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The students will be taking four state exams this year.  The students will take the  FSA English Language Arts Exam and the FSAMath Exam as well as a Writing test and Science Assessment.  We will prepare for these tests throughout the year.  The students will take several practice exams in class so that they are familiar with the format of the test.  Strong partnerships between home and school are essential for maximizing student success.  If you notice that your child is struggling with a particular literacy or math skill, please feel free to write me a note.  There are many activities that you can do at home with your child as well.  There are a myriad of websites that your child can visit to build his/her literacy or math skills.

 

 

The following reading strategies will be introduced weekly to help your child become a better reader. These strategies will also help prepare your child for the FSA ELA exam.

 

Finding the Main Idea

 

Recalling Facts and Details

 

Understanding Sequence

 

Recognizing Cause and Effect

 

Comparing and Contrasting

 

Making Predictions

 

Finding Word Meaning in Context

 

Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences

 

Fact and Opinion

 

Identifying Author's Purpose

 

Interpreting Figurative Language

 

Summarizing

 

 

 

FUNCTIONAL

Initial Understanding

Ask a question that requires students to simply locate details or identify chronological order. The answers are right there in the poster, chart, flyer, or recipe.

  • Who, what, when, where, how many, or how much?
  • According to the ________, what will the children learn?
  • What do you do first/last?
  • What did he/she do first/last?
  • Where did ____ go before/after _____?
  • Which ______ was seen first/last?
  • Step # ___ tells ______.
  • The story tells you that _______.

Interpretation


Ask a question that requires students to draw conclusions from the information given, apply ideas from text to a new situation, or determine the main idea.

  • Who, what, when, where, how many, or how much?
  • Why did _____ have_____?
  • How did ______ do _____?
  • What might be funny? (ha ha)
  • Why do you think _______?
  • Why should ___________?
  • About how long will it take to_________?
  • What makes ______ _______?
  • To make _____ you will need _______.
  • Which of these is true?

Critical Analysis and Strategies

Ask a question that requires students to determine the author’s purpose/viewpoint, identify text characteristics, or if needed information is within the text.

  • The _____ was written mainly to ________.
  • Which of these is true?
  • What does the author want you to know?

INFORMATIONAL

Initial Understanding


Ask a question that requires students to simply locate explicit details and chronological order that are right there in the expository text.

 

  • Who, what, when, where, how many, or how much?
  • What does the story say about _______?
  • The story says that _______.
  • Which of these happened first/last?
  • Which of these happened only once?
  • What happened _______?
  • At the end of the story, ________?

Interpretation

Ask a question that requires students to make inferences to draw conclusions, determine main idea, or cause/effect relationships.

  • Which of these is the best name for this story?
  • What is the main idea of the story?
  • What is this story about?
  • Which of these is true?
  • Which of these is true in the story?
  • Why does ____have ___?
  • What causes _____ to happen?

Critical Analysis and Strategies

Ask a question that requires students to determine the author’s purpose/viewpoint and unknown words in context.

  • Which of these does the author probably believe?
  • The author wrote this story mainly to_____?
  • How can you tell that________________?


 

LITERARY
 

Initial Understanding

Ask a question that requires students to locate explicit details and chronological order that are right there in stories, personal narratives, or poems.

  • Who, what, when, where, how many, or how much?
  • What does the story say about _______.?
  • The story says that _______.
  • Which of these happened first/last?
  • Which of these happened only once?
  • What happened _______?
  • At the end of the story, ________?

Interpretation

Ask a question that requires students to make inferences in order to draw conclusions, determine main ideas, or cause/effect relationships.

  • Which of these is the best name for this story?
  • What is the main idea of the story?
  • Why does ____have ___?
  • _______ probably does ______because _____.
  • This story is mostly about______.
  • You can tell that ___ likes ____ because___.
  • Who had probably___________?
  • How do you know___________?

Critical Analysis and Strategies 
 

Ask a question that requires students to determine the author’s purpose/viewpoint, unknown words from context, or identify characteristics of genre.

  • In this story, what does the word _______ mean?
  • The author wrote this story mainly to_____?
  • How can you tell________________?
  • Which of these is true?
  • The story was written to ________.
  • The story is most like a ________.(joke, song, poem, fairy tale)
  • You can tell this story make believe because ________.