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Upper Elementary Teachers Chatboard

more time!

by 5th grade nc

Feb 28, 2009

I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of not enough time! My current concern is reading. We use the Scott Foresman Reading Street text and I do reading groups Tuesday -Thursday. Monday is a whole group day and Friday is test day. I am just really feeling like it is a waste to give a reading test every Friday that takes the entire reading period. The tests are formated to go along with our basal stories. I would really like to do some hands-on activities on Friday or a read aloud or many other things than give a test. I know I have to assess students, I just feel like it's all we ever do. I would love any opinions on ways to modify my test giving to have more instructional time.

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3rd Grade Teacher On 2/28/09, 5th grade nc wrote: > I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of not > enough time! My current concern is reading. We use the > Scott Foresman Reading Street text and I do reading groups > Tuesday -Thursday. Monday is a whole group day and Friday > is test day. I am just really feeling like it is a waste to > g...See More

Feb 28, 2009

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5th grade nc I wish I could shorten groups! My school is VERY strict with our schedule and we can not change it. I have to group for at least 20 minutes, it's very frustrating. I just feel completely out of control with this whole thing. I have a little bit of whole group time before we start grouping but only about 15 minutes, which isn't time for much of anyt...See MoreI wish I could shorten groups! My school is VERY strict with our schedule and we can not change it. I have to group for at least 20 minutes, it's very frustrating. I just feel completely out of control with this whole thing. I have a little bit of whole group time before we start grouping but only about 15 minutes, which isn't time for much of anything. I like the idea of using informal assessments. I also thought about doing some kind of take home quiz Thursday night but I know there is a risk of some of them getting help on those. Is it enough just to assess small assignments? AHHH so frustrated!!!!!

On 2/28/09, 3rd Grade Teacher wrote: > On 2/28/09, 5th grade nc wrote: >> I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of not >> enough time! My current concern is reading. We use the >> Scott Foresman Reading Street text and I do reading groups >> Tuesday -Thursday. Monday is a whole group day and Friday >> is test day. I am just really feeling like it is a waste to >> give a reading test every Friday that takes the entire >> reading period. The tests are formated to go along with our >> basal stories. I would really like to do some hands-on >> activities on Friday or a read aloud or many other things >> than give a test. I know I have to assess students, I just >> feel like it's all we ever do. I would love any opinions on >> ways to modify my test giving to have more instructional >> time. > > I'm in the same boat as you as I only have 2 students that > passed the pre-EOG...(I teach in NC as well). Is there anyway > you can lower the amount of time you spend in small groups? I > do 15 minutes tops now and spend a majority of time whole > group. Can you give the assessment during individual work? Or > how about informal assessments when you're meeting with your > small groups (meaning you assess while that group is with > you). I also just added book clubs and they are required to > take the AR test to assess comprehension. > > I'd like to hear other ideas as well. My class this year is > very low in reading...

Feb 28, 2009

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3rd Grade Teacher On 2/28/09, 5th grade nc wrote: > I wish I could shorten groups! My school is VERY strict with our > schedule and we can not change it. I have to group for at least > 20 minutes, it's very frustrating. I just feel completely out of > control with this whole thing. I have a little bit of whole group > time before we start grouping but...See MoreOn 2/28/09, 5th grade nc wrote: > I wish I could shorten groups! My school is VERY strict with our > schedule and we can not change it. I have to group for at least > 20 minutes, it's very frustrating. I just feel completely out of > control with this whole thing. I have a little bit of whole group > time before we start grouping but only about 15 minutes, which > isn't time for much of anything. I like the idea of using > informal assessments. I also thought about doing some kind of > take home quiz Thursday night but I know there is a risk of some > of them getting help on those. Is it enough just to assess small > assignments? AHHH so frustrated!!!!!

What I do on the days where I have such a short time is read aloud some short story then toss a beach ball and ask questions. Things like, "How did the character change from beginning to end?" "What is the setting/mood/theme of the story?" "Give an example of cause/effect (or even ask why X happened)." etc. It is a quick review and is another informal assessment. When my students are in independent groups they are also reading a selection and answering questions on that story...another assessment. I look at assessment as several different things: how well they can tell me, how well they can write it, and how well they can answer a multiple choice question. I take their performance in class, grades, AR/STAR scores, EOQ scores and that gives a good indication of how well they're doing. If you use just one assessment as a measure of growth, the picture isn't complete. I know my class frustrates the dickens out of me because on classwork they look like they know nothing but when it comes to EOQ scores, they're at the top of the grade level.

Also, I felt very out of control of my situation. We also *have* to do guided reading (20-25 minutes a day), 4 groups, 4 rotations. One of those HAS to be Wordly Wise, another has to be me, so I've only got two rotations I can work with. I spoke to my pricipal and she gave me the ok to drop to 15 minutes and do more whole group. You may want to talk to your's and see if they'll drop 5-10 minutes off your groups.

Good luck! I'm already worried about EOG reading. Out of 23 students, 21 of them failed. :(

Feb 28, 2009

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Sara Give the test every other week - do a hands on activity and call it a test. Tests were not invented for the purpose of learning - they were invented to have enough grades to give grades. Can't you grade them without a test every Friday?

> I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of not > enough time! My current concern is read...See More

Mar 1, 2009

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NV teacher On 2/28/09, 5th grade nc wrote: >'I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of not > enough time!'

Says it all. I visited this page to try to get some ideas about how to make my day "fit" better. Specifically what to do with the rest of the class while I work with my lowest students using Voyager Passport. While I don't have th...See More

Mar 1, 2009

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