Can Your Child Do This?

As the kids get ready to take the reading and math benchmark tests, it is important to think about the concepts that are covered on those tests as well as the STAAR.  Here are the skills that your child should know and be able to do in order to be successful on the tests. 

As a reader..

• Confidently read both fiction and nonfiction texts independently with accuracy and in a reasonable amount of time
• Understand what they read and use various strategies to help make sense of what they are reading if they get confused
• Be able to summarize what they have read by naming the character, problem and resolution of a fiction selection and naming the concepts in the beginning, middle and end of a nonfiction selection
• Identify the main idea of what they are reading as well as point out supporting details
• Discuss the problem in the story and how it was solved by using examples from the text
• Discuss the main character in a story by using words to describe external and internal characteristics as well as what motivates the character using text examples for support
• Identify the author’s purpose in writing, whether it is to persuade, to inform or to entertain
• Compare the characters or text as a whole to other resources and explain thinking
• Discuss and critique some of the author’s choices in writing and use text examples to support thinking
• Use higher level thinking skills, such as making connections, making comparisons, questioning and inferring to understand and respond to a text

As a mathematician..

• Show their thinking on paper and be able to explain their thinking orally
• Successfully use and apply various strategies in a problem solving situation, including drawing a picture, making a chart or table, looking for a pattern, working backwards, or writing a number sentence
• Recognize and apply specific math vocabulary, such as vertex, factors, product, sum, and difference
• Be able to use place value to describe and discuss a number by identifying the place of a digit, the value of a digit, or naming the number in expanded form
• Be able to round numbers that are six digits or less to the tens or hundreds place
• Confidently add and subtract up to three digit numbers using a strategy of their choice, including using a numberline, place value, or the cross number puzzle
• Create a concrete model such as an array or intersections for multiplication situations and a number sentence to
• Recognize division situations such as sharing a small group of items equally and generate a number sentence with an answer
• Recognize addition and subtraction situations and use an effective strategy to generate a number sentence and an answer
• Compare numbers and identify which number is greater or less using place value to assist
• Identify the area and perimeter of a given shape
• Name a fraction to describe parts of a group (ex: 1 out of 4 crayons are red), name fractions that describe equal parts, and identify equivalent fractions
• Create and interpret (answer questions and generate conclusions and observations) data presented in bar graphs, pictographs, and charts or tables
• Recognize patterns in numbers and be able to name and extend the pattern
• Identify an event as certain, impossible, or likely
• Use a ruler to measure the length and height of an item in inches or centimeters
• Identify polygons and various shapes as well as name their characteristics (faces, vertices, etc)
• Determine whether shapes are congruent
• Identify whether a given set of lines are parallel and tell what makes lines parallel

To reinforce learning at home, your child should…

• Read at least 20 minutes or more each night in a book that is at their independent reading level and log time at www.readingrewards.com.
• Complete and turn in all homework assignments weekly including reading passage practice and math problem solving.
• Spend time on Study Island (www.studyisland.com) to practice math problems in a multiple choice format.

*Created by Mrs.Hamilton