TAKS/TEKS TOOLS AND THEIR USE
By now you've probably heard all you want to hear about TAKS from the teachers and from your children. You know it is an important test. You know there are specific things your child will be expected to know. But, unless you're a teacher yourself, you may not know exactly what we are looking for. So, for those who'd like to help at home, here is a step-by-step guide to what your child is expected to do every time on every problem.
TAKS/TEKS READING TOOLS
1.
Survey/View or Preview the passage or story. Determine whether the passage/story is Narrative, Informative or Mixed.
2.Read the title. Underline it.
3.Read the question at the end of the selection and circle key words in the question
4. Read the story.
5. Underline key words in the story.
There are reasons why we have the children do these things, and why in this particular order.
The title often tells what the story is about. By reading and underlining it, we hope the child will get the idea of what they are looking for in the story.
Reading the questions before they read the main selection helps the child get an idea of what information he is looking for. Underlining and circling helps the student identify what information s/he is looking for if the question contains more than one sentence.
Performing all these other steps before reading the story helps the student have a better idea of what information s/he is looking for.
Underling key words in the story helps the student recognize what is important information in the story.
After all this, we're finally ready to answer the questions. Here's what we ask the student to do.
1.Read the story several times.
2.Compare two answers at a time (process of elimination).
3.Choose an answer that makes sense.
4.Go back to the story and find the place where it answers your question. Underline where you found your answer, and write the paragraph number beside the question.
Here's what we're after this time.
Many students read too quickly and don't get the full meaning of the story the first time. By asking them to read it again and again we are hoping to get them to slow down and really understand what they read.
By comparing two answers at a time we hope to get the student to choose the better of the two answers.
By repeating this exercise again and again we hope he can learn to choose the best answer by the process of elimination.
By going back to the story we are attempting to make him find the answer he has selected in the body of the test.
Reading Strategies
Inevitably, students will encounter words they are not familiar with. We try to teach them the following techniques for figuring out the words.
1.Sound the word out.
2.Divide the word into pieces.
3.Read the words around it.
4."Chunk" it.
By sounding out the word children often recognize words they've heard but don't yet recognize in print.
Dividing words into syllables frequently allows children to recognize prefixes, suffixes and other word parts they are familiar with.
Reading the words around an unknown word often allows us to figure out what a word means from it context.
"Chunking" refers to breaking the word into pieces that are larger words rather than syllables. It is one more way of attempting to "decode" unfamiliar words.
TAKS/TEKS MATH TOOLS
1.Read the problem several times.
2.Read and underline the question.
3.Circle what you are looking for in the question.
4.Look for vocabulary word(s) in the question and label them. 5. Go back to the story and look for clues (underline or circle them).
6.Cross out extra information.
7. Select a strategy: draw a picture, look for a pattern, guess and check, act it out, make a table, work a simpler problem, or work backwards.
8.Select an operation (+, -, x, --).
9. Solve the problem and show your work. (Be sure you show your work!)
10. Review your work and touch all the bubbles.
(The first four tools are exactly the same as in a reading problem since these tools are for use with math word problems. By asking the student to read the problem many time, underline the question, and circle or underline what they are looking for, and looking for vocabulary words, for we are using much the same strategies as in reading.
Asking students to cross out "extra" information helps them decide what is important (and unimportant) to the problem.
By selecting a strategy we are referring to deciding whether the problem requires addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or some other mathematical technique to arrive at an answer.
Solving the problem is self-explanatory. Showing your work is important to insure that kids aren't just guessing and to identify why problems came up with the wrong answers.
Checking, reviewing, and "touching the bubbles" insures that the student didn't make an unintended mistake and further serves to slow the "speed demons" down .
More than anything else using TAKS/TEKS tools serves to slow the students down since there is a nearly universal tendency for children at this age to act as if all tests were some sort of speed competition.
What You Can Do To Help Your Child Do Better On The Tests.
The primary purpose of the TAKS is to provide a measurement of student achievement in the areas of reading, math, writing, social studies, and science. (Math and reading only in third grade.) Although we have attempted to teach students the necessary skills in school, there are some ways parents can help their children prepare for the test.
You are probably aware of how your children deal with test situations. Some students become extremely tense. Tension and anxiety can interfere with a student's ability to function well academically. Other students may experience no worry or tension whatsoever. Most students, however, fall somewhere between the two extremes.
Even if a child has a tendency to become nervous during tests, the many practice tests given at school throughout the school year should serve to alleviate much of this apprehension. However, for students who are still nervous, visualization and relaxation exercises have proven to help reduce anxiety in most cases. There are many good books available about visualization techniques. Generally, the concepts involve calming the mind and picturing oneself in the pressure situation working efficiently and calmly.
It is a good idea to make sure your child is in good physical condition in the days before the test. When young people are growing, they need to maintain good nutritional habits and get sufficient sleep on a regular basis. Their sleeping hours should remain consistent form day to day to achieve maximum benefits.
In the last few days before the test, have your child review practice TAAS test material every day, but don't encourage "cramming" or do large amounts of prep work just before the test. Overworking your child at this point will merely result in needless stress and almost certainly result in no real gains in academic preparedness. The day before the test, your child should review some questions as early in the day as reasonably possible. Then he or she should try to relax and not worry too much. Make sure your child eats a healthy evening meal and goes to bed early enough to allow at least eight hours sleep.
The morning of the test, make sure your child wakes up early and has time to dress and prepare for the day without rushing, as rushing creates tension. Finally, make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast.
