Practice Test

Hello,


The school starts its practice for the Smarter Balanced test tomorrow.  The library will be closed until next Wednesday.  No books can be taken out for the next 6-7 school days.  Our class doesn't take our first test until Monday afternoon, the 31st of March.  We will have two more sessions on Tuesday, April 1st.  Third and fifth grade will be tested in math only.  Fourth grade is taking the language arts portions of the test. 


I read on the Smarter Balanced website that this practice test will differ from the actual test in that the questions on the practice will be set questions, whereas on the real tests next spring, the questions will adjust according to a student's answers.  The tests in 2015 will be more like we experience on the NWEA Map tests, with the more correct answers given, resulting in the test asking more difficult questions.  The more incorrect answers given, the easier the questions will become.  The results from this practice will determine for the testing company the difficulty level of each question. 


In class today we discussed the Battle of Breed's Hill.  You may know it by a different name.  It is well known for being the battle where patriots didn't shoot "until they saw the whites of their eyes."  It is fun reading up on all the different accounts of these battles.  I have found it difficult to find even one account that completely matches another. 


We didn't get to the spelling test on Friday.  That will be taken tomorrow.  No excuses now. 


The class had library today and learned about computer use.  I bet many of the kids know more than a lot of the adults, including myself, regarding computer use. 


Ask your child one thing that they learned today.  If they say "nothing," then I apologize.  Now remind them that independent learners don't depend on teachers to feed them all the information they need to know.  They better learn something before they go to bed.  They should be able to tell you something about Bunker Hill, and Fort Ticonderoga, and Henry Knox, and onomatopoeia, and alliteration, and Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and how our read aloud, Chains, ended...   If not, well, I already apologized, but we'll work some more tomorrow.


Have a good night.


Mr. Shea