Your child's test style: Quiz

Ran across this and thought I would give it a try. It was pretty right on for us so I thought I would share.


http://www.scholastic.com/parents/schoolandlearning/quiz_teststyle/

DS'S RESULTS

The Dawdler
Kids learn that slow and steady won the race for the turtle in the famous fable, but they won’t ace a test if they spend too much time on each question. Often these children are slow to complete many tasks, whether it’s setting the table or getting ready for school, because they haven’t grasped the concept of time, says Susan Stiffelman, an educational therapist based in Malibu, California.

Use silly at-home tests to help your dawdler perfect his ability to take timed tests, she says. Fill your test with fun questions like “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” or “What color are your dog’s eyes?” Teach him to scan the entire test first, then divide the test question into thirds. If there are 60 questions, for example, have him draw a line on the paper after every 20 questions. Then place an easy-to-read timer on his desk and ask him to divide by one-third the time allotted to complete the test. This will help him learn to manage his time more effectively, and it’s a skill he can learn to use in the classroom and in everyday life.

Find more test-best tips.

DD's RESULTS

The Second-Guesser
These kids are generally bright, but have a hard time committing themselves. They lose their confidence quickly if they don’t completely understand the material at hand.

Help your second-guesser prepare for tests by creating a series of questions during the study period, and encouraging her to answer them without referring to her book or notes. She’ll get a big confidence boost as she realizes she’s grasped the material, says Marion Blank, Ph.D., director of Light on Literacy, a literacy program at Columbia University in New York.

When it’s test day, tell your second-guesser to do an initial scan of the entire test, and answer the questions she knows best first. Then, encourage her to complete the rest of the test, giving answers to all questions, but making tiny notations in the margin next to questions she’s unsure about. Urge her to leave her answers as is unless she can state to herself why her first answer is wrong.

Just like Daddy...

Weekly Report # 27

We had an extremely busy week. Between Girl Scout cookies, work, and sports I wasn't sure we were going to make it through this one!

I was also dealing with a little bit of "burn out" for lack of a better word. I was just tired and feeling like I didn't have any fresh ideas or energy to execute them. I was also adjusting to my new schedule- hitting the gym at 5 am. Once I get used to this new routine I am sure things will be back to normal. We made it through though and are looking forward to a more productive week next week!



BIBLE-
I read aloud from Window on the World- China
Copied memory verse.
Recited memory verse
Watched the movie Fireproof.


LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
George Washington read aloud.
George Washington activity books.
DS- Cursive writing practice (Workbook pages 120-124)
DD- H.O.P. Master Reader Lesson 1+2- Started Lesson 3 (DVD portion)
DS- H.O.P. Master Reader Lesson 1
DS- Yellow Book pages 151-169
DD-Spectrum Workbook Pages 38-46
SPELLING-
DD- DVD 4 x 20 mins
DS-Spelling Test, DVD 2x 20 mins

MATH-
DS- Saxon Lessons 79-82
DD- Saxon Lessons 76-81
Played Money Bags game
Played Pizza Fraction game

GEOGRAPHY-
Added China to our passport. Exchanged our American dollars for Chinese YUANG.
I read aloud from Intermediate World Atlas Page 86-87
Added China to our World Map- Colored and labeled it.
Map Activity- Located China on map, bordering countries, bodies of water, etc.



SCIENCE-
I read aloud from Wild Places pages 18-19 (Avalanches) 20-21 (Conquering Everest)
Watched two episodes of Oregon Field Guide


MUSIC/ART-
Listened to Multiplication Tunes that Teach throughout the week.
DD- Guitar Lesson


READING-
I read aloud from Dodger and Me Chapters 8-11
Ahmed's Secret
Knut- How one Polar Bear captivated the World.
Pandas- National Geographic
DS- Read- Meet George Washington, Numerous Pokemon chapter books, Started Left Behind Kids
DD Read Asia


SPORTS/EXTRA ACTIVITIES-
DD-Cheer Practice 2x
DD- Cheer Competition
DS/DD- Royal Ambassadors
Girl Scouts 2x Cookie booth
Playdate with Grandma
Dinner with Grandpa
Sunday School
Had to cancel our scheduled playdate due to friend being sick

Weekly Report # 26

We had another good week, especially considering how much we had going on. We are in the middle of cookie sales for Girl Scouts which takes up a lot of time (and SPACE!!) But we made it through the week relatively sane!!



BIBLE-
Dictation of memory verse



LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
DD- Spectrum Workbook pages 28-37
Started "Hooked on Phonics- Master Reader" program Lesson 1 (CD 3x)
DS- Yellow Book Pages 148-155
Spelling-
DD- Spelling DVD 2x 20 mins
DS- Spelling test



MATH-
DD- Saxon Lessons 71-75
DS- Saxon Lessons 72-78



GEOGRAPHY-
I read aloud from Illustrated World Atlas "Pgs 50-51- Nature, Asia- Pgs 52-53 Farming and Industry.
Hindi Language Activity- We practiced different sayings in Hindi and write "Namaste" in Hindi
We read "The Old Lady and The Pumpkin" Indian Fable-
We made our Asia Geography board game- though we didn't actually get around to playing it yet!
We colored the India Flag and learned the flag facts.
Book Basket 1x 20 min


SCIENCE-
I read aloud from Wild Places- (Wild Animals, Above the Tree line, Above the Clouds, and Climbing the peaks.)



MUSIC/ART-
Designed and colored and Indian design.
Thursday was supposed to be DD's first guitar lesson- but the teacher canceled due to a family emergency- Looking forward to next week!



READING-
I read aloud from Dodger and ME Chapters 5-7 (The kids LOVE this book!)
DS- Continued to read from Limmeny Snicket and Magic Tree House- Pirates




SPORTS/EXTRA ACTIVITIES-

Cheer 2x (DD was promoted to flyer- she is very excited, I on the other hand, am NOT at all. I am very nervous- hoping to be able to keep myself composed)

Bible Study- (We have been absent for quite a few weeks now due to our schedule- the kids were so happy to be back- and see thier friends again!)

Sunday school (DD's friend is still attending with us :)

Playdate with a neighbor.

Girl Scouts 2x (regular meeting and cookie booth- poor DD is stuck with me during cookie and nut sales for up to 5 hours at a time as I can't leave... she does end up selling the most though---- imagine that)

Field Trip to the coast

Hunting for shells

Driving in the dunes

Kona tired out after running the beach

Weekly Report #25

We had a really nice week. DS went to Washington once again with DH on a work trip. He is always really motivated on the weeks when he knows he will be leaving as he knows he has things to get done if he wants to be able to go. DD was looking forward to GIRLS DAY so she worked hard as well. It was so nice to have a whole week of great attitudes! We had fun and learned a lot!

BIBLE-
Dictation of memory verse daily

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
DS- Yellow Book Pages 133-147
DD- Spectrum Workbook pages 17-27
DD- Sight Word tests- Level 1+2 (See previous post)
DS- Washington State worksheet, Washington State Flag quiz
DS- Lesson 1 & 2 from "180 Essential Vocabulary Worlds for 3rd Grade"
DD- Workbook #4 pages 29-30- Long vowels
DD- Letter to friend+ revision of letter to friend and rewrite
Played Number Words Hangman

MATH-
DS- Saxon Lesson 67- 71
DD- Saxon Lesson 66 -70
(Listened to Multiplication-tunes that teach)
DS- Made a boxed dinner - following directions and doing all the cooking by himself :)
DS- Multiplication table, Multiplication squares, Labeling fractions worksheet



GEOGRAPHY-

We entered INDIA this week. Exchanging our American Dollars for the Indian Rupee.
We located India on the World Map, locating all of the bordering countries, bodies of water, etc.
Added India to our World Map- Labeled and colored it.
Located, labeled, and colored, countries of Asia on blank Asia map.
Added Asia stickers to our Flag sticker workbook.
I read aloud pages 76-81 from Intermediate World Atlas.
I read aloud from Another Trip Around the World pgs 104-105
India Crossword Puzzle
India Quiz
DS- Advanced India Quiz
DS- Continued to work on Asia packet
Discussion of the history of Henna tattoos
DD- Henna tattoo-


SCIENCE-

I read aloud from Wild Places pages 30-31, 2-3 (Mountain Ranges, Mountain vocabulary)


MUSIC/ART-

Kathakali face paintings- The kids did each others faces and had so much fun with it. It was hilarious to watch them!




Wee Sing- Songs from Asia- listened to them throughout the week at random times.
Multiplication- Tunes that Teach

Made Valentines Cards

Made Dog Puppets for "Dog Club"



READING-
DS- Began reading his new book club selection "Limmeny Snicket"
I read aloud from our new chapter book "Dodger and Me" Chapters 1-5
DS- read numerous Pokemon books


SPORTS/EXTRA ACTIVITIES-

Sunday School (DD invited a Girl Scout friend to go with us, they had so much fun together- we are going to try to take her on a regular basis)

Cheer Performance- It was a family and friends event and DD had her first cheering section crowd ever! It was so awesome to have people there with us to cheer her on!

(Just one of the many photos of herself I found on her camera, funny girl!)

Cheer Practice 1x (They actually gave us all two nights off this week as we just came out of 6 weeks straight of competition and practices!)

Dog Club- After a long wait DD finally had her first meeting. She organized the whole club months ago, but has had to wait until we had the time to have everyone over. She did so well! She used her schedule and kept things running smoothly. She asked DS to make a snack and he was very excited to do it- making brownies all by himself. She planned cute activities and crafts. The kids all had such a good time! It will be a monthly activity.

Playdate at our house with a friend from preschool.

DD- went to see Madagascar 2 with a friend.

Sight Word Test Week #25

I have been testing DD on level 1 sight words since we started in September. I am really excited by her progress. I decided to go ahead and test her on Level 2 words this week as well.
I haven't been practicing them with her in flash card format. Only practicing them as they come up in books and worksheets. I was hoping by doing it this way she would really learn the words rather than just memorizing them- It appears to be working! I am excited by how well she did on the Level 2 test as there were a lot of tricky sounds (kn, ou, ould, etc.)

Here are the results:

LEVEL 1

Sept.9-08 29/108

Nov.11.08 68/108

Feb. 9.09 82/108

LEVEL 2

Feb.9.09 60/108

Weekly Report # 24

This week we were battling terrible colds and a few late nights due to special activities- Because of the added stress of being sick and tired we didn't spend much time on Math as math is one of our biggest stress triggers. We spent a lot of time cuddled up in bed reading, finishing more than one chapter book even this week!We also watched a lot of movies as by the end of the week we were all miserable and not up to doing much else! Looking back at it now I am actually quite surprised at how much we did accomplish with everyone feeling under the weather!

BIBLE-
Memory Verse for the next couple of weeks is The Lord's Prayer.

"Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name
They kingdom come,
They will on earth be done on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not in to temptation
But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory forever. Amen."


DS and I watched movies 1-3 of "The Left Behind" Series

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
Copied Memory Verse - The Lord's Prayer
We talked about Groundhog Day- what it means, what legends are, etc.
Daily dictation of memory verse
The kids then wrote out their own predictions. (They both predicted an early spring) We watched last years prediction on YOUTUBE. We read Phil's prediction for this year.
We added to our Months of the Year book- Adding the February page. DD- has been doing a lot of independent writing lately. She brings her notebook with her just about everywhere and is always writing.
We wrote letters to Great Grandpa and made cards for his upcoming birthday.
DD- Continued our "Seasons" Study- Adding WINTER, drawing a picture of the tree we selected at the beginning of the year, and writing a description of winter.

Watched 3 episodes of Reading Rainbow- (Team Work ,living with disabilities, Astronomy)





MATH-
DS- Multiplication Worksheet
DD- Saxon Lesson 65 (Assessment # 12)`
Played Money Bags 1x 30 min

GEOGRAPHY-
(life skills) We continued using our Saudi Riyal currency to pay for things (meals, etc.)
Review of what we learned previously of Asia- specifically Saudi Arabia. Continued to study Asia map.

Read from " A Trip Around the World" (pg 60) Arabic alphabet- numbers 1-10, common Arabic sayings, Days of the week
Copied the Arabic Alphabet
Colored the Saudi Arabian flag- talked about flag facts
Saudi Arabia Flag Quiz
Watched "Wild Asia" Video
Wrote a paper about all the facts we know about Asia
Added to our "Continents" lap book- South America, Saudi Arabia, Europe

Watched "Wildest Asia" (though it has a similar title- this one was about the endangered animals in Asia)
Book Basket 20 mins




SCIENCE-
I read aloud from "Living Places" Pages 84-87- A Sahara Salt Caravan, Oases
Watched 2 episodes of "Oregon Field Guide" -Geologic Structures. Burrowing Owls


MUSIC/ART-
Card making.
Clay figures

DD- Dot to Dot DVD


READING-
I read aloud "Asia" by Allan Fowler.
The Boxcar Children "The Ghost Mystery Ship" by Gertrude Chandler Warner
DS read "Snow Day from the Black Lagoon" by Mike Thaler , Started new book club book "Limeny Snicket"
I read aloud "Spongebob- Ice Cream Dreams" "Barbie and the Pyramid Adventure"

SPORTS/EXTRA ACTIVITIES-

Girl Scouts- We rented Skate World so that the girls could have the place to themselves. We all had such a good time! DS brought a friend and all the girls brought Mom and Dad and their siblings. DH even closed shop early to come skate with us! It was a late night though and we definitely paid for it the next day- the kids were so grumpy and tired!

Cheer practice
Book Club meeting- Discussion of "Hoot" They brought in a live owl from the Raptor Center. The kids then made owls out of pine cones. They had a great time!

Cheer competition