Preparing Students in 3rd Grade to Succeed on ISAT

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Preparing Students in 3rd Grade to Succeed on
ISAT

• Presented by
• Sabrina L. Gates, Adonia C. Milsap Juliana
  Perisin
• Cluster 5 Reading Coaches

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Purposes

• To explore content and background of the ISAT
  reading test
• To explore instructional strategies in reading
  that support Illinois Learning Standards
• To explore test taking tips to support good
  performance

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Todays Agenda

• 1)Features of the ISAT 3rd 5th grade reading
  tests
• 2)Closely examining a sample test
• 3)Types of text on ISAT
• 4)Working with multiple choice questions

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FEATURES3rd and 5th Grade ISAT Reading Tests

• Criterion-referenced test
• Tests whether a student has mastered certain
  competencies (i.e. reading skills)
• Students score is compared to a cutoff score set
  by authors of test

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• The reading skills being measured in grades 3-8
  are similar.
• The passages students will be asked to read and
  interpret increase in difficulty and
  sophistication.
• 80 of the passages are at or near grade level
  (less than 1 year above or below).
• 20 of the passages should be 1-2 years below
  grade level.

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What do ISAT Reading Scores Tell You?

• How well your students identify important facts
  specifically stated in the text.
• How well your students understand the meaning of
  key words and phrases in text.
• How well your students make inferences within or
  between sentences and between or across
  paragraphs.

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• How well your students understand key traits and
  motives of characters
• To what extent your students consider and
  evaluate evidence to support or reject different
  ideas.
• How well your students determine the authors
  point of view, message, intent, and reasons for
  using specific devices or conventions.

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ISAT Test Dates

• March 29 through April 9, 2004

• Thats approximately 15 weeks

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3rd Grade ISAT Testing FormatReading

• Session 1
• 14 word analysis and 1 passage with 15 multiple
  choice questions
• 40 minutes

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Session 2
Session 3

• 1 passage with 18 multiple choice questions and 1
  extended response question
• 40 minutes

• 1 passage with 20 multiple choice questions and 1
  extended response question
• 40 minutes

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State Goal 1

• Read with understanding and fluency.
• (Learning to read)

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VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT (3rd) ILS A

• Words in Isolation (7)
• Determine the meaning of an unknown word using
  knowledge of common prefixes, suffixes, and word
  roots.
• Identify the word base of familiar words with
  affixes from Roots and Affixes list.
• Determine the meaning of unknown compound words
  by applying knowledge of individual known words.

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Words in Context (7)

• Determine the meaning of an unknown word using
  within sentence clues, such as appositives.
• i.e. Ms. Vaske, the AIO, believes in
  comprehensive literacy.
• Determine the meaning of an unknown word using
  word, sentence, and cross-sentence clues.
• Identify the synonym of an unknown word using
  context clues.
• Identify the antonym of an unknown words in a
  given context.
• Determine the word that best fits a given
  context.
• Determine the correct use of homonyms using
  context clues.

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READING STRATEGIES (3rd) (ILS B/C)

• 10
• Identify the purpose for reading a given passage.
• Identify probable future outcomes or actions.
• Use information in illustrations to help
  understand a reading passage.
• Use information in charts, graphs, and diagrams
  to help understand a reading passage.
• Determine which illustrations support the meaning
  of a passage.

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Reading Strategies contd. (3rd)

• Determine which charts, graphs or diagrams
  support the meaning of a passage.
• Identify similarities and differences in major
  topics contained in different passages.
• Demonstrate understanding by using simple graphic
  organizers to represent passage content.
• Make comparisons across reading passages.

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Reading Comprehension 3rdILS C

• Literal or Simple Inference
• 8
• Determine the answer to a literal or simple
  inference question regarding the meaning of a
  passage.

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Reading Comprehension 3rd

• Summarizing and Main Idea
• 10
• Distinguish the main ideas and supporting details
  in informational text.
• Identify the main idea of a selection when it is
  not explicitly stated.

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Reading Comprehension (3rd)

• Sequencing and Ordering
• 7
• Identify or summarize the order of events in a
  story.

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Reading Comprehension (3rd)

• Drawing Conclusions Based on Evidence
• 8
• Draw inferences, conclusions, or generalizations
  about text, and support them with textual
  evidence and prior knowledge.
• Distinguish between fact and opinion.
• Draw conclusions from information in maps,
  charts, graphs, and diagrams.

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Reading Comprehension (3rd)

• Interpreting Instruction
• 7
• Determine whether a set of simple instructions or
  procedures is complete and, therefore, clear.
• i.e. If incomplete, identify what is missing.

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Literary Elements and TechniquesILS C

• Authors Purpose and Design
• 6
• Identify the authors purpose for writing a
  fiction or nonfiction text.

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State Goal 2

• Read and understand literature representative of
  various societies, eras, and ideas.
• (Reading to learn)

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LITERARY ELEMENTS AND TECHNIQUES (3rd) ILS A

• Story and Literary Structure (8)
• Differentiate among the literary elements of
  plot, character, and setting.
• Identify main and supporting characters.
• Identify events important to the development of
  the plot.
• Identify setting.
• Compare different works or passages by the same
  author.
• Explain outcomes using the following literary
  elements problem/conflict, resolution.

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Literary Elements and TechniquesILS A

• Characterization (7)
• Determine what characters are like by how the
  author or illustrator portrays them.
• Determine a characters perception of, or
  feelings towards, the surroundings or other
  characters.
• Determine character motivation.
• Identify and compare characters attributes
  within and across stories.

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Literary Elements and Techniques

• Literary Terms and Devices (7)
• Identify examples of similes.
• Identify examples of onomatopoeia.

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Variety of Literary Works (8)ILS B

• Identify the following forms and genres story,
  poem, fairy tale, folktale, fable, nonfiction,
  and essay.
• In nonfiction, differentiate between personal
  narrative and third person narrative.

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The best preparation for ISAT is good instruction.
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Tips for PREPARING students

• Explicitly teach text structure
• Select longer passages for students to read
  silently and independently (see resource list)
• Insist students tell you WHY and HOW they arrived
  at an answer
• Insist students highlight, outline the part of
  the text which led to their answer choice
• Show students how the questions are structured
  and allow them to create questions (both literal
  and inferential) regularly

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ISAT Tips Continued

• Allow students opportunities to discuss text in
  accountable ways
• Explicitly teach students to make the following
  connections when they read
• Text to self
• Text to text
• Text to world

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Happy Teaching

• Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting
  a fire.
• --William Yates