7th Grade Assignment: "My Reading Life"

Due: Friday April 30

For a complete description of this assignment click "read more". Check out examples of strong reading reflections here and here. Also, here, here and here. These are all reflections written by last year's graduating class, the UNMS Class of '09.

7th Grade Test Prep: How do I beat the multiple choice section?

As we discussed in class today there are THREE main points to keep in mind about the multiple choice section AKA Book 1.

POINT 1: Use your brain to THINK WHILE YOU READ. Practice all of those reading strategies you've learned through the years (like visualizing, predicting, re-reading, and so on). This also includes noticing the clues in each passage that help you (like the directions, sidebars, the title, pictures, etc...).

POINT 2: The questions are the thing! We will teach you strategies to help you "translate" test questions, which are written in "super-English" into "normal English." If you do not know what the question is asking, you can't answer it, can you?

POINT 3: You must go back to the text to find evidence for your answers. Always. You must.

You also came up with the following strategies/take aways:

• Jasmine learned that we should eliminate multiple choice answers that don't make sense.
• Sydney learned how to re-read the passage to make sure her answers are correct and to make sure that the answers are coming from the passage. 
• Joslyn learned that she needs to look at key words in the question to match to the text and to the answers. 
• Christian and Dilon know they want to get better at reading questions more carefully. 
• For Djasia reading the questions first is helpful.

8th Grade Test Prep: How do I do well on the multiple choice section?

As we discussed in class today there are THREE main points to keep in mind about the multiple choice section AKA Book 1.

POINT 1: Use your brain to THINK WHILE YOU READ. Practice all of those reading strategies you've learned through the years (like visualizing, predicting, re-reading, and so on). This also includes noticing the clues in each passage that help you (like the directions, sidebars, the title, pictures, etc...).

POINT 2: The questions are the thing! We will teach you strategies to help you "translate" test questions, which are written in "super-English" into "normal English." If you do not know what the question is asking, you can't answer it, can you?

POINT 3: You must go back to the text to find evidence for your answers. Always. You must.

Other take-aways you noted today:

• Eliminating really bad answers from multiple choices improves our chances of choosing the right answer.
• Sometimes we just won't know what a word means in an answer choice. We can look carefully at the word to see if there is a smaller part of it we recognize or know. If that does not help, we can use the process of elimination to help us make a best guess.
• Some questions repeat a passage from the text and ask us to study them for what the author is doing. In these cases we have to check each answer choice to see if it makes sense.

7th Grade Test Prep - How is the test structured?

In the 7th grade you take your entire test over the course of two days. Here is how those days break down:


DAY ONE (Monday April 26)
Book One: Multiple Choice and Short Answer/ Graphic Organizer. (60 minutes) You will answer at least 26 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer/ graphic organizer questions that are spread across five passages. At least half of the passages will be nonfiction.




DAY TWO (Tuesday April 27)
Book Two: Listening and Writing (30 minutes) You will listen to one passage, almost always nonfiction and almost always about a person. Then, after the passage is read to you TWICE, you get 30 minutes to answer 4 multiple choice questions, write 2 short answer questions, and correct one editing paragraph. The editing paragraph is not connected to the passage you will be listening to.

7th Grade Test - How do I score a...

You can get up to 41 points on the entire 7th grade ELA test. The state then converts your total points into the real scores you see at the end of the year (like 2.8 or 4.0). To get a 4.0 you usually need at least 40 points.

• 30 of those points come from multiple choice questions. That means that over 70% of your score is based just on the multiple choice section, which is mostly in Book 1 with a few multiple choice questions in Book 2 (the listening section). 

• All of the writing you do in Book 1 and Book 2 adds up to the another 8 points. Here is how you get those points.
• You get 2 points for each short answer question and graphic organizer you do in Book 1 and Book 2.  There are usually 4 short answer/graphic organizer questions total.

•  You can earn up to 3 points on the editing paragraph in Book 2. This is separate from the Listening Section. 

8th Grade Test Prep: How is the test scored?

You can get up to 44 points on the entire 8th grade ELA test. The state then converts your total points into the real scores you see at the end of the year (like 2.8 or 4.0).

• 26 of those points come from multiple choice questions. That means that about 60% of your score is based just on the multiple choice section, which is Book 1.

• All of the writing you do in Book 2 and Book 3 adds up to the other 18 points. Here is how you get those points:
• You get 7 points for all the writing combined you do in the Listening Section (Book 2). This includes the graphic organizer, the short-answers, and the essay.
• You get 7 points for all the writing combined you do in the Reading/Writing Section (Book 3). Again, this includes the graphic organizer, the short-answers, and the essay.
• You get 4 points based on your overall grammar in the two essays.

       

The state converts points a little bit differently each year, but here is how it broke down for the passing grades last year:

• To get a 4, students needed to score at least 43 points.
• To get a 3, students needed to score at least 31 points.

8th Grade Test Prep: How is the test structured?

In the 8th grade you take your entire test over the course of two days. Here is how those days break down:


DAY ONE (Monday April 26)
Book One: Multiple Choice (55 minutes) You will answer 26 multiple choice questions that are spread across five passages. At least half of the passages will be nonfiction.


You will get about a 5 to 10 minute break between Book 1 and Book 2


Book Two: Listening and Writing (45 minutes) You will listen to one passage, almost always nonfiction and almost always about a person. Then, after the passage is read to you TWICE, you get 45 minutes to answer one graphic organizer question, two short-answer questions, and write one essay.


DAY TWO (Tuesday April 27)
Book Three: Reading and Writing (60 minutes) You will read two passages that are connected in some way. You will answer one graphic organizer question, two short-answer questions, and write one essay that connects both passages.

The Thesis Statement

Oh, the thesis. You will be hearing about it and writing your own for at least the next ten years of your life. So, why is it SO important, especially if it seems like people STOP writing them after college?
We write thesis statements for one major reason: to gain control over our thoughts.

Okay, so it's not THAT simple, but it's really true. A thesis statement expresses our BIG idea, the PURPOSE for our writing. After the thesis, we just need to prove that our thesis is true.

Spring Break Homework

1. Your homework over Spring Break is to continue to read every night. Your reading should total roughly 300 pages over the course of the vacation.
2. We want you to take the practice tests we gave you before break started. There are different directions for 7th and 8th grade:
• 8th Grade: You have two practice tests. Form A can be taken without timing yourself. For Form B, you should time yourself as follows: Session 1 = 55 minutes; Session 2 = Skip (This is the listening section); Session 3 = 60 minutes. Links to past 8th grade exams can be found here.
• 7th Grade: You  have one practice test. You should time yourself to see how well you are able to pace yourself, as follows: Session 1 = 60 minutes; Session 2a = Skip (This is the listening section); Session2b = 10 minutes (editing paragraph). Links to past 7th grade exams can be found here.
• If you have an IEP and know how much extended time you are entitled to on the test, adust your time accordingly.