Welcome to the 3rd Grade Parent Informational Meeting Presented by: The Third Grade Teachers

Parent Informational Meeting Agenda What is the FSA? What are the FSA Testing Dates? What are the FSA Achievement Levels? Third Grade Expectations ELA Test Sample Questions Mathematics Test Sample Questions Helpful Tips for Parents Student and Parent Resources

Florida Standards Assessment

What is the FSA? (Florida Standards Assessment) The FSA is described as an authentic assessment of the FL Standards that includes more than multiple choice questions. Students will be expected to write and respond in different ways than on traditional tests. The FSA places an emphasis on critical thinking and measures student achievement of the FL Standards.

The Florida Standards Testing Schedule English Language Arts(Reading) Assessment March 28-April 8, 2016 Timed Reading Comprehension Passages (2 sessions of 80 minutes) Mathematics Assessment Timed Math Skills (2 sessions of 80 minutes)

FSA is quickly approaching… 3rd Grade students will be taking the FSA Reading and Math FSA the week they return from Spring Break. *As a result, teachers will be sending home academic packets to reinforce the skills and benchmarks that we’ve covered in preparation for this test. *Please make sure your child is present during this week so that they can take the FSA Test in a familiar setting.

Will students be required to pass the FSA in order to meet promotion and graduation requirements? As required by the statewide public school student progression law eliminating social promotion (Section 1008.25, Florida Statute), a student may be promoted to grade 4 if the student demonstrates reading mastery in one of several assessments: the Grade 3 Florida Standards Assessment (FSA); the Grade 3 Reading Student Portfolio; or another standardized reading assessment that has been approved by the FLDOE. The FSA will be scored and students will be issued a Level from 1 – 5. In order to demonstrate reading mastery a student must score a Level 2 or higher on this assessment. If a student does not demonstrate mastery on the Grade 3 Reading Students Portfolio and scores a Level 1 on the Reading FSA, additional opportunities to demonstrate reading mastery will be provided.

FSA Achievement Levels Students in grade 3 must achieve a Level 2 or higher on the FSA ELA Reading assessment for promotion purposes. For more information on this requirement, as well as good cause exemption information for students who score at Level 1, please see the Third Grade Guidance page on the FDOE website.

Some of the 3rd Grade Expectations in Reading and Language Arts

3rd Grade Reading Portfolio All 3rd grade students began their third grade portfolios in January 26, 2016, and will end in May. Attendance during the portfolio process is extremely important because the students work on their portfolio every Tuesday and Thursday. The classes will also debrief their weekly stories to note where they can make improvements the following week. Students are expected to meet a minimal number to show mastery of each benchmark. Each benchmark is assessed various times throughout the entire portfolio test.

3rd Grade Reading Benchmarks assessed on the Portfolio and the FSA 1. Vocabulary(context clues, prefix & suffix, antonyms & synonyms, multiple meanings) 2. Author’s Purpose & Author’s Point of View 3. Main Idea & Details, Inferences, and Sequence of Events 4. Cause and Effect 5. Text Structure 6. Theme and Topic 7. Compare and Contrast 8. Story Structure 9. Figurative Language 10. Text Features 11. Informational Text

Sample ELA Test Questions Online Learning Learning new things is an exciting part of life. Learning can happen anywhere. There are kids who learn at a school, kids who learn at home and some kids who learn online. Students who learn this way use their computers and the Internet to connect to online classrooms. They use a camera connected to their home computer to let the teacher and other students see them. They can see their teacher and classmates on their screens because their classmates and teacher use a camera, too. With which two sentences would the author agree?  Learning is exciting no matter how you do it.  All students should go to school on the Internet.  Thousands of students in the same class are too many.  Online classrooms are a good alternative to regular ones.  Students in the same class should live close to each other.

What is the relationship between paragraphs 2 and 3 in the passage? A.  comparison B.  introduction   C. cause and effect D. question and answer

Sample ELA Test Questions Part A: How has learning from distant places changed over time?  A. Students can ask questions and get answers faster.  B. Students can hear their teacher during the same class time. C.  Students use the mail to receive and send work.  D. Students live far apart from their classmates. Part B: Select one sentence that supports the answer in part A.  “The students can live in one country, and the teacher can be located in a different country.”  “All the children could hear their teacher at the same time, but they were hundreds of miles apart.”  “They got their lessons in the mail, did their homework, and mailed it back to the teacher.”  “Everyone can see and hear everything that’s being said as it happens.”  “Sometimes, they don’t have to have a class where everyone is together all at once.”

Some of the 3rd Grade Expectations in Math

Multiple Response Format Problems Students will be expected to solve math problems via multiple response formats including: Student-generated responses; Multiple choice; and Graphing/modeling. Students will be expected to understand and to explain how they arrived at their answers, such as describing which operations they used, what strategies, etc.

Student-Generated Responses Equation Response: Tom planted 5 rows of flowers with 7 flowers in each row. Write a multiplication equation that shows the number of flowers in Tom’s rectangular-shaped garden? Natural Language Response: Tom told Mary he planted 4 x 5 flowers. How might Mary describe the arrangement of flowers in Tom’s rectangular-shaped garden? Multiple Choice Response: Tom told Mary he planted 48 flowers in the rectangular-shaped garden. Select the correct sentence Mary could use to describe how the flowers were planted.

Multi-Select Response Problems Select all of the situations that can be represented by 56 ÷ 8. Heidi has 56 apples and places an equal number of apples into 8 baskets. Heidi has 56 apples and gives 8 of them to a friend. Heidi has 56 apples and her friend gives her 8 more. Heidi has 8 apples and needs more apples to deliver to a customer. Heidi picks 56 apples each day for 8 days.

Table Response Problems Alex has chores every day. The length of time, in minutes, of each chore is shown. He starts at 9:00 a.m. Complete the table to show what time he will start and finish each chore. Chore Time it Takes to Complete the Chore Start Time End Time Watering flowers 12 minutes 9:00 Sweeping kitchen 7 minutes Dusting all rooms 14 minutes

Graphic Response – Drawing/Graphing Ben wants to create a rectangular garden with an area less than 40 square feet. He has 30 feet of fencing. Draw a rectangle that could represent Ben’s garden.

Sample Math Test Items A bakery uses 48 pounds of flour each day. It orders flour every 28 days.   Create an equation that shows how many pounds of flour the bakery needs to order every 28 days.

Sample Math Test Items Select all the expressions that have the same value as 30 ÷10. 1 x 3 10 ÷ 30 30 x10 30 x10 ÷ 1 30 ÷ (2 ÷ 5) (30 ÷ 2 )÷ 5

Sample Math Test Items Mike asked 32 students in his school about their favorite outdoor activities. Here are their replies:   Two students like camping.  At least 5 students like playing basketball.  Twice as many students like hiking more than playing basketball. Click on the table to create a pictograph that shows the students’ replies. Then drag a number to each box to complete the sentence.

Students and parents are able to preview more samples of the question types by taking practice tests that are available for anyone interested in reviewing them. Visit http://www.fsassessments.org/ and click on Students and Parents.

FSA Portal

What can parents do to help? 1. Make sure your child attends school regularly. Remember that tests reflect the overall achievement of your child. The more often the child is in a learning situation, the more likely he/she will do well on tests. 2. Give your child encouragement. Praise him/her for the things done well throughout the year. A child who is afraid of failing is more likely to make a mistake. 3. See that your child completes homework assignments. Homework supports classroom instruction and can help your child increase his/her comprehension of the classroom work. 4. Have them use I-Ready more frequently, which provides them continuous practice on the different reading skills. 5. Communicate with the teachers regularly to discuss your child’s progress. Parents and teachers should work together to benefit your child’s education. 6. Make sure your child is well rested on school days. Children who are tired are less likely to pay attention in class or to handle the demands of class work and tests. 7.Encourage your child to put forth maximum EFFORT! They only fail themselves if they don’t try and give it their best. 8. Try not to be overly anxious about test scores. Too much emphasis on test scores can be upsetting to children.

Resources Online Reading & Math Resources I-Ready:  An online program for reading and mathematics that pinpoints student needs down to the sub-skill level, and ongoing progress monitoring shows whether students are on track to achieve end-of-year targets. *Students should be completing I-Ready DAILY*

Thank you all for coming!