle = more work to do; and thumbs down = lots of work to do.
For middle and down thumbs, I remind them of options. I'm available at lunch and after school for "emergency" tutor sessions before the test.
Reading for the Test
While the written test is tomorrow, students get a chance to work with their test text today. I offer them the opportunity to read, take notes, and bounce questions about basic word meanings and key ideas off each other.
I start by setting the rules: no discussion of claims, details, or evaluation. I will not participate in the discussion at all, not even a head nod for the right ideas. The class must figure out the text on their own; it is, after all, for their test. Otherwise, the discussion will run like a normal read-write-share. I will read a paragraph, they will write what they think it's about and a comment (question, opinion, connection, etc.), and then they will discuss. Students are free (and encouraged) to take notes on what others say during discussion, but I remind them that not all contributions may be "right." It will be important for them to question one another: how did you arrive at that conclusion? Where is that in the text? Instructions provided, we proceed:
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- UNIT 1: Persuasive Writing
- UNIT 2: Finding Themes and Making Inferences in Literature
- UNIT 3: Text Structure and Language Use in Literature
- UNIT 4: Text Structure and Language Use in Informational Texts
- UNIT 5: Finding and Evaluating Claim and Evidence in Informational Texts
- UNIT 6: Purpose Across Multiple Texts
- UNIT 7: Final Exam
- UNIT 8: Research Writing
- UNIT 9: Expository Writing
- LESSON 1: Setting the Stage for Courage and the American Revolution
- LESSON 2: Applying Reading Strategies
- LESSON 3: Identifying Claim and Evidence
- LESSON 4: Practice One Identifying Claim and Evidence, Day One of Two
- LESSON 5: Practice One Identifying Claim and Evidence, Day Two of Two
- LESSON 6: Practice Two Identifying Claim and Evidence
- LESSON 7: Practice Three Identifying Claim and Evidence, Day One of Two
- LESSON 8: Introduction to Evaluating Claim and Evidence
- LESSON 9: Practice Three Identifying Claim and Evidence, Day Two of Two
- LESSON 10: Analyzing "The Declaration of Independence," Day One of Three
- LESSON 11: Analyzing "The Declaration of Independence," Day Two of Three
- LESSON 12: Analyzing "The Declaration of Indepenence," Day Three of Three
- LESSON 13: Analyzing and Evaluation "The Declaration of Independence"
- LESSON 14: Discussing Common Concepts Across Texts
- LESSON 15: Bad Claim and Details
- LESSON 16: Review Stations
- LESSON 17: Reading for the Test
- LESSON 18: Analyzing and Evaluating Claim Test
