Responses from Insects

Question of the Week

Recently at Reading Workshop I created a discussion board for the Question of the Week. Responses must be a minimum of two - three paragraphs with details to support students' points.

Students, please post your best response to be graded.

Practice Proficiency Questions

Please complete the form from your questions from the 2006 OAA.

You can see the responses HERE.

Your Test Score Can Make Everyone Smile

So Martha, the Test Grader is sitting in her cubical and opens a  test. She turns to the first short answer and this is what she sees.

She is ready to get her work for the day started.  Even with a headache, she knows she has to concentrate because a lot of people are counting on her.  Students success and opportunities ride on her fair evaluation of their work.

Needless to say, her headache screams out and she wants to be anywhere, rather than try to read this mess. But, she really wants to be fair so she starts to fight through the misspelled words, lack of organization, and off-topic response. She quickly realizes though, this just isn't worth it, scribbles down a 0 and moves to the next answer.

Within 3 - 4 seconds, she has decided this student does not deserve to pass any type of test. As she sorts through each extended response, she becomes more and more agitated at the obvious lack of effort. Sorry, but you failed.

Now it's time for your test and here is your first response.

Martha is smiling now. She is thinking, "this is from a good kid. This is so easy. Why can't all of the kids write like this?"

And little does she know, but somewhere in a state far, far away, a student is smiling as she thinks back to that day of the reading test. She knows she passed, because she did her best, and used all of the test taking strategies that her teacher taught her.

There is someone else smiling. As this student was taking the test, a teacher sat at his desk and watched her work. He knew she would pass. He watched her work hard all year. Today as he thinks back, he knows she did a great job, and anxiously awaits the test results that will show a real success story.

Achievement Strategies

 As the day of achievement testing fast approaches, students brainstormed a list of strategies that would lead to success on the test.


Strategies for Reading

• Read the questions before the passage
• Read the title
• Look at word banks and subtitles
• Skim to get an idea of what the passage is about
• Reread 
• Look for the W's (who, what, when, where, why, and how)
• Use prior knowledge
• Visualize--Picture what you are reading
• Underline/highlight important information

Strategies for Word Attack

• Circle words you don't understand
• Substitute words you don't know
• Sound out words
• Cross out unneeded adjectives and adverbs
• Make connections
• Look at root words
• Look at prefixes/suffixes
• Use Context Clues

Strategies for Answering Questions

• Find Your Answers in the Passage
• Mark in the passage where you found the answer
• Restate the Question
• Look at how many points the answer is worth
• Number your response
• Use words from the text
• Use specific details from the text
• Always give at least one extra example/detail
• Answer what the question is asking
• Answer in complete sentences
• Look at other questions for clues
• Eliminate multiple choice answers that don't make sense
• Reread the question and double check answers
• Recheck answers in the passage
• Write neatly so the grader can understand your answer
• When finished, check PUGS to make it easier to grade

Students' View on Achievement Test Practice

Students took the 2006 edition of the Ohio Achievement Assessment.  This serves several purposed including a practice run-through, data regarding students' ability, projection data, areas of strengths and weaknesses, and specific needs prior to the actual test in April.

Here are a few of the students' thoughts, ideas, and opinions shared from a discussion after the test.

Cody--It is confusing.  Some of the questions are confusing because I wasn't sure what they were asking.
Joanna--I didn't like how a lot of the stories were nonfiction because they were harder to understand.
Karly--I would rather have poetry than nonfiction.  Poetry is easier to understand.
Kater--I wasn't sure how to put my thoughts into words on the extended response questions.
Hannah Hop--The test was frustrating.  I had to keep going back to the passage to find the answers.
Justin G.--The passages and the test were too long.
Joanna--Some of the words were hard and made it hard to understand.
Karly--Yeah, I didn't know some of the words and couldn't figure them out.
Brandon C.--The extended responses were hard and I need more practice so I can do them.
Hannah Hop.--The extended response questions made me mad, because they were so much harder to understand.
Branden M.--The extended response would mention something in the essay, and then say something else, then I would have to read the question again, because I forgot what it was asking.
Andrew--Some of the multiple choice answers didn't go with the passage.
Joanna--It took forever for the question to compare stuff from two passages because I couldn't find it.
Kater--On the multiple choice, if I didn't know the answer right off, I had to go back to the passage and check each answer to find the right one.
Hannah Hop--What are we supposed to do on the extended response if we have no clue what to answer?
Hannah Hop--It is very hard going back and forth.  The passages should be on one page and the questions and where you answer should be together.
Kater--The passages, questions, and answer sheet should all be separate.
Kennedy--It was pretty easy really.
Cierra--I got a headache when I was sitting there trying to take the test.
Alysha--I tried really hard and it took a long time.
Kennedy--Is the real test going to be twice as long? (Basically, except one test passage was omitted)
Tyler S.--It was hard sitting there for two hours.
Justin P.--I kept getting distracted.
Hannah Har--We need more breaks.
Kennedy--There were words I didn't know.
Katie H--They had definitions to a lot of the words at the bottom of the page.
Heather--It seemed like I was being rushed.  I was afraid I wouldn't get done.
Katie H--If there is one more passage, I don't know if I can get it done in time.
Hadley--It made me really tired.
Makayla--Some of the questions were very confusing.  Most of the words were ones I didn't know.
Savannah--There were a lot of extended responses.
Madison--Some of the things were like what I had done before on Study Island.
Hadley--I didn't like having it in the morning.
R.J.--The word bank confused me because they gave more than one meaning for the word.  I would think I knew the answer, but then I looked at the definition and I wasn't sure.
Ian--The two frog jumping passages were confusing because they jumped back and forth and you didn't know which one they meant.
Caleb--Some of the passages were long, and that made them harder.
Hannah C--The cause and effect question was hard because I hadn't done any in a while.
Hadley--Students would do better if the passages were more interesting.  If they are not interesting, kids won't do as well because they just won't care as much.
Madison--Taking the test in the morning made us brain dead the rest of the day.

This is Sharing Your Thoughts

As we start a new year in Reading Workshop, one of the main goals is making writing meaningful using descriptive writing with many supporting details.  It really does not matter whether the writing is a response to a question, a blog post, a journal, a letter, or any other type of writing.  Quality writing brings the reader into the mind and the heart of the writer.  Details help the reader see, and feel, and understand.

When I read Katey's blog post, it grabbed me and I knew immediately, this was a great example of what I expect in  students' writing.  This was in response to a prompt from Larger-Than-Life Lara.

My first impression of Lara was "Whoa, what in the world is she describing?" I actually didn’t know what to say about Lara, it was just like an "OMG!" moment, I was speechless. I don’t know if that was what the author wanted people to think, but that was my thought (sorry if that makes anybody mad). When Lara was first described by Laney I thought she wouldn’t be like she is. I didn’t think that Lara would be always smiling and cheerful. I was also suprised after Laney descibed her, that she was a new student.  At first I thought she was an adult, but when she said that she was a new student I was shocked.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhutton/
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Martha, the Test Grader, Part 3

If you haven't met Martha before, you can read about Martha, the Test Grader, and then More on Martha the Test Grader.

So Martha, the Test Grader is sitting in her cubical and opens your test. She turns to the first short answer and this is what she sees.

Needless to say, her headache screams out and she wants to be anywhere, rather than try to read this mess. But, she really wants to be fair so she starts to fight through the misspelled words, lack of organization, and off-topic response. She quickly realizes though, this just isn't worth it, scribbles down a 0 and moves to the next answer.

Within 3 - 4 seconds, she has decided this student does not deserve to pass any type of test. As she sorts through each extended response, she becomes more and more agitated at the obvious lack of effort. Sorry, but you failed.

Now it's time for the next test and here is the response.

Martha is smiling now. She is thinking, "this is from a good kid. This is so easy. Why can't all of the kids write like this?"

And little does she know, but somewhere in a state far, far away, a student is smiling as she thinks back to that day of the reading test. She knows she passed, because she did her best, and used all of the test taking strategies that her teacher taught her.

There is someone else smiling. As this student was taking the test, a teacher sat at his desk and watched her work. He knew she would pass. He watched her work hard all year. Today as he thinks back, he knows she did a great job, and anxiously awaits the test results that will show a real success story.

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Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kandyjaxx/100366351/

Ohio Achievement Test Survey

Recently Reading Workshop students took the 2006 Sixth Grade Ohio Achievement Test as practice for the actual test. I surveyed students to see their thoughts after taking the test. Here are some of their responses.

What did you learn taking the practice Reading OAT?

Jessika--I learned to highlight important questions. Actually read the passage. Don't skip questions.

Paitaan--What I learned was to underline keywords. Plus reread the questions.

Kyndrah--I learned that if you take your time and slow down you get more questions right, even if you are the last one.

Rachael--I learned that there are going to be some unexpected questions on the OAT, and that I have to be prepared for it!!!! I also learned that if you don't read the question carefully you have a better chance of missing it!

What was easy for you taking the practice Reading OAT?

Kara--The thing that was easy for me was all that I had to do was think back to what we did in class and I remembered what we did and the things you told us to do and so I did that.

Kayla--The easiest part of the whole test is the multiple choice questions. The reason why is because you have things to chose from. If you don't get the questions and you eliminate answers, it is easy to find the right answer.

Desire'--The easiest part was the multiple choice. The multiple choice was the easiest because all of the answers were in the passage.

What part of the test was difficult for you on the practice Reading OAT?

Makayla--The most difficult questions on the test were the extended response.

Trindi--The part that I thought that was difficult was were you had to find out what the word meant.

Sarah--The most difficult for me was the extended response questions because I didn't know if I was getting everything that the question asked. Mainly because I didn't read the passage enough times for it to sink in.

Christian S.-- The fact that some of the questions were hard to understand.

What would help you score better on the OAT?

Samantha--If I reread more and highlight more, that would help me.

Destiny--If I go over and check my answers when I am done.

Bailey--To go back in the passage and to read stuff all the way through.

Ty A.--Candy while I'm taking the test.

What other information should I know about the Reading OAT?

Taylor--I think we should work more on the responses. Because I heard at least 3 or 4 people say that the responses were hard, and they were I can't lie.

Austin--Something that you should know about is that practicing restating the question really helped.

Jessika--I THINK EVERYONE IS GOING TO PASS THE TEST!!!!!!!!!!!

On a scale of 1 - 10, how hard did you think the Reading OAT was?

The average was 5.56.

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Responding to a Prompt

In every class, in every subject, throughout their education, students will be required to respond to a prompt or question, especially on tests. They will need to support their answer/position/opinion/idea with details from a text. In sixth grade Reading Workshop, we will spend a lot of time learning how to write a detailed reply that will make sense and score well.

The first prompt focused on the book I am reading aloud, Swear to Howdy.

The questions were:

1. Why did Joey befriend Rusty when he first moved next door?

2. How would your response to a new neighbor be different?


We discussed the need to rewrite the question as a topic sentence. Also, we talked about how a two part question should be a minimum of two paragraphs. Supporting details from the book, and from personal experiences are needed to support the answer.

Below is an essay turned in by James E. that serves as a good example for a beginning sixth grader.

Rusty and Joey became best friends because they were a lot alike. I think they were friends the first day they met because Rusty liked playing with Joey. Rusty thought Joey was playful and adventurous. Joey liked taking Rusty places like fishing and he likes that. Rusty liked having someone to play with.

My response to a new neighbor would be that I might not like him and would not play with him. The new neighbor might not want to do anything I do. I might want to go outside he wouldn't.

Another response to a new neighbor might be that the neighbor and I would like to play together. We might like playing outside with each other. We could ride bikes down the road and have fun. We would play in the woods and become good friends.

James does a good job of turning the questions into topic sentences for each paragraph. He explained his answers by providing details so the reader can understand his points. He might have improved by just picking the one difference and expanding on that, but he does a good job of supporting both parts of the second answer.

Where am I #6?

The McGuire family prepares for a trail ride. Just like in the old west, we are heading out. Where am I?

Two Person Journal

One journal, one topic, one file, but two writers make a Two Person Journal. Students were partnered with a peer from another class. A folder with a file was created on the Laurelville server. The page was divided down the middle using a two column table. For the rest of the school year, students will write each day about a different topic.

This system has an advantage over a regular journal in that the writer has an audience. Everything written will be read daily. Also, with a peer to share ideas, comments, opinions, and information, it means more. Whether students write about books, school, friends, hobbies, family, or any other topic, they know a reader cares about what they have to say.

I originally did this project with composition notebooks that students shared. Now, with the technology available in Reading Workshop, students keep a common Open Office Word file saved on our file server. They can each write to the file from anywhere in the school. Because there is a computer for each student, they can access their file during class each day, read their partner's post, and respond.

This is a great motivator for students. After all, what does every writer want? To be read, of course.

Brain Teaser

A student from Chicago was a very good runner, so he went to France to enter a race. A French web site reported that the student won the race, averaging a speed of 25,750 kilometers per hour. Back home, his classmates were impressed but confused. When they plugged 25,750 into a kilometer/mile converter, it seemed that their friend raced at the brisk speed of 16,000 mph. How is this possible?

Achievement Vocabulary

Tune up that achievement vocabulary. "What," you say, "is achievement vocabulary?" Certain words are contained in Achievement Test questions. Now, I am not going to say that their only purpose is to challenge students, but they sure make the questions harder to understand.

Why say: How does the ending show what the writer felt?

When you could say: Analyze how the author's purpose is defined throughout the conclusion. Use detailed description to illustrate your position.

Now, I get that this is a reading test, but geesh, ask the question! It almost seems like the test writers from the Ohio Department of Education find the most difficult way possible to ask a question.

Anyhow, today we looked at specific words necessary to understand test questions. You can view most of the words at the Reading Workshop Wikipage. Students studied in rotating four person groups and then we had the big challenge. Students played Around the World, defining the words.

Congratulations to the winners: Shayna T., Micah L., Connor H., and Shelby C.

Achievement Test Tips

Laurelville sixth grade students compiled a list of the top 10 Achievement Test Tips.

Here is the Real Top 10, Baby!

1. Go to bed early, and get a good night’s sleep.

2. Eat a good Breakfast.

3. Come prepared (three sharpened pencils, erasers, highlighter, SSR book)

4. 10 Questions every 30 minutes

5. Read the questions before you read the passage, so you know what you are looking for.

6. Skim the article

7. Highlight the important information in the article and the questions.

8. Reread questions and look for key words. DON’T GUESS if you don’t know the answer to a question. Take a deep breath, read the question again, and look back into the selection.

9. Restate the question and number your answer

10. When you are done, go back and double check your answers.

Brain Teaser

Mrs. Griffey pulled up to a gas station. An alien landed a spaceship beside her. She noticed the spaceship said U.F.O. on the side. Mrs. Griffey asked the Alien, "does that stand for unidentified flying object?"

The alien said, "no, it stands for . . .?????????????????"

Journal Responses that Count

Each day I read aloud from a fictional book. Currently, I am reading Double Identity written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This story features the main character, Bethany, that unexpectedly gets dropped off at an aunt's house that she didn't even know existed.




Students journaled about the topic, "If I was Bethany." Here are samples from students' work.


Kari W.
Why did they keep Elizabeth a secret? They should have told me a long time ago. It's not like I would have been too disappointed. I wouldn't be crying all the time like Mom. I would like to know this kind of stuff. Are they keeping more secrets from me? If so why don't they tell me? I thought parents were supposed to tell their kids everything.

Kyah H. Bethany is a girl who has been spoiled since she was a little girl. Her life was great until one day she was dropped off at a relative's house. She never met this relative and her parents are leaving her with Aunt Myrlie. All of these things are happening in the book Double Identity.




Katie W.
I'm kind of mad at my parents for keeping a secret from me for thirteen years. I also feel bad for them because their daughter died. I don't know what to feel right now. I mean I never thought that they'd keep something like that from me. I'm just confused. First Mom calls and keeps saying I'm Elizabeth, then Myrlie tells me Elizabeth is my sister who died. Since they kept that from me I can't help but think what else could they have kept from me?



Baylie M.
I feel like my stomach and insides are coming up through my throat. I also feel like I have known Elizabeth for a long time. I just wish that my parents would have told me sooner so I would not have to come here to Myrlie's. I'm wandering why my parents didn't tell me about my sister. I am afraid to sleep, now that I'm wondering about Elizabeth. The more I wonder the more I feel like it's my fault for Elizabeth's death. Now I know why my mom was saying, “Elizabeth don't go to that amusement park. I fear that something bad is going to happen.”



Micah L.
I feel lost, like no one is watching over me. I feel alone stuffed in a box that someone sits on. I don't know what to do. Nothing is helping. I away feel so depressed. I can't keep my head straight. My dad will not talk to me and I'm weirded out about my parents.





Molly V.
Today, I found out that I had a sister, whose name is Elizabeth. I still don't understand. What I don't understand is why have my parents kept this from me? I don't understand why they haven't told me all these years.





Shayna T.
Shayna had an excellent example that must be in some folder far, far, away, never to be seen again. The closest anyone can figure, the journal thieves got it. If they are brought to justice, then maybe her writing can join that of her peers.




These are excellent examples getting into the character. Way to go girls! Oh, by the way, the boys did this assignment too. Hopefully we can showcase their work soon (which will happen as soon as they step it up).

Getting the Achievement Question, Part 2

As we continue to work on getting the questions, students are beginning to show remarkable progress. You can read about previous work from the Do You Get the Question post.

This is an example from Luke that demonstrates the before and after.

GREAT JOB, LUKE!

Do You Get the Question?

This week, we are focusing on questions. Students are not even getting to see the passage that a question goes with, but they are expected to begin their answer. Sound impossible? Well, it is difficult but our students are proving they can do it.

Last week, Mrs. Stevenson, Mrs. Caudill and I scored the practice run of the Ohio Achievement Test that students took on March 18. Students did well, especially on the multiple choice questions. As we scored the tests, the amount of effort students put forth, clearly showed.

One area that I noticed as an overall weakness, was in setting up short answer and extended response answers in a way that would make 2 or 4 points easy to attain. With this in mind, our instruction for the next two weeks, will focus on using the question to set up the best answer possible. This will help students as they take the Achievement Test, and even more important, as they move up through jr. and sr. high school.

Each day, students receive a paper with one or two questions. They must set up their answer, without being able to use the selection as a resource. Below is a typical question, and the beginning of an answer by Trevor S.