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One of my goals this year is to use more pre-tests to inform my instruction. My first experience with this was in Language Arts.
As a fifth grade team, we identified vocabulary skills as a weakness in our students. Part of that is knowing how to use a dictionary. The first day of school, I gave my students a pre-test on the skills of using a dictionary to define multiple meaning words, using a pronunciation key, putting words in alphabetical order (to the third letter), and using guide words. Using their scores, I created a personalized packet for each student with just the skills they needed. Two students demonstrated mastery in the pre-test, so they had challenging activities which they completed as a team.
Three students did very poorly, so they worked with an aide in a small group on slightly easier skills.
The rest of the class participated in a mini-lesson each day on a different skill, then worked independently on their packets.
Today I gave the post-test and 90% of the class passed. Go kids!
My second experience with pre-tests was did not go as smoothly. I pre-tested my Math class for the first unit. Most of the material should have been review, but clearly it wasn't. So I greatly reduced the scope of the unit, since I had only alloted two weeks for it. My original plans were to teach factors, multiples, arrays, prime, and composite numbers, prime factoring, multiplication properties, and divisibility rules. I decided to stick with factors, multiples, primes and composites. We spend a week on factors alone because it was so difficult for them. We did many activities: Venn diagrams, foldables with examples and rules, games from our Math series, and traditional worksheets. We even color-coded a hundreds chart with colors that represented the different multiples. Students were allowed to use their interactive Math notebooks, their student reference book, or the definition wall during the test.
Despite all of this, many students failed the test. When I thought about why I had two very different outcomes, I came to the conclusion that my Language Arts students corrected their own pre-test. They knew what they needed to work on. I also used differentiated instruction with my Language Arts class where I didn't do as much of that with the Math class.
For the Unit 2 pre-test, I came across a site called Mastery Connect. Mastery Connect is a site that links Common Core assessments in Reading and Math and tracks student progress. The basic service is free. I couldn't find an assessment that really matched the skills I will teach in Unit 2, so I made one and posted it to the site. It was easy to add the scores to my "tracker" and visually track what skills students have and need.
It's been two weeks since school has started. This year in fifth grade we have homogeneous groups created by the fourth grade team. Because of this, I have had to come up with a new Math routine/structure. I want to take advantage of every minute I have them for instruction, particularly because fifth graders have significantly less time for instruction than they do in fourth grade. In fourth grade they had two hours, including enrichment. In fifth it is down to one hour and fifteen minutes.
10:00-10:15: Agendas, Homework, and Fact Folders
Students trickle in from the other five fifth grades (no bells at our school) and get out their Agendas with homework on top. This allows me to quickly check in homework and write in their agendas. They copy down the homework for the next day (which is already on their desks). After that, they set up their Math fact folders which is a blank worksheet under a clear sheet of plastic which they write on with a dry erase marker. Each child is on a different level of multiplication facts. This takes the most time, since they aren't used to creating their fact sheet and monitoring themselves. I hope this will take less time as the year progresses. If students finish all of this, they may start on their homework. I was going to have some type of Daily Math or Problem of the Day, but why go through the trouble of finding and copying all of that when they could start their homework?
10:15-10:30: Mini-Lesson: Review or Introducing a New Concept
As my aide goes around to check their fact folders, I take the kids to the carpet to do a review activity. Often we use personal whiteboards that are in a basket in the middle of the carpet.
10:30-10:15: Back to Desks: Main Lesson
Students come back to their desks and check the status of their Fact Folders. If they passed a level, they record it on the chart in the folder. This process is taking about five to ten minutes now. I hope we can cut this down significantly in the coming weeks.
This is where and when I deliver the main content of the lesson. I am making good use of the students' interactive Math notebooks. After some challenges getting started (again, this class has difficulties following multi-step routines/directions) the students are already really enjoying them. Each Monday night's homework will be creating their weekly student reflection page in the notebook. Since their journals are so small (composition books cut in half) I decided to do this instead of the traditional left side-right side organizational structure. These journals are so new for them I don't want to overwhelm them with coming up with multiple pages. We usually fill one page a day in class.
Interactive Notebooks
I've spent the past few days researching about interactive notebooks, sometimes called interactive journals for a class assignment. I've been particularly inspired by these You Tube videos:
http://youtu.be/zzEiwsO7rtw
http://youtu.be/PtzOVdw8kI0
I really like the idea that one side of the notebook is "note-taking", that is information copied from a source, and one side is "note-making", which is reorganizing and adding color, graphics, and a personal "spin" on the content. Writing on two facing pages, allows the student and the teacher to clearly see the content and the students' personal interaction with it. I plan on having my students create one page of content and one page of reflection each week. The content will sometimes be done in Math class (copying sample problems that I work out or writing down rubrics), sometimes as homework (trying a few problems at home). The personal reflection will always be done at home and will be due every Friday.
I saw several rubrics online but, of course, needed to create something that worked in my situation. I wanted to grade three components: Overall Organization (which includes neatness and the Table of Contents), the right side (the content), and the left side (personalization). Students will trim, then glue the rubric into their notebook. To save space, I will use the same rubric each trimester. To distinguish amongst trimesters I will use a different color each time to circle the descriptors on the rubric.
Generic Interactive Notebook Rubric
Me on the Web:
Class Website: www.4mrsjones.110mb.com
Podcasts: http://frommrsjones.podbean.com
You Tube Channel: mrsc4jones
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