Terry McCutchen
Angelo State University
As third grade teachers in Texas began the 2002-2003 school year, there was an anxiety level that was higher than in years past. We were not in fear of any children though. We were worried for them. What had gotten our attention was a test; a simple paper and pencil exam that would be given to our children in March. The name of this monster was the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, TAKS for short. The test was not the problem, for we had dealt with TAAS testing for years. What had stolen our joy were the implications on our students if they did not pass the test. Any child who could not pass the test by the end of third grade would be retained the following year.
To
add to the frustration, the state had not given many clues as to the
composition of the test yet had raised fears with predictions of mass failures.
Failure rates were predicted to be as high as 40 percent, which meant that only
60 percent of our third graders would move to fourth grade. What would this
mean for teachers? How would staffing take place? Would our children survive
the pressure of the experience? Better yet, would we survive the added weight
on our shoulders?
As
the year unfolded, very little actual TAKS information was released into our
awaiting hands. This led many teachers, like myself, to search for help in
preparing our students. As can be expected, many worksheets and practice tests
were completed. I was guilty of over utilizing this technique. When test day
arrived, and all the smoke had cleared, our students faired extremely well.
Over 98 percent of our students passed both the reading and math portions of
the exam. This raised some questions in my mind. Is this the most ideal way to
prepare? Probably not. Are there some other ways to allow students to hone
their skills without being "drilled and killed" to tears? Absolutely. What I
have compiled is a list of several web sites, which will assist third grade
teachers in TAKS preparation without actually "teaching to the test". These
sites focus on skills that are essential for students to fair well on exams.
Many of these will give teachers ideas for integrating different subjects to
assist with test preparation.
Reading:
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/nbk/nbk_toc.html
This
is a good site for students to go and learn about the presidents of the United
States. There are quizzes that require in-depth reading to achieve a level of
success. Students much read thoroughly to get the correct information. The
quizzes are multiple choice in format, which is good practice for the TAKS. The
reading selections are also non-fiction, which are symbolic of TAKS reading
selections.
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/magicth/guides/index.html
This
site contains some teaching guides for the Magic Tree House books. Several of
these books are combined together to form thematic units. Each unit has a free
teacher guide available online. For example, four titles are tied together to
form a unit on warriors and brave fighters. Four other books are combined to
study ancient history. These guides seem like very good resources to
incorporate reading with other subjects across the curriculum. There are
activities that fit well with state adopted TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and
Skills) as well as fun games to play. One note, most of the Magic Tree House
books are written on the second grade level which would be great for struggling
readers and students needing to boost their confidence.
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/junieb/guides.html
Like the Magic Tree House site, this site gives
teachers guides for the Junie B. Jones book series. While many of the
activities are printable worksheets, there are some games and other activities
for the teacher to implement. For example, there is "recycle" bingo, a bird
watching nature guide, and graphing lunch boxes, all for Junie B. Jones,
First Grader: Boss of Lunch. All of the teacher guides contain activities
such as this and are free to download.
http://www.fcps.edu/KingsParkES/technology/bios/index.htm
This page is from the Kings Park Elementary School web
site in Fairfax County, Virginia. It contains biographies from famous historical
figures including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Martin Luther King
Jr. They are written on grade level in an easy to follow format. Most of the
biographies list several links to other Internet sites for further research.
This would be a great starting point for student research of historical figures.
Mathematics:
&nbs
p; This
is a wonderful math site. It has short lessons for the students to read. After
reading, students must then complete games and activities for reinforcement.
There are materials from Kindergarten through Eighth grade. The lessons are
divided by grade and/or subject matter. This site would be a wonderful
reinforcement for a specific skill or a tutorial for a student struggling to
grasp a certain concept. It would also be an excellent way to challenge any
advanced mathematicians in the class. As far as I could tell, the entire third
grade TAKS objectives were covered somewhere in this site.
This site is an advertisement for a "new" way of teaching multiplication but I felt it contained some beneficial characteristics. There are some games and activities for children to play while on line. Maybe used as a direct link, you can navigate your student around the sales pitch to the material, which is beneficial.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/
This
site is for teachers. It does not contain any lessons, but is a "must" in my opinion. There are activities for teachers to
complete which give experiences of dealing with common classroom learning
difficulties. For example, we can see why students who struggle with attention,
reading, writing, and math do so. There are also some responses to help
teachers deal with these common problems.
This
site is an excellent place for children scientists. Each member of the
self-proclaimed Black Hole Gang gives a list of his/her favorite science
related sites in the teacher's corner. With four members represented, one gets
a plethora of Internet addresses to visit, covering nearly every subject
imaginable. It is also a good site for teaching Internet navigation skills.
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/owlmouse.htm
This
site is a compilation of software and programs that are downloadable. The
software contains educational games and programs, most of which are free. There
are social studies, math and science programs among others. This is a good
place to look for programs to download at school or home.
http://fcps.edu/KingsParkES/technology/t4t/index.htm
Time
for Teachers is a program sponsored by Kings Park Elementary School for
teachers to create units for others to use. These units typically are 3 to 6
week endeavors and are usually multi-disciplinary. There are several listed for
each grade from Kindergarten through third grade. In third grade alone, there
are six to choose from. Look here when searching for units or projects to
incorporate.