FCAT for Families

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FCAT for Families Winning the Home Front
Simple strategies for helping your child achieve
better scores on the Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test.
2
Objectives

• Know what the FCAT expects our children to do
• Be good questioners
• Leave with simple strategies to use right away

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TIME
Just small amounts of time can reap enormous
benefits. Make the most of the time you already
have. A little bit of time over the long haul
makes all the difference.
Take advantage of the time spent doing laundry,
waiting at the doctors office, in the checkout
line, or in the car.
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Simple Ideas

• Laundry Ask the child to determine the size of
  the load of clothes and the appropriate amount of
  detergent that should be used.
• How long will it take the clothes to wash? To
  dry?
• What water temperature should be used? Why?
• At the laundromat, how much will it cost to wash
  and dry one load of the clothes? All the clothes?

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Simple Ideas

• Doctors Office What time do we need to leave
  in order to be on time for the appointment?
• How long do we need/did we have to wait to see
  the doctor?
• Why do we usually have to wait past our
  appointment time to see the doctor?

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Simple Ideas

• Checkout Line Have the child put items on the
  counter the way they should be bagged (frozen
  items, clothing, soaps)
• Use discretion to read headlines on magazines and
  newspapers and determine whether they are fact or
  opinion
• Why are certain items put near the check-out
  counter?
• How much will we save using coupons?

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Simple Ideas

• Riding in the car Have your child note landmarks
  on your travel route
• Predict how long it will take to get to the
  destination and compare to how long it actually
  took
• What is an alternate route to get to the
  destination? Which route is the most efficient?

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FCAT
Schools cannot Teach to the Test

• Children have to answer
• multiple choice questions
• short response questions
• long response questions
• gridded response questions
• in Math, Reading, and Writing

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Multiple Choice

• Simon and Julie need 72 paper flowers to complete
  a button board. They have 19 paper flowers so
  far. Which operation should be used in the box
  below to find how many more paper flowers they
  need?
• 72 19

?

• Addition
• Division
• Multiplication
• Subtraction

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Short Response

• 1. Mai has a counting book that has objects to
  be counted on each page. To find the number of
  objects on each page, the book says to multiply
  and add using the page numbers. She discovers
  the pattern shown in the table below.

PATTERN FOR MULTIPLYING AND ADDING
Complete the pattern shown in the table to find
the number of objects on Page 4. On the lines
below, explain the pattern used to find the
answer. __________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

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Long Response

• Lauralee surveyed 10 students and asked them
  which Florida cities they have visited in the
  past year. The results are shown in the table
  below

FLORIDA CITIES STUDENTS HAVE VISITED
Alex Celeste Felix Marta Sue Tom
Alex Lisa Mike Sal Tom
Dora Marta Mike Sue Tom
Part A Complete the Venn diagram on the next page
to show the names of the students who have
visited each of the cities in the past year.
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Long Response (CONT.)

DAYTONA BEACH
Part B On the lines below, explain why Toms name
is in the overlapping area of all three circles
in the Venn diagram. _____________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_____________
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Gridded Response
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FCATExpects Our Children To

• Take skills and use them in real-life problem
  solving situations
• Solve multi-step problems
• Understand and use information
• Get the main idea from reading
• Write and organize thoughts

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QUESTIONING

• Two kinds of questions
• High Order Why is my favorite color purple?
• Low Order Who was the first president of the
  U.S.?

• FCAT asks high and low order questions, but high
  order items are worth more points because they
  expect children to do critical thinking
• You do not have to be an expert at asking
  questions, just ask the right types of questions!

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HAMBURGER HELPER
Easy Ways to Start High Order Questions
Why did . . . . . ? What if . . . . . ? How would
you have . . . . . ? How is this the same
as/different from . . . . . ? Which is better . .
. . . ? Why?
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READING

• Have your child read for pleasure.
• Have your child read items that are at a
  comfortable reading level for him/her (most of
  the words can be pronounced correctly)

• Read the labels on the items in the shopping cart
• Read aloud the shopping list as you are shopping

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READING

• Take turns reading a paragraph or page and
• discuss the story. Try to predict what will
• happen next.
• Ask questions about what is being read as you
• read

• Have family reading time where everyone reads.
  Read together and individually. Have family
  members take turns reading aloud to the entire
  family.

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WRITING

• Write in a daily journal or diary
• Write out the shopping list and organize it by
  the aisle or area the items are located in the
  store
• Write a letter or email to a friend

• Write out chore schedules, errand lists,
• and extra-curricular schedules and
• appointments

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WRITING

• Write in complete sentences on homework
• Write notes back and forth with the teacher
  (parents and child)

• Parent and child take turns dictating and writing
  sentences or a story

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MATH

• Read and interpret charts and graphs in the
  newspaper
• Determine how far you will be able to drive with
  the amount of gas in the tank
• Have your child help with cooking - use various
  sizes and types of measuring cups and spoons
  (half and double the recipes)
• Estimate change due back to you - ask the clerk
  to count it back to you

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MATH

• Have your child sort or categorize the items you
  put in the grocery cart as you are shopping
• Carry a pocket calculator or keep one in the car
  for immediate answer checking

Heres a 8 oz bottle of fabric softener for
3.79 and a 20 oz bottle for 6.09. Which do you
think is the better buy? To use the least
amount of gas, in what order do you think we
should run our errands?
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PICTURES They can sharpen thinking skills!

• Draw a picture about a scene in a story being
  read
• Look at a photograph or painting and describe
  what is happening
• Read charts or graphs and describe the shapes,
  column, bars, etc.

According to the chart, more people travel in
December than any other time. Why do you think
that is? What do you think the person in that
picture is feeling? Why do you think that?
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TELEVISION It does not have to be the enemy of
education!

• Use the TV Guide and schedule the programs to be
  watched during the week
• Watch together and make it interactive

What do you think will happen next? Do you
think what that character did was right? Why or
why not?
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VIDEO GAMES

• Video games require problem solving skills to
  advance from one level to the next level
• Have your child write and/or illustrate a story
  about characters from the game and describe the
  characters personalities
• Ask questions about strategies used to win the
  games

How do you get to the next level? Why do you
need that yellow power-up thing? Why did you
choose to play this game?
Do not talk a lot during the video game!
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WINNING AT HOME

• Ask high order questions at every opportunity
• Read with your child as often as
• possible

• Draw and explain pictures
• Explore childs thinking
• while he/she plays
• Have conversations with
• your child!