Teaching Fashionista

                                
With standardized tests approaching, I've been reading a lot of information about easing into test-prep .

I'm trying to not stress myself, my class or my parents OUT!  

I have been beginning to depend a lot on the internet! 

(it was a suggestion from a great article that I read)

 That said : Harness the Internet 

 Here are my go-to sites to help ease the load of constant grading, and reviewing concepts that some students are still struggling with! (all free)

• spellingcity.com VocabularySpellingCity is an educational website with25 different learning activities including spelling tests, vocabulary Flashcards, HangMouse (like Hangman), Unscramble, and crossword puzzles
• brainpopjr.com
• http://www.softschools.com/grades/3rd_grade/math/ games, quizes, printables
  
• JeopardyLabs: It takes a few minutes to create a Jeopardy board, and students can access the link later for more review.
• Scholastic's StudyJams:  This is an excellent site for reviewing math and science content.
• Internet4Classrooms: With this site you just type in the learning standard, and state and grade level specific activities are at your disposal. An excellent resource for both teaching content and reviewing it. 
• IXL: anyone can access the site for up to thirty minutes for free. Teachers can see how students are doing and how much time has been logged. 
• Punctuation Paintball: This is a fun version of the typical drill and kill grammar practice. Students get a sentence to correct, and after they select a convention, they use the paintball gun to splatter the word with the correction.

 I posted a part of the article (below)  By  Nell K Duke, Ron Ritchhart , On Standardized Test Preparation 
One of my test prep strategies was to
- ask the children to identify -what kind of question it was that they were answering??
 (main idea, sequence, inference, cause & effect, fact, opinion)  etc...
  but after reading this I had an "AHA" moment myself...
  (this might just be more accurate)
SO...I'm trying it out!

It Said: Cover All Kinds of Questions
To prepare students for the kinds of items they'll see on the test, we ask them a variety of questions about their reading. Our questions are meant to enhance comprehension and promote a range of interpretations -- literal, inferential, personal, and so on.

However, just asking the right kinds of questions isn't enough; it's important to explain them as well. Acclaimed educator Taffy Raphael suggests teaching these question-and-answer relationships that are common in standardized reading tests.

"Right There" Questions: The answer to these questions is right there in the passage. To find it, students recall information from or refer back to one place in the passage. Example: "Who gave John the dog?"

"Think and Search" Questions: Students can also find the answer to these questions by using their memories or looking back at the passage. However, the answer is usually in more than one place. Students need to assemble information for the answer. Example: "What was the same about every dog in the story?"

"Author and You" Questions: These questions are often the toughest because they can't be answered just by reading the passage. Students need to use what they already know, plus what they learn from the passage, to answer. Example: "How did John probably feel when he found the dog?"

Teaching Tip: You can build awareness of these questions by having students use different colored pens on practice tests. Students should circle.. 

• Right There questions in green. 
• Green means go directly to the passage to find the answer.
• Think and Search questions in yellow. 
• Yellow means use caution - look in more than one place to find the answer.
• Author and You questions in red. 
• Red means stop and think about what the passage says and what you already know before you answer.

READ the Article-
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/no-pain-high-gain
photos from google images