Raising Achievement in Monroeville and Pitcairn and Gateway School District Present…

1. Raising Achievement in Monroeville and Pitcairn and Gateway School District Present… Session II: Want to See Higher Standardized Test Scores? Tips and Information You Need to Know A Parent Workshop…

2. Agenda • Welcome and Introduction of Presenters • Introduction of RAMP Board • Colleen Tortorella, School Counselor • Gateway Senior High School • Tricia Shelton, M.Ed., • Doctoral Candidate, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • Teacher, Evergreen • Épryl King, M.Ed., President, Raising Achievement in Monroeville and Pitcairn • Doctoral Candidate, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • Teacher, Evergreen Elementary

3. Agenda • Colleen Tortorella • PSSA/Keystone Exam Preparation and Resources • SAT/Act Preparation and Resources

4. Tricia Shelton • Supporting Children with Special Needs • Test Preparation • Strategies for Establishing Study Skills

5. Test Preparation Strategies • Build confidence. • Establish goals. • Build focus. • Practice skills.

6. Skill StrategiesPoints to Remember • Lasting learning takes time and practice. • No strategy is successful universally. • Model strategies. • Incorporate your child’s strengths and interests.

7. Sketch to Stretch Sketch to stretch combines visual understanding with conceptual learning. How it’s done… • Read a text. • Draw an interpretation of your understanding of the text. • Show and tell about your drawing to a partner. • Use the drawing to create relevant notes on the text.

8. Alphaboxes Alphaboxes motivate students to categorize understanding by letter. How it’s done… • Read a text. • For each letter of the alphabet, find words related to the text content. • Use these words to generate notes on the text.

9. A Sample Text Rainbows appear when raindrops reflect sunlight, thus breaking white sunlight into colors. As light enters a water droplet, the different wavelength colors bend at slightly separate angles. Some of this light reflects off the back of the droplet and is bent a second time as the droplet emerges from the light beam. Drops at different angles send distinctively different colors to the eye. To see a rainbow, an observer must have her back to the sun and rain must be falling in some part of the sky. Since each raindrop is lit by the white light of the sun, a spectrum of colors is produced. From http://sci.odu.edu/sci/Scire/05Edition/rainbow.html

10. Sketch to Stretch

11. Alphaboxes

12. Read-Cover-Remember-Retell RCRR encourages students to monitor comprehension by isolating small portions of text. How it’s done… • Read part of a text. • Stop reading and cover the text with your hand. • Try to remember what you read. • Retell what you read aloud. • Make notes on important points.

13. What Resources are Available to My Child? • Community: • Monroeville Public Library has preparation books and computers available. • Imperial Teachers Store: www.imperialteachersstorecatalog.com

14. What Resources are Available to My Child? • School: • Study Island • Apangea Math (Think Through Math) • First in Math

15. What can we do to make sure our child is prepared for college? College Preparation • Depending on the college and major, minimum SAT/ACT requirements vary. • Example: One PA State Institution requires about 1000 combined score for SATs, 21 for ACTs, and minimum GPA of 3.2. • Work with guidance counselor to determine required high school courses for the college and major of your child’s interest.

16. What Internet Resources are Available? Free Internet Resources • PSSA Practice for each PA Math Standard – Gives sample problems and allows your child to practice problems and learn whether the answer is correct. • http://www.ixl.com/standards/pennsylvania/math/grade-2 • Study Island: http://www.studyisland.com/web/index/ • Read Write Think – Afterschool/Parent Resources: http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/ • ABC Match: http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/games-tools/match-a-30091.html

17. What Internet Resources are Available? Free Internet Resources • SAT Practice: http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice?s_kwcid=TC|7002|prep%20tests||S|b|13017102644 • Practice Exam: http://etestingcenter.com/PSSAexams.htm • Free Test Online (PSAT, SAT, ACT) http://www.free-test-online.com/ • Free Test Online (Common Core Math): http://www.free-test-online.com/ccss/ccss.html • Test Prep Pennsylvania (8th – 11th): http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/gohrw_rls1/pKeywordResults?keyword=mm1%20test%20prep%20pennsylvania • PSSA Item Samplers: http://www.montroseareasd.k12.pa.us/pssa/

18. What Internet Resources are Available? Informational Resources • Time4Learning: http://www.time4learning.com/testprep/index.php/pennsylvania-standardized-test-prep/ • eHow Mom: http://www.ehow.com/way_5828989_strategies-pssa-preparation.html • Parent PSSA Information: http://www.pssa-prep.com/pssa.htm

19. What Internet Resources are Available? Internet Resources for Purchased Items • E-Books and Workbooks for Practice: http://www.pssa-prep.com/catalog.htm • Bright Education: http://brighted.funeducation.com/Products/PracticeTests/?state=Pennsylvania&gclid=CI6J09qP1LUCFZCf4AodcWgAvQ • Pennsylvania PSSA Math Books: http://www.free-test-online.com/middle/pssa.htm

20. Cultural-Specific Information • Achievement Gaps in our District • Culturally Relevant Practices for Home • Implications for School

21. Questions? What questions do you have for us?

22. Evaluation Please take a moment to complete an evaluation of this session. On the front, please rate the degree to which you agree with the given statement. On the back, please share: One thing you found helpful, one question you still have, and any other comments Thank you!