Apr
28
2015

4-28-15

Students worked on Sessions 1 and 2 of the ELA M-Step test until 12:23.  Students then went to lunch and to their 5th and 6th hour classes.

For 5th and 6th hour, students will have the chance to ask questions and/or review for the final session of ELA.

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/11-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
27
2015

M-Step for 7th grade begins tomorrow

As with any test situation, your student will be prepared to do his/her best if s/he has a good night’s sleep and eats a nutritious breakfast.

We have reviewed content, skills and test/question format over the past week.  Other sample items are available online; scroll down for previous blog post with active link to those review materials.

Students will test during the morning each day.  Please see that your student arrives to school on time each day.

Due to the test format, our lunch time has had to be adjusted.  We will eat later than usual.  Your student may want to bring a HEALTHY snack to consume AFTER testing is complete.  M-Step rules do not permit ANY food (even gum or mints) while test materials are out.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.  I’ll answer what I can and seek out the answers to what I don’t know myself.

Thank you for helping your student prepare and be focused for testing!

Apr
27
2015

4-27-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Completed M-Step classroom activity in preparation for the Exploring the World Performance Task

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/11-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
24
2015

4-24-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Reviewed question format for part 2 of the performance task on the M-Step ELA, (3) Reviewed sample questions, (4) Worked with partner to answer an additional sample question, (5) Used Chromebooks for skill review on IXL

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/11-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
23
2015

4-23-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Reviewed question format for part 1 of the performance task on the M-Step ELA, (3) Reviewed sample question, (4) Worked with partner to answer two more sample questions, (5) Used Chromebooks for skill review on IXL

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/4-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
22
2015

4-22-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Looked over sample sources for performance task (an activity to prepare for the writing section on ELA), (3) Reviewed several more sample questions, (4) Worked with partner to answer a sample question, (5) Used Chromebooks for skill review

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/4-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
21
2015

4-21-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Completed the practice classroom activity (an activity to prepare for the writing section on ELA), (3) Worked with partner to answer a sample question, (4) Used Chromebooks for skill review

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/4-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
20
2015

Skills Practice for M-Step

Students had several skills and concepts they wanted to review prior to M-Step testing next week.  In class, we will have some time each day to use the IXL program to review those items.  At home, students can also continue their review.  Here is a list of the items requested for review and a link to the IXL login page.  Students should login using the same user name and password as they use in their math classes.

IXL Login

Skills to review:

Possessive nouns – D1

Using quotation marks – K1

Declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory – M1

Subject & predicate – N1, N2, N3

Sentence or fragment – O1, O2, O3

Prepositions – P2

Simple, compound, complex – Q1, Q2

Antecedents – S2

Indefinite pronouns – X2

Verb tense – AA2

Transitive & intransitive verbs – AA5

Linking verbs – AA6

Adjectives – BB1

Adverbs – CC1

Conjunctions – EE1

Analogies – JJ1

Suffixes OO1, OO2, OO3

Figurative / Sensory Language – RR1, RR2, RR3, RR4

Apr
20
2015

4-20-15

AGENDA: (1) Filled in planner, (2) Read practice selection for M-Step preparation, (3) Worked with partner to answer sample questions, (4) Used Chromebooks for skill review

HOMEWORK:  IXL for skill review for M-Step

DUE DATES & UPCOMING TESTS:  

4/28 & 29 ~ M-Step ELA testing for 7th grade

5/5 & 6 ~ M-Step Math testing for 7th grade

5/7 ~ M-Step Science testing for 7th grade

5/4-21 ~ NWEA test window (I will let you know our specific test dates once they are scheduled. It will be after M-Step testing.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

5/13 ~ Late Start: School begins one hour later

5/14 ~ PTA Meeting at 6pm

5/21 ~ Tigers’ Game (for those who signed up at the end of March)

5/22-25 ~ NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day Break

6/4 ~ Wheels Assembly

6/5 ~ Cedar Point Trip (Registration info coming soon!)

6/11 ~ LAST DAY!  Students dismissed at 11:05am

Apr
17
2015

M-Step Preparation

7th graders will begin M-Step testing on April 28th.  Next week, we will review ELA skills and concepts that the students have questions about.  We will also review test taking strategies.

If your student would like additional help at home, I found a link to practice test items.  M-Step testing is being done online and with the traditional paper/pencil tests.  DPS is using the paper/pencil version so some of the “tools” mentioned in the practice test will not apply to our students for this year.

Exposure to how the questions are worded, the format of answer choices and the content rigor would be beneficial to the students.

If you have any questions regarding testing, please feel free to contact me.  If I don’t know the answer to your question, I’ll do my best to find it out for you.

 

M-Step Practice Items

 

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