5th grade Parents,

Preparing for standardized tests can be stressful for everyone involved: students, teachers, and parents alike. Preparing students for the test does not happen over night or a couple of weeks prior to the test. Preparing students for standardized tests begins when they first start school and long before they enter the 3rd grade. Oklahoma students officially begin the testing process with the CRT (Criterion Reference Test) in reading and mathematics in the 3rd & 4th grade. Once they enter 5th grade they are now fine-tuning all the skills previously taught in all areas of studies.

I have compiled a short list of things you should know about the CRT’s as a parent.

There are five different test required by the state of Oklahoma at this level of development. These tests include reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing. If a student does not pass the reading and/or the math sections of these tests, an enrichment

program may be an option as part of their 6th grade school year in addition to their regular math & reading requirements.

The writing test is a requirement for 5th & 8th graders. If the student does not pass the writing section, they will have to retake the test again and

additional skills are added each year. The writing test is an open-response, open-ended, and/ or an extended response questions. All tests except for the writing are multiple choice None of the tests are timed.

Special Note:

1. As of now passing both the 8th grade reading & writing tests is a prerequisite or requirement before you can even take the written part of the Oklahoma Drivers License test.

2. It is possible that this requirement will change before this group of student’s turns 15 ½. The state department is currently looking at adding mathematics to that requirement.

As you can see, it is extremely important that we master these tests now so we can accomplish the goals that lay before us to do this we spend a cluster of time on open-ended and extended response questions. Students who do not actively do the homework writing prompts and participate very little in class will struggle on this test. I will continue to do my part and teach our students all the tools and strategies they will need to be successful on this test. It is strictly up to them to practice everyday to develop these skills so that they will be successful. As, I write, this common phrase comes to mind, “You can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink.” I urge you in assisting me in helping them become more efficient test takers and encourage them to practice the skills we are learning in class.

Let’s exam a writing prompt:

The directions for writing prompt might read,

“Choose a TV character that you think is funny. Describe the character, and tell why this character is so funny or summarize what happened at the end of the story."

Students need to recognize the key words describe and summarize to know that they are being asked to write a descriptive essay and summarize correctly.

These next few weeks we will work on learning more about the commonly used words on standardized tests that will appear in directions that I give them or in daily assignments/activities. In this way, my students see, hear, and learn to correctly respond to the terms so that they won't have a problem when they come in contact with it on a test.

Top 10 words to know

Analyze ~ Persuade ~ Compare ~ Contrast ~ Summarize Demonstrate ~ Describe ~ Explain ~ Interpret ~ Infer

Your 5th grade Educator, Tina O’Neal

Welcome Back & Happy New Year!

January Homework

Language Arts ~Weekly Vocabulary Tests ~ Spelling City for current listWeekly Sentence ~ Words listed on each newsletterWeekly Writing Prompts ~ Directions on each newsletter

Math ~ Problems given each day and completed at home on Monday ~ WednesdayScience ~ Biome Box due at the end of this month ~ details will come after we finish

Chapters 5 & 6.

Language Arts Homework Instruction

Reading ~ before the break, we read “It Takes Talent.”  In this story, we read about characters who overcome their fears in order to help others.

~Vocabulary~ genial            prognostication        flop                protest           stricken      dramatically          overcome          restrain        spectacular   feverishly

PART 1 ~ 50 points

Assist your child in developing vocabulary questions that can be answered with a yes or a no.  Then have them verbally explain his or her answers.  These will get you started:

1. Is a genial person always angry?  (no)2. Do people hold a protest when they approve of something? (no)

PART 2 ~ 50 points

~Writing~ In this section of the homework they will need to write a paragraph that addresses the writing prompt below and uses all of the vocabulary words listed above.

One of the scenes from our story is that one boy has stage fright, and the other has a fear of water.  Now it’s their turn to write at least 3 paragraphs describing a time when they had to work through their fears to accomplish a goal.

Return these assignments before January 6, 2011.

FYI: 3 paragraphs is a minimal and may not get you all the points. I grade the C.O.W.S. not just the length of the story.  Conventions (10 points) Organization (10 points)Word Choice (10 points) Sentence Structure (10 points)I also expect to see the graphic organizer you used to develop your ideas (10 points).

Contact Information~ Tina O’Neal ~ Room 315 I am available before 8:30am or after 3:45pmcall for anytime for a conference 447 -0913

email ~ toneal@littleaxe.k12.ok.uswebsite ~ www.littleaxe5.wordpress.com

Wear your warm clothes and be sure to label ALL belongings.