Wednesday, May 2, 2012

End of Year Assessment & looking for suggestions

Yesterday we met with the reading teacher to get our articulation cards. We write the names of our students on pink or blue slips that ask us to rate them in reading, writing, and math. We add their county reading and math assessment scores from the last major test, and their current running record level. Next week we will also give DIBELS again.
I knew my little guys were making progress. At the beginning of the school year, they were Cs and Ds. By January we were at J. Now most are at P, and one finished a STU!!!  From a C. Now this is un-timed, picking up the main idea as they read to the end of the passage. DIBELS is timed without reading to the end of the passage to pick up comprehension. But I get to tell them the words they are stuck on which might help comprehension. Do you give these assessments and if so which do you feel best reflects your students' performance?  
I still don''t have word about whether or not I am looping with my class or just two of my special friends, and I don't want the other third grade teachers to say I totally misjudged my students.
Some students did a great job with selected response questions on the formal assessments, but don't have much to add to classroom discussion about what they read or experience in math class. The Walls. You probably have a few of those. My check mark on the top of the form saying they are not in my high group should mean more than the advanced mostly SR assessment. We try to group for balanced academics, gender, and race, but then personalities become a factor. 
We started packing our grade group closet. We gave the teddy bear counters to our after school program, ancient wooden rulers to to the art teacher and small, medium, and large attribute blocks to the Pre K teacher. And we threw away dominoes, paper clocks, colored rings, links, and a lot of other stuff. There is sooo much to pack. We also have materials  in a closet we share with the music teacher, and reading materials in a reading closet. And our personal classrooms. And our cumulative records have to be done the morning after the students leave so they can be cleared out of our office. But NO PRESSURE.
Looking ahead, we have about 6 school days when we will be done our math and reading programs. Does anyone have a great idea on how to spend those last few days productively with no books and few materials? I was considering having the kids write tall tales and include US geography, the life cycle of an animal, and measurement in units that are appropriate for a  tall tale. I think our computer lab will be packed up, so we will have limited technology:(