Tuesday, April 30, 2013
MCA Reflection
I don't know about all of you, but I am feeling a bit of a relief that MCA reading tests are over. What kinds of strategies were any of you thinking you should have done? I was feeling like I did the usual of going over the practice paper tests with students with the usual strategies: read the title and box first, then questions and answers, and highlight key words in questions. Then go to reading and highlight key words if you think they have something to do with the answer. The teacher I co-teach with had an additional strategy of pausing after each paragraph to see if you can answer any of the questions. I always thought they should read the whole thing first--but I actually agree with the pause after each paragraph approach. Then students don't forget what the questions are, and there is maybe less back and forth.
My coteacher also went over key question words to see if they could remember what those were. There was also WAY more vocabulary than in previous tests--with word nuances.
I almost think vocabulary games throughout the year would be really useful--where students need to come up with nuances--like Apples to Apples--with lots of interaction and discussion.
I was afraid of the electronic format--that it would throw some of the students--but I didn't really see evidence of that. Since my kids are lower level ELs, I did see some clicking that seemed to be random, but I tried to stay by those students and reassure them to take their time and read thoroughly.
Any other thoughts/reflections out there?
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I am currently in the middle of testing week. As far as preparation, we started inserting MCA type questions into our regular lessons. It was easy to integrate a sampler question at the end of the lesson. We could talk about strategies for answering, problem solving skills, etc. Typically, we'd choose a question that was related to the day's topic, but I can see value in choosing just a random question as well. We started doing this around February, so I think next year we will start away at the beginning of the year. I'm anxious to see how my kids do!
ReplyDeleteI think next year I want to incorporate MCA prep throughout the year as well. We started early this year, but the more practice, the better! As far as the format, using the electronic test was difficult. Students had to finish a whole page in order to pause (and we were testing over a few days). With a reading test, that can be difficult to do. I'd like to do more online practice next year to help with this.
ReplyDeleteI started MCA practice in October. We dedicated every Friday from October on to practicing different ways. My students actually did really well when we were practicing. We had a book of high interest texts about monsters and ghosts. They loved it! Unfortunately the MCAs has extremely dull passages. I wished I would have prepped them more for that. They were disappointed when we were doing the practice MCAs and their was an article on cats and not zombies. Even though we did a ton of practice, we did not do it on the computer and I think that was a big mistake. Many of my students do not have home computers especially in the age of tablets and smart phones. Next year that is definitely something I am going to work in. I also wished I would have had the testing discussion with my students about why the MCAs are important and also why they are not important (as in a test score does not mean they are dumb etc.).
ReplyDeleteI teach English, and I think I would like to start MCA prep. earlier in the year, but it is difficult because it requires reading such a long passage. The 7th grade math teachers in our building do an MCA question to start every day. I like this idea, but it isn't feasible for English. I did the same strategies as Ann's coteacher, except the pause method. I like that idea Ann. I'll teach that next year.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest surprise was the vocabulary on the test. I didn't think there would be as many questions asking students to define words based on context clues. I hope next year to make this more of a focus in all of my units.
I hope that they improve the quality of the electronic testing format before next year. I agree with Mara. The testing format I think affected students' scores because they would rush to finish answers if the hour was almost done. I can only hope that this requirement will not still be in effect next year.