1. Amosland Elementary PSSA Parent Night
Objectives:
to support student achievement on the upcoming PSSA Reading test by
practicing strategies proven to be effective with this test format
to provide independent practice of these strategies using PSSA release tasks
Materials:
either an LCD projector to use the PowerPoint version of this presentation; or
an overhead projector and a set of overhead transparencies of this presentation
if the transparency version is used: paper to mask the transparencies,
and overhead markers

2. Testing Dates Math and Reading March 14-25, 2011 Writing
March 28 – April 1, 2011
Science
April 4-8, 2011

3. ‘Twas the Night Before Testing
Go to bed on time.
Get a good night’s sleep before the test.
Talk about any concerns about the test you might have.

4. Prepare Physically and Mentally

5. The Morning of the Test Be physically ready.
Eat a healthy breakfast, such as eggs, bacon, peanut butter, cheese, or yogurt.
BE ON TIME.
Stretch during testing breaks.
Think positive!
Lesson Notes:
This slide contains suggestions for future exams of any type.
Question: Before revealing the checklist, ask students what are some things that they do the night before a test.
Bullet 2: Protein is the preferred fuel of the brain. It also burns longer than carbohydrates, such as breads, donuts, and chips. Protein helps one to avoid mid-morning fatigue. If students are hungry, that becomes the focus of their attention.
Bullet 3: Students who are late may arrived flustered,and that is not a good mental state with which to approach the test.
Bullet 4: On the actual PSSA in March, students may get a stretch break. Stretching helps with circulation to the brain, and releases physical fatigue. Being physically uncomfortable is distracting.

6. Testing Strategies The test is on your desk. What do you do now?
Lesson Notes:
Ask students what they do when they are given a test and told to begin. Discuss some student generated ideas before going on to the next slide of suggested activities.

7. Get Ready Now look at the questions. Look over the test.
Think of it as several small jobs, not one big one. If you have a positive attitude you will do well.
Lesson Notes:
Bullet 1: Discuss with the students how looking at the length of the test is often frustrating and may create a negative attitude. Instead, they should think of it as preparing for a challenge; an opportunity to show off what they know.
Bullet 2: The test is already divided into parts. Students have the time to take a minute between passages to take a few deep breaths, to stretch in their seats, and to clear their minds.
Now look at the questions.

8. Reading Strategies Also underline unusual or very specific
Read the questions before you read the passage. Don’t read the answer choices because it will take too long and confuse you later.
In each question, underline the
important words that tell you what the
question wants you to do. It might ask
“main idea,” “compare,” “author’s
purpose,“ “opinion,” “summarize,” etc.
Lesson Notes:
Bullet 1: This strategy uses short term memory. You may want to use the example of remembering a phone number for a short period of time. What students highlight or underline should be held in this way; therefore, the activity needs to be short and quick to be effective. Otherwise students will be attempting to hold too much information for too long.
Bullet 2: The use of highlighters is highly encouraged.
Also underline unusual or very specific
words or phrases that you can look for
while you’re reading.

9. Reading Strategies
Pay close attention to wording. Some words like NO, NOT, NEVER and ALWAYS can change the whole meaning of the question.
Read the question and all answer choices before marking anything
Lesson Notes:
Bullet 1: This strategy uses short term memory. You may want to use the example of remembering a phone number for a short period of time. What students highlight or underline should be held in this way; therefore, the activity needs to be short and quick to be effective. Otherwise students will be attempting to hold too much information for too long.
Bullet 2: The use of highlighters is highly encouraged.
If you’re asked for 2 examples from the passage, give 2 examples – nothing less!

10. Math Strategies
Show all your work and write as legibly as possible.
Line up place value correctly (thousands, hundreds, tens, ones) or the answer will be incorrect
If your answer does not match one of the choices, reread the problem, recopy the numbers and try solving it again.
Lesson Notes:
Bullet 1: This strategy uses short term memory. You may want to use the example of remembering a phone number for a short period of time. What students highlight or underline should be held in this way; therefore, the activity needs to be short and quick to be effective. Otherwise students will be attempting to hold too much information for too long.
Bullet 2: The use of highlighters is highly encouraged.
When using scratch paper, double check to make sure that you have copied the problem correctly from the test booklet.

11. Hints for Answering Multiple Choice Questions
Go back to the passage
Cover the answer choices
Get rid of wrong answer
Intelligent guessing
Advice for bubbling
Finishing
Lesson Notes:
These are the strategies that will be elaborated upon in subsequent slides.
As you discuss each strategy, remind students that as a general rule they are always expected to read all the answers in order to choose the BEST answer. Since some questions may have all true answer choices, it’s important that students do not stop reading if the first answer is correct; it may not be the best correct answer.
Not all strategies work for all questions. This is why it is important for students to be familiar with a variety of strategies, so that if one doesn’t work they can try another. This also supports different learning styles.

12. Bubbling Advice
A dull pencil works best; it’s faster and does not snap off or tear the paper.
DO NOT press too hard; you might not be able to erase an answer completely if it’s too dark.
Make sure that the center of the bubble is filled in so the machine can score your answer.
Erase all stray marks and smudges. The machine may read them as answers.
Lesson Notes:
Discuss the bulleted notes.

13. When you are finished:
Go back to make sure that you’ve answered all of the questions.
Erase all stray marks and smudges.
Lesson Notes:
Discuss the points above.

14. Finally …
Remember it’s okay to not know everything – unlike class tests, these tests will have some questions designated to challenge the limits of your knowledge at a grade level above your current grade

15. Thank you for coming this evening!
Questions
Thank you for coming this evening!