Teaching for Testing

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to my literacy now. I'm your host Diana and on today's episode I'm going to be discussing teaching for transfer with a very special guest Hi, everyone welcome back as always you can follow me on Instagram at my literacy now You can visit my blog by literacy now.com purchase my products on teachers pay teachers You can also follow me on Facebook Twitter and Pinterest So today I have a very special guest joining us say hi. Hello. It's me Joe Diana's husband. Yes, he is my husband He's joining us today because he is actually an educator himself I just want to apologize ahead of time that you're going to hear some background noise because our dog is loose in the house So you might hear him come and go as you're recording Okay, so tell us about yourself Joe. Well, I'm a fourth-grade teacher I've been teaching fourth grade for four years to which we're self-contained and as any of you other fellow fourth-grade teachers know in Texas That means three star tests a year Yikes before that Even like five years before that. I've always been in elementary schools. I tutor and I was a lecturer during college Some some pre-case I'm using a mostly fourth grade so I'm mostly familiar with the fourth grade grade 11 Texas Great, so today we're going to be discussing the term teaching from transfer So before we start talking about that can you just? Maybe quickly define what you consider it to be being a teacher in the state of Texas in a grade level that is Tested yeah, I mean on the whole teaching for transfer whenever you look at it just looks like another Education buzzword, but it's actually very Defined thing whenever you teach something to a student during a mini lesson or something It's very elementary school. There's like today. We're gonna learn about conjunctions and you teach conjunctions But the idea of teaching for transfer is teaching the content to the student But ensuring that they're going to be able to answer the question on the test whenever it really counts and that's going to be the whole point of our content talk today is that Whenever you teach your students the content it has to be in the way that it's going to be assessed in order for you to Realize the teaching for transfer sort of It's so teaching for transfer is just that it's just teaching your students how to answer the questions Whenever it comes time for assessment, but you don't want to overkill and and sort of like give them a packet You know, so you kind of want to make sure that you do it when it's organic when it feels right So again, they're taking the skills that they use every day during the reading time and they're transferring those skills over to What a question on an assessment looks like so let's talk about how to prepare as a teacher To teach for transfer because that's something that's I know I get a lot of questions about that So how would you prepare let's say teach to teach for transfer? Well, let's talk about like Like reading and writing ELA for fourth grade ELA SLA because I'm an ESL teacher Whenever I look at how I'm going to implement these for transfer I have to know I have to do after backwards plan. You have to know what test you're preparing for and you have to know How the questions are asked on the test. So if we take for instance transition words and writing, okay, and this is going to be your basic First I went here then I went there after this after that I went here these sorts of words It's during the mini lesson. I'm going to teach my students. Okay, these are transition words I'm going to introduce them a little bit here at a time so they're not flooded But I have to understand that even though I'm teaching them transition words by name like that on the test Especially the start test. It's never asking that way. It's never saying Okay student, which of these words are transition words? It's never going to ask that and so if all I ever show my students is This group of words are transition words. I'm I'm not teaching for transfer I'm teaching them yes, and maybe if you went up to them is that okay little Johnny is this transition word? Yeah, that they would say yeah, and technically they know the content But they don't know it in the way that it's going to be asked on the test which is very important and Let me just a little caveat here. I'm not a drilling kill person I'm not sure if I agree with standardized testing, but it's a reality that we all must face Everybody has to be subject to a standard to test at the end of the year, right? So you might as well just start doing it now because it's coming no matter what so let's talk about transition words So on the test like on the start test for example last year or two years ago There was a question that assessed transition words, but the way they asked it was very abstract And it really opened my eyes to how I was supposed to implement teaching for transfer the following year and the question It went something like this it said what word or what phrase? Did the writer use in order to help the reader move from one paragraph to the next? Now on the whole this idea of like moving whenever you're reading is it sounds very strange and especially to a non-year-old child who's only heard transition word transition word first next last all year is a move I don't know what that is so because I know that they're going to ask questions in that way I Then have the task of teaching my students To attack that question in the way it ought to be because at this point if I never showed them those looks I've never said oh you have the reader moves from one paragraph to the next and transition words help you do that They'll be lost in that question. So now the task I have is how am I going to Show them all of these different looks all of these different ways of looking at the question While still teaching my lessons while still pulling small group and then prioritizing which sort of ideas I'm gonna be teaching them or which content everything gonna be teaching them and so how I prepare for just to answer your question a long long way is I first know how the question is going to be asked and then I start planning how I'm going to attack that How I'm gonna teach it to my students right and then also keep it in mind that the way they're asking like let's say Transition words or phrases it's it's more than just one way there's like several ways that they ask it So like I know one year. They had a question like Which transition word could best follow sentence seven or something like that or which transition word Could go at the beginning of paragraph three yes, and and and so some of it is I don't want to say guessing but if you if you know that they're gonna pull this trick Okay, because it's kind of you versus the test writers if you know they're gonna put put a pull that trick on you if they're going to Give them different words that maybe you probably are not going to use in lessons Maybe you shouldn't use in lessons they have to understand that or at least I mean as educated understand The idea of moving from one paragraph to the next I need to then Coach that into some my reading lessons that what as we read text we are moving our eyes right over the text and then also Synonyms like a synonym for transition right and so a lot of lessons are coached into that and so it And if I know ahead of time that these test writers are going to be trying to sort of get my students in that way I'm gonna prepare. I want to be one step ahead of them and You know, we only have eight hours in a day trust me did the the the challenge isn't going to be oh, I don't know I don't know what I'm gonna teach. It's gonna be do I have enough time to teach it and that's gonna be the challenge whenever it comes to this You have to be wildly efficient with with with your with your planning right and then your lessons to to To teach for transfer exactly again making use of the time that you do have in the classroom to be able to sort of cover The overall idea and the concept of the actual test like yeah, I have an example to that so Big the reason I'm stuck on this question is because it really cut me off guard And I know a lot of them and just being honest as an educator a lot of my students probably got that question wrong Even though they were rock stars at transition words because I didn't anticipate the use of those sort of word is abstract Word so then the next year I was planning on it because I know I took that ill I know that I got hate with that so the next year I had to plan okay I'm not going to just teach in addition words during writing class and the way I did it sounds complicated But it's really not like especially if you're a new teacher and like I said This is just another buzz word and you're like oh my god. I have so many buzzwords floating around in my brain How can I possibly start planning it trust me? It's extremely easy So the next year I found myself as we were doing the read aloud any time especially if the if the if all the students have bought into the book We're having a good time during the read aloud Any time they use the transition word successfully. I showed it to them on the projector I said now look how Kate Dekamio, which is an author that we read this year look how Kate Dekamio wrote this paragraph Isn't it easier for us as readers to move from this idea to the next? Why do you think she did that? I started asking these questions that sort of married this idea of reading and writing because whenever we're writing in My class we're writing for readers You see we're writing to make it easier for the reader and whenever we're reading we're reading to see okay How did this writer write this and how and what can I take from my own writing? So these things are really married here and in doing so whenever you do like sort of this like cross-content teaching You're being really efficient with your time and you're flooding them with all of this information if you do this You know a hundred days in a row by the end of the hundred days Mm-hmm and trust me whenever I say could I teach ESL and 70% of my one of my classes this year is a special it and I don't pull any punches whenever whenever whenever we're doing it I do the exact same thing and trust me whenever I say if you do it long enough and you do it with fidelity and authenticity And if you're doing it specifically to teach for transfer these students will access the content Right students usually rise to the occasion whenever you Sort of give them this expectation of what you want them to do. So I think it's very important to you know Show your students that they are capable of of being successful Regardless of anything else outside of the classroom. Okay, so I guess some tips for the teachers to sort of take away from this is Is knowing knowing the test so one of the things that I would I would recommend that you guys do if you're a third grade fourth grade or fifth grade teacher Especially in Texas, but even if you're not in Texas. If you're in another state and and you do common core standards There's yeah, I would recommend that you get a copy of an old test and then sit down and take it like take it home with you Look over it and take it as if you were a student and then sort of look at the questions how they're being asked because it's not just about like them knowing the skill It's really about them. It's kind of like a math problem. You kind of have to know like what is this question? Asking me to do and then what do I have to do to find this information? So remembering to do that is very important and I would definitely recommend doing that I actually did that this year with my teachers. I gave them a copy of their test And they took it and they were like wow these are really hard questions and they're very tricky and they're always designed to Make the student fail unfortunately. That's kind of how they're made if you understand that each of these tests Whether it be a reading test writing tests or math tests or studies. These are all reading tests They're all reading tests because the way the question is asked Cyphering what they're asking is a skill and in of itself So this this is going to be the big challenge and I think putting yourself in that position and taking the test and really just always having the test on hand Now you're not teaching you're not teaching to the test, right? Okay, like do I have my many lessons? That the test is nowhere to be found I use the test for like interventions for warm-ups this sort of thing and I don't use a test I'll see how it's worded and then I'll ask a question in a similar syntax Right, you see like you're you're not teaching to the test Trusting whenever I say like if you your guys are just meeting me, but I am not a I'm not a teacher for the test Your drilling kill kind of person, right? And so if you have it on hand to use during small group to use during During warm-up, you're you're doing teach for transfer for sure, but you have to understand that each of these tests is a reading test Because if they cannot understand the question, they're not going to be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the content and this is math Writing no matter any test. It's all reading tests, which is why you do not want and you do not want to negate these other skills Is ancillary skills during your read aloud and during your reading lessons see you want to be able to start marrying these things so that they understand Okay, if I'm going to a math test reading is just as important as showing my math work You see mm-hmm And then also keep in mind that reading stamina is super super important because for the first time this year Our campus is actually hosting fifth grade because before we only had K through four and now we have one through five in our campus on our campus And I took the fifth grade reading test because I wanted to see, you know, what the kids had to deal with whenever you know Make him around and wow, it is extremely long and very frustrating and I'm an adult and I can read and I read every single passage But after every passage I felt drained and tired and I thought wow if I'm feeling that way as an adult who has reading stamina Can you imagine how 10-year-olds are going to feel you know whenever they take the test? So always remembering that reading is so important so your students need to be reading every day You know in the classroom to be able to prepare for this test because it's I mean, it's a marathon You know, it's not like a sprint. It's a marathon for sure Hey, it's absolutely a marathon and and teach you for transfer doesn't just go with the content but also the Like how they take the test which is what source that minute comes into play now the curriculum that we use in the district that I'm at now We do a block of reading where all the students are reading non-stop for about 50 to 55 minutes a day Which sounds like a tall order right if you know your students like my student is not gonna sit still for the year 55 minutes and to be honest the first week They don't mm-hmm. They sit there. They fiddle. Um, I have to be very strict with my classroom management But I kid you not if you look at any of their any of my students books now We just did like our end of end of the first semester clear out So we put all the books back in the library every book whether it be diaryable and be kid or a long chapter book Had so many sticky note Johnson it because they are married to that book for an hour a day at least and you know you're doing right If at the end of your read aloud you hear like a sort of okay kids, then we're done Oh Whenever they sort of lament the end of the read aloud because then once you instill that during the read aloud once you show that the reading can be fun They're gonna do it because first of all they're gonna be after death for 50 to 55 minutes reading quietly Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm pulling small group and we where we're doing things, but but everybody is reading for at least that amount of time And at first I'm gonna be honest. I thought maybe it was waste time I thought oh well, I could be coaching into some reading skills here But because as you're as they're doing this, they're doing a number of things They're going to be demonstrating the reading skills that you taught throughout the week They're gonna be building that stamina a good lord, which is the most important thing and They're gonna and actually this is most important thing. They're gonna develop a love for reading Right, which is the most important thing for you like for you as a teacher to sort of instill that love for reading for your students because Aside from the test just like in general in life, they should want to be you know, really good readers because when they get to college Guess what they're gonna have a lot of reading to do so I think it's very important for you to foster that love of Wanting to read even if it's a boring old test, right? Yeah, a hundred percent because and Look you're all you're all elementary school teachers for a reason just like I am okay. I act a fool during the read aloud I do all the silly voices I ask all the hard questions there. I pick good books to read. I get everybody engaged This is the time where you can like really spread your wings in terms of as in terms of an elementary school teacher and I don't I don't separate Reading during the read aloud from reading on a test. That's what I mean by that on the reading test I make them jot as well. I make them as you're reading the test You're not reading because you're you're looking for questions. You're reading because you love reading and I can tell this by how much you're jotting on it This what I mean if we're if they're reading like a nonfiction article and it's about I don't know camels or cows or something that nobody really cares about in fourth grade I'm looking at the first thing I'm looking for I'm not looking for them to identify the picture I'm looking for the jots. I'm looking for a proof that they've been reading the passage and that the Responding to it and to be honest, I don't even care if they're reading about cows and they in the highlight of section and go good Lord I do not care about cows at all Why did the author write it in this way? Even if they're writing that that tells me that they're engaged in the writing and to be honest I they get points for that they don't get attractive points for that. So no matter what they're reading If the expectation is sky high that that I need to have evidence that you were not enjoying what you're reading Because I don't care if you enjoy it. I care if you're present during the reading because like I said all of these tests are reading tests I mean, I don't I don't mean to repeat it, but to be honest it would and if you already know this good for you But to be honest whenever somebody told me this three or four years ago It was like it was like I just started teaching Because I was very I was I was Stuff contained at the time and I was really okay 45 minutes for writing here and I work for reading there We're not gonna mix them and I was wrong. Okay. We had to take a little break to put the dog away. See started barking At a neighbor. I'm assuming okay, let's talk quickly about or let's go back to what you said about I don't care if you'd like it or not you're gonna read it But rather whenever they're picking out books they can pick whichever books that they want to read because they're gonna enjoy it But on the test they're Never going to enjoy those passages. So students have to be exposed to the idea that sometimes you're going to have to read an article or a passage or a selection That you don't care at all about. Yeah, but they have to do it So just keep that in mind that of course in the classroom. They have free will and in a good way to start training them is Like um one of my students uh last year He I don't know I don't know how he ended up with this book, but in his book back he had a book about like princesses Right and then he's a ten-year-old A ten-year-old boy and so he likes football and fortnight and everything boy And he had it there and I was like it's okay Read it and goes no, I don't like this. I want to read something else. I mean how about this? I'll make you a deal if you can read 30 pages and then write to me during our writing about reading section About why you dislike it like what about it specifically you dislike? Oh, I'll let you pick something else Well, this dude got like 60 pages in and I could tell by the way he was writing that he started to enjoy But but he did what I asked and I allowed him to switch a different book But to be honest if that happened again today, I would just make him read it because some of the funniest Things about being an elementary teacher is hearing is it's like getting them to uh to to express themselves right whether be good or bad I mean during our poetry unit we had to write poetry um about about school It was like a thing of the prompt was about school anything about school He could write a book home about school using any of the skills that we learned and his student was like Well, I don't like school. I was like what don't you like about school? Well, I don't like how to sit here all day Okay, write a poem about that. So the poem is about how he hated sitting at his desk all day and it was hilarious And it was great. He used every single skill I taught him. So just The whole point of this is just because we're elementary school teachers and we're teaching to the content Sometimes they're going to not like what they're doing It's up to us to steer even that dislike about what they're doing into an opportunity to show mastery of the content because and and This is where you get to be very resourceful and then you get to like sort of a be very personal in your classroom Is how you attack fat. I mean because uh some some teachers are very uh Very positive about this. Oh, it's okay. I mean, I'm sure you like something about school And then there even more. No, I don't have like nothing about school Right and but if you stop them in their tracks because what they're trying to do is not work It's okay. I want you to write a poem about how much you dislike the lunch the lunch here in the cafeteria Then it's like they have nowhere else to run and so if you start if you start training them now whenever they get to um A passage on the start that it is like they've been there done that dude You know like like like they're like oh, I just like it But I could still write about how I dislike it and if they're explaining to you how they dislike it They're doing all the all the work and they can answer the questions because the answers the the question the questions are not Are not contingent on them liking the reading and a lot of times that I'm on fiction. They don't like it Even though I think texas the last couple years have does has done a really good job of of Of writing passages that students like Look I'll have an on fiction. Yeah about like minecrafts and dive right be care those things And if you're in texas and you teach a reading Keep in mind that nonfiction is 60% of the test. There's a lot of nonfiction articles or passages in the test first is fiction They usually just have like one fiction and then they will want a nonfiction and then biography in poetry sometimes And drama sometimes for fourth grade for third grade. It's really about nonfiction, which nonfiction Fiction biography and poetry and that one alternates and then fourth grade It's all of those things plus drama and then and paired passage and then fifth grade is a lot of paired passages And then every single genre that I just mentioned right now for fifth grade And keep in mind these skills are cross-content cross-grade level. I mean them the idea of teaching for transfer This for the whole sort of big idea we're talking about today. It's not it's not native to just fourth grade Right, you can do it. You're really 11th grade. It doesn't matter The idea of knowing how that it's going to be asked on the test and that's the extent to which you're preparing for the test Because if you're teaching the content you're teaching how it's going to be asked You've done the work and I know how overwhelming it could be because there's a a million different apps and a million different resources that we all go to trainings for nobody ever remembers Um, yeah, it's just a matter of having that test in front of you and looking at how it's asked and what's being included in the test And noticing the patterns that you know will definitely get you into the teaching for transfer mode You can focus on the 2018 and 2017 star and that can kind of give you an idea Okay, like how is this question asked? So again Take the test as if you were a student know the questions that are tested Um, and how they're asked and then you know make sure that you backwards plan that way So don't try to like force Uh, teaching for transfer where it doesn't go like find a day where today. I'm teaching context clues I'm going to go ahead and insert this context clues type of question, you know, you know in my mini lesson That's a perfect way for you to teach for transfer So just it's something as simple as that and you can do it once a week twice a week Even three times a week if you'd like, but you don't have to do it as often Is as long as we're seeing it But like yeah, like take like um and and trust you on a verse I know some of you listening you're you're freaking out. You're saying, oh, I don't do this at all It doesn't matter because January is a new month. Yes, like uh the the we know Everybody like we're all in the same boat here. I can tell you right now that most people don't start planning for the start until January Yes, so so so so you're not behind exactly, but when January comes It's time to start running and so and so if you haven't been doing it, but once a week or once a month Or maybe you did once this year after a training and you feel some type of way about it and you did it and then you haven't done it since start so start January Write the right the questions yourself just see how they're asked Mm-hmm make a plan sort of yeah plan that works best for your students and for your grade level Make sure that you have a plan in place for when you're going to teach for transfer throughout the week And maybe have like a countdown like a 30-day or 40-day countdown to the star I'm to kind of give you like Sort of this Sense of urgency as your teaching You don't want to do is wait until the last like until the very last week and then your students have never even seen what a start test looks like So make sure that you expose them to that now versus later because that's the reality that we we know we live in right now It's it's unfortunate, but it's you know, it's true We are judged often on how our students perform on a start test or are any You know, yeah, stay test. It's especially here in Texas for judges on and fourth grade math and reading I'm writing and well, yeah, yeah, I'm writing pretty writing. Yeah, it's it's a it's a significant amount And so there's a tremendous amount of pressure on us as teachers so really Teaching for transfer is helping everybody involved. Exactly. You don't want the students to do that on the test either Yeah, because yes, it's true. We don't really like it and we don't really believe in it But guess what that's what they have to take in May or in April so For third grade it's all about reading in math for fourth grade. It's reading math and writing and for fifth grade It's reading in math and science. Yeah It's unfortunate, but yes, you have to teach it for the sake of you You know as a teacher and then also for your students because you want them to do well. I know I do. Yeah But but but it's it's easy. It's it's a it's an easy thing It's it's weird because it's one of those things that it's it's easy to be overwhelmed by it Like I definitely sympathize with people who are overwhelmed by it But it really is quite easy to start teaching it and requires little planning It's big and and and the thing that always got me was that there was a million different resources and applications that I could Use to mind the data and then plan accordingly But really all you need is a journal and the start test and then test results from practice Right exactly and then you can just see okay 60% of my students need to help with comparing and dressed or Or main idea and supporting details. I look to see how it's How it's test them on the star and then I start planning reteaching. Yeah, I don't even I don't even need to open a Open Google Chrome. I could just do it on my journal and and and and then start planning like that and starting in January is not the end of the world Like it's it's it's it's and really it's not even better late than never at that point. It's um It's a good time. It's a great time to start. I told my students. It's like y'all guys have a great Christmas get a lot of sleep. You know, don't say it too late. Don't play too much too many video games And be prepared because in January comes it's freak out time. We are we are running to fifth grade We are running sprinting to fifth grade and so they know and so have this sort of Ethos in your classroom as well and if you apply these skills for teaching to transfer What you're gonna do great you're gonna do fine exactly and it's easy right especially for I think people like you and I because I know we talked about this like maybe the last day before the break is How some teachers really thrive off like that pressure, you know like that crunch time I think I'm definitely one of those people who you know, I think I work harder and do my best work whenever I have Whenever I have like this pressure like you know lingering over me versus like some people Like they don't like the pressure, you know, and that's okay like if you don't like the pressure But for me, I actually enjoy it because it makes me feel like there's like a finish line at the end of all this And it gets me excited. Yeah, and like you said earlier It is a marathon and so in a marathon you don't judge a marathon off of 10 meters So if you had a bad week and if if scores didn't go up. Yeah, guess what? That's one step in a marathon And so the as long as you have this mentality of okay the next week I'm gonna try something different the next year. I'm gonna implement these other teaching for transfer skills Then you're doing it. You're doing the good work every year. It's getting better Exactly and and like I said, I've had I've had a group of students where I sincerely feel like I did the best I could And maybe we didn't do the best in terms of how I wanted to do But I know for a fact that even if they were with a master teacher the results would have been the same and that's because I'm doing this I have this mentality of okay, maybe today didn't go great, but tomorrow's a new day and it's always like that Up until the end of the year, you know, regardless of star But just trust me whenever I say I understand because I work with there's a lot of different personalities in elementary schools And I met good friends of mine who who when the start test comes they start breaking They start breaking and how do you describe yourself In terms of that. Oh, yeah, well the pressure or yes, I do I do I do I I don't I can fade the pressure pretty easily Maybe almost to my detriment sometimes because I can be he's super calm and I'm super like, you know anxiety driven like oh my gosh, we have 10 more days. He's like, it's fine. It's gonna be okay. Yeah So yeah, definitely to like a fault. Yeah He's like very weirdly calm sometimes and I'm like you need to be a little more stressed out like me right now And that that that that's why you say that I understand I understand if if um If the the looming test is casting a shadow on your mood and you're feeling some type of way about it I get it. I get it trust me. I get it But as long as you marry this idea Of continually treat teaching for transfer Of teaching so that the students can access the content on the test Which is way different and a lot of times more more rigorous, but sometimes it's just tricky If you're doing that you're doing the work that you should be doing right like well, uh, well, when are my great friends last year It was her second year teaching and um and uh she Was basically every day saying all I have no idea how These kids are not getting the content. They're During the during the many lessons they're getting it then on the test or not I knew the answer to her problem before she finished her her sentence And I was like okay, but I've seen you teaching your read alouds are awesome. They're great But you're not teaching um you're you're not giving them exposure to the phrasing of the test And she's like it was like a light bulb went off her head and to be honest at the end of the year Um, uh, she caught up to how my class was doing because she she started doing it You know, when she started doing it mid-January right so it's never too late. Yeah, and trust me And I say look she she's my friend and if she's listening, I'm sorry, but she she she freaked out But at the end she she got it. She's fine. Yes, and and and we're teachers. We freak out It's like the whole world against us trust me. I get I'm a teacher I understand But if you do this you're you're golden. You should be okay Well, you want to shy away from though is just uh, you know, like drill and kill like you don't want to put a Big old packet of selections of passages um in front of your students faces because that's that's not going to help them So you have to make sure that you're doing it in a way that feels organic and it feels normal to the mini lesson Like what were you teaching today and this feels great to add in here But you don't want to just be like okay guys, you know, here's another passage. Let's work on it So please don't feel like you have to do that and you actually you shouldn't do that I actually don't recommend that you do that But if you have if you have to do it because maybe like your school requires it Then of course do it, but just shy away from that Idea that in January. It's all packets packets packets. I mean if you want to I guess do packets do it within the next I mean do it like with a 20-day countdown or something like that But don't do it in January because you still want to teach them. They're still kids and they're still going to you know I want to learn normally Yeah, and and and remember You're trying to get them to love reading. Mm-hmm. When somebody tells me Okay, Joe. I need you to read all of this now and I need to answer many questions You know what that does that makes me hate reading Yeah, and and and if it's gonna counter them loving reading because like I said you remember that is the base skill The level of reading is what's gonna the the the comment denominator to all success in these tests is the love of reading Is reading level reading level is the biggest that the determining factor on how well students do on any of these standardized tests and Texas it really is if they mind the data the the science speaks for itself So if you're gonna do something that's gonna kill their love of reading and it look like if you have to do it Don't do it in one day and do it in the way the NSS Like a countdown or a game or um scavenger hook in the classroom Right where they go to different walls and they're doing a passage each time because they're moving You got to add some sort of element of novelty to it these were kids And if you're a board, they're gonna be bored You have to do something that's going to foster and help grow their love of reading This is what's gonna help them on the test and this doesn't mean it's gonna make every student an a student No, we we all know that's not the that's not the case But especially like in my first class where like I said 70% of them are labeled sped They're gonna grow they're gonna grow more than one grade level are they all gonna get commended on the star? No, are they all gonna do as best as they can because of me absolutely Okay, so let's recap what we talked about today So teaching for transfer you guys know what that is already So make sure that you take the time to take the test Know how the questions are being asked on the test Try to do some backwards planning and make sure that you implement it into your daily lessons In an organic fashion and you only have to do it maybe once or twice a week shy away from packets But definitely Expose them to that Maybe as you get closer to the test like you know within like the 20-day countdown or something like that Keep in mind that for third grade The the goal for the reading level that you want to get to by the end of the year is maybe a level p or a q If the student can read at that reading level then they're gonna be very successful on the star for fourth grade It's a level t So if they get to that level by the end of the year just in time for the star Then they should be pretty successful on the star and then for fifth grade. It's a W or an x I believe so keep those You know reading levels in mind when you're preparing for the start test again focus on that stamina Make sure that you as a teacher understand what the test looks like because That's how you're going to expose your students to that don't stress about it and if you are a star Testing or any type of you know state test teacher good luck You're going to do great and your students will do great as well You you are gonna do great and to be honest if you are the kind of teacher who Shops at the Anna store or who Specifically looks looks out for a teaching podcast You're already in like the 99 percentile teachers And so if you're there already you need to own it that okay I'm the kind of teacher who wants to get better who's looking all this kind of different media to get better And so now all you have to do is just start doing it You're you're you're all gonna do great Thank you so much for listening today. I hope you enjoyed this episode with my husband and myself And as always my hope is that you live inspired