Well, it's April, and you know what that means. No more snow, flowers blooming, birds chirping, warmer weather (it was a balmy 45 degrees today!) and teachers are in full blown MCAS prep mode. And by prep, I really mean panic. We all have that crazy look in our eyes, like we are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The kids can sense our nerves and smell our fear. Okay maybe not. Actually, they are just worried about whether they can have a sleepover during April break next week. They couldn't give one hoot about MCAS. And really, that's how it should be. When can the teachers feel this way too you ask? Why, that is an excellent question.
Needless to say, we have been incorporating a lot of test prep into our curriculum lately. Today we looked at examples of open response scores from the DOE webpage. The students had already tried the open response on their own, and we had gone over the correct answers. Then each table group was given a set of open responses, and the kids needed to work together to decide each response's score.
Meanwhile, I wandered from group to group facilitating the discussions. Afterward, they used what they learned to score their own open response and then rewrote it to match what a 4 looks like.
What I loved most about this lesson was that the kids had a lot to say about why they scored the way they did. And when I challenged their thoughts, they didn't get down on themselves. They worked through it together and made thoughtful changes. It makes me so proud to see how much they've grown this year. Tear.
Needless to say, we have been incorporating a lot of test prep into our curriculum lately. Today we looked at examples of open response scores from the DOE webpage. The students had already tried the open response on their own, and we had gone over the correct answers. Then each table group was given a set of open responses, and the kids needed to work together to decide each response's score.
Meanwhile, I wandered from group to group facilitating the discussions. Afterward, they used what they learned to score their own open response and then rewrote it to match what a 4 looks like.
What I loved most about this lesson was that the kids had a lot to say about why they scored the way they did. And when I challenged their thoughts, they didn't get down on themselves. They worked through it together and made thoughtful changes. It makes me so proud to see how much they've grown this year. Tear.
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