Fifth Grade Science EOG

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Science Teachers Chatboard

Fifth Grade Science EOG

by sarahNC

Apr 21, 2012

Hi All,

I am coming to you out of frustration. This is my second year teaching science. Scores had never been to good at our school, but last year, we had more 4's than we have every had and we had a higher percentage pass. I gave the students lots of notes and I tested on everything that they had in their science notes all year. After parents got used to this, they were fine.

This year, I have parents who never understood this. I told them that the old science test were the best study guides because it gave them the best idea of the types of questions that the students are expected to be able to answer. I also told them that science is an an application type of subject. The students need to know information and be able to apply it to the appropriate situation. I also kept telling them that we could not leave a unit, even when we move on to another unit, because the students will not remember the information. I told them that I wanted to review for the EOG and not c...See More

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FL teacher On 4/21/12, sarahNC wrote:

>Sarah, You hit the nail on the head about applying their knowledge. This needs to be a schoolwide conversation with all grade levels. We have upped the rigor of Science content in each grade level so that when our kids get to fifth their parents are aware they are having a problem applying science content. <...See More

Apr 22, 2012

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Amy Seward First of all I would like to say HANG IN THERE, it sounds like you are really making progress from your improvement in scores this year. Secondly, I was wondering about how you are teaching application of concepts at your school. Do the students have equipment to do hands on activities? Can they apply the same skills to different experiments? (Obse...See MoreFirst of all I would like to say HANG IN THERE, it sounds like you are really making progress from your improvement in scores this year. Secondly, I was wondering about how you are teaching application of concepts at your school. Do the students have equipment to do hands on activities? Can they apply the same skills to different experiments? (Observation, graphing, critical thinking etc) so that when they take the tests they have experience in a variety of situations? I may be way off here because i am a high school/middle school teacher and i am not sure how it relates to 5th. But if you are teaching how to read a bar chart on the test, for example, and you make bar charts for the results of several different experiments then that is a skill they can apply to any situation. And i wouldn't beat yourself up about the parents, they have to learn that applying the knowledge at this level is not the same as when they read something, memorize it, then answer it correctly on a test. Its a process. So as far as creating a study guide, I would center it around the skill (ie reading a bar chart) that they have to apply instead of specific content knowlege. If you are able to find out before hand what the specific skills are. Does this make sense?

On 4/21/12, sarahNC wrote: > Hi All, > > I am coming to you out of frustration. This is my second > year teaching science. Scores had never been to good at our > school, but last year, we had more 4's than we have every > had and we had a higher percentage pass. I gave the > students lots of notes and I tested on everything that they > had in their science notes all year. After parents got used > to this, they were fine. > > This year, I have parents who never understood this. I told > them that the old science test were the best study guides > because it gave them the best idea of the types of > questions that the students are expected to be able to > answer. I also told them that science is an an application > type of subject. The students need to know information and > be able to apply it to the appropriate situation. I also > kept telling them that we could not leave a unit, even when > we move on to another unit, because the students will not > remember the information. I told them that I wanted to > review for the EOG and not cram; if students are learning > all year it will be less stressful for them. > > Well, students who have always made As are making Bs and > Cs. The parents are not concerned that their child does > not know how to apply information and that they need to > learn how to think on a higher level. They just want them > to have it look good on paper. Then, when these same > students do not do well on the Science EOG because they > cannot apply information, their parent will be having a > fit. > > I want my students to learn and it is to late to change a > lot this year, but I need some advice. Am I right in > thinking that students need to be accountable for the > information once it is in their notebooks all year and not > just during the unit? How do you create a study guide for > something that the students need to learn how to apply > information for? They have the notes and their corrected > old tests. > > Please help! I feel frustrated and beaten down. > > sarahNC >

May 9, 2012

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Janet Franceda On 5/09/12, Amy Seward wrote: > First of all I would like to say HANG IN THERE, it sounds like > you are really making progress from your improvement in scores > this year. Secondly, I was wondering about how you are teaching > application of concepts at your school. Do the students have > equipment to do hands on activities? Can the...See MoreOn 5/09/12, Amy Seward wrote: > First of all I would like to say HANG IN THERE, it sounds like > you are really making progress from your improvement in scores > this year. Secondly, I was wondering about how you are teaching > application of concepts at your school. Do the students have > equipment to do hands on activities? Can they apply the same > skills to different experiments? (Observation, graphing, > critical thinking etc) so that when they take the tests they > have experience in a variety of situations? I may be way off > here because i am a high school/middle school teacher and i am > not sure how it relates to 5th. But if you are teaching how to > read a bar chart on the test, for example, and you make bar > charts for the results of several different experiments then > that is a skill they can apply to any situation. And i wouldn't > beat yourself up about the parents, they have to learn that > applying the knowledge at this level is not the same as when > they read something, memorize it, then > answer it correctly on a test. Its a process. > So as far as creating a study guide, I would center it around > the skill (ie reading a bar chart) that they have to apply > instead of specific content knowlege. If you are able to find > out before hand what the specific skills are. Does this make sense? > > On 4/21/12, sarahNC wrote: >> Hi All, >> >> I am coming to you out of frustration. This is my second >> year teaching science. Scores had never been to good at our >> school, but last year, we had more 4's than we have every >> had and we had a higher percentage pass. I gave the >> students lots of notes and I tested on everything that they >> had in their science notes all year. After parents got used >> to this, they were fine. >> >> This year, I have parents who never understood this. I told >> them that the old science test were the best study guides >> because it gave them the best idea of the types of >> questions that the students are expected to be able to >> answer. I also told them that science is an an application >> type of subject. The students need to know information and >> be able to apply it to the appropriate situation. I also >> kept telling them that we could not leave a unit, even when >> we move on to another unit, because the students will not >> remember the information. I told them that I wanted to >> review for the EOG and not cram; if students are learning >> all year it will be less stressful for them. >> >> Well, students who have always made As are making Bs and >> Cs. The parents are not concerned that their child does >> not know how to apply information and that they need to >> learn how to think on a higher level. They just want them >> to have it look good on paper. Then, when these same >> students do not do well on the Science EOG because they >> cannot apply information, their parent will be having a >> fit. >> >> I want my students to learn and it is to late to change a >> lot this year, but I need some advice. Am I right in >> thinking that students need to be accountable for the >> information once it is in their notebooks all year and not >> just during the unit? How do you create a study guide for >> something that the students need to learn how to apply >> information for? They have the notes and their corrected >> old tests. >> >> Please help! I feel frustrated and beaten down. >> >> sarahNC Hi I'm a tutor at an Elementary school and I help the students in test strategies to pass the FCAT. I read to them passages, then I sit eache student on a online Fcat explorer. I read words to them and they have to find the meaning. All this has helped but, I need help can you give me strategies on how to improve the math skills in my tutoring work. Thanyou. >>

May 23, 2012

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