FCAT With LOL CATS

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FCAT With LOL CATS

• Get your groans and moans out of your system now
  so you can pay attention! We need to go over a
  few things before you take the FCAT! Hopefully
  the LOL Cats will make you LOL along the way!

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Please Take A Moment to watch this short video

• http//youtu.be/BBPlTa64Aeg

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Does the thought of taking the fcat make you feel
like this?
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We want you to feel like this when you are done
taking the test!
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FCAT Skills

• You have been and will continue to be working on
  every single skill tested on the FCAT reading
  test all year. In fact, you have been working on
  FCAT reading skills in every class you have taken
  since you have learned to read! Even when you are
  not directly talking about FCAT, if you are
  working hard in classes you are being prepared!

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When is FCAT?

• April 16th
• April 20th
• That is soon!

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What can I expect?

• All multiple choice
• 50-55 questions
• 70 informational
• 30 literary
• Content Focus Areas
• Vocabulary
• Reading Application
• Literary Analysis (Fiction/Nonfiction)
• Informational Text/ Research Process

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What Can I Expect?

• 300-1500 words in each passage with 900-1000
  words on average per passage
• 10-20 of the questions will be considered easy
• 45-65 of the questions will be considered of
  moderate difficulty
• 25-35 of the questions will be considered hard

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I did fine last year, so I should be fine this
year, right?

• Do you wear the same clothes that you wore in
  elementary school? Listen to the same music? Do
  the same things? No- you have GROWN since then!
• Your skill level needs to grow each year too!
• Each year the test expects you to have a higher
  level of reading comprehension, so it is harder.

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• For example, lets say your comprehension level
  was very HIGH in elementary school and your
  achievement level was a 4 or 5.
• If your comprehension stayed exactly the same, in
  middle school your comprehension would have been
  right where it should have been, so your score
  would have been a 3.
• If you still made no gains, in high school your
  score would be a 2 and you would not pass!
• NOBODY can afford to not improve every year. I am
  going to show you how!

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But I had a 5 last year- even if I drop I will
still pass!

• Not necessarily- are you willing to take that
  chance? We had over 100 students drop from a
  level 4 or 5 last year because they chose to put
  in minimum effort rather than show what they are
  capable of. Some of them did NOT pass and have to
  retake the test this year! Those dropped scores
  impact things like your ELECTIVE classes (art,
  P.E., computers, music, etc.)

150 students losing an elective period because
they have to take intensive classes 1 lost
fun elective class for the school!
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What is your goal?

• Everyones first goal is to show growth. You do
  this by
• Maintaining a 3,4, or 5 (NOT dropping from a 5 to
  a 4 or a 4 to a 3!)
• Increasing an achievement level (moving from a 2
  to a 3, etc.)
• Making more than one years growth within a level
  1 or 2!
• Your secondary goal is to score a 3 or higher,
  but if that doesnt happen this year, as long as
  you are increasing each year you are headed in
  the direction you need to go!

Your goal is to stare that test into submission!
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Should I be worried?

• You should take the test very seriously, but know
  that if you have been applying yourself in your
  classes, we have been preparing you, so you do
  not need to worry.
• All year you have been working on your reading
  comprehension. Every time you read something in
  ANY of your classes, whether it is a textbook,
  article, novel or website, you are working on
  your reading comprehension .
• If you work hard and do your best, we will be
  able to help you pass the FCAT!

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Test anxiety

• Remember that some anxiety is a GOOD thing
  because it means that you care about the outcome
  of the test and are motivated to do your best! We
  have confidence that if you use what you have
  been taught, are an active reader, and dont give
  up on yourself, you will be fine!

The good thing about FCAT is that it is not a
memory test, it is a skill test, so there is
nothing really to study and remember, it is all
about applying yourself in that moment. That
SHOULD lessen your anxiety!
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What do I need to remember?

• The reading test is basically an open book test.
  If you do not read actively, REREAD, and go back
  and look at the passages when you are answering
  questions, it is difficult to improve your score.
  
• To be an ACTIVE reader means that you engage with
  the text.

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STEP 1 Warm Up

• To understand what you read, you need to focus on
  it and stop thinking about lunch or the weekend!
  Get your brain ready to read by warming it up!
• Survey the text (look at pictures, read captions,
  look at the title and subtitles, skim the
  questions) QUICKLY and decide what you think it
  is going to be about.
• Get your brain excited to learn about the topic!
  YOU CONTROL YOUR ATTITUDE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE
  GOING TO READ! If you immediately decide it is a
  boring topic, guess what---you will be BORED!

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STEP 2 Get Active!

• Time to do the heavy lifting! Actively READ!
  Check for focus and understanding by highlighting
  key things as you read, and periodically writing
  a few words in a note.
• Dont get lazy now! Stop and think about one
  paragraph before moving on to the next one. You
  are monitoring your understanding and you will
  remember more of what you read!

REREADING paragraphs and even the whole passage
will help you increase your score.
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STEP 3 Cool Down

• Answering questions is part of the cool down
  process because if you were an ACTIVE reader of
  the passage, this part should be EASY!!
• Cover the answer choices and come up with one in
  your head- this keeps you from being confused by
  the distractors.
• Check your answers in the passage- it is an open
  book test and if you never look back at the
  passage, you will miss questions that you could
  have gotten right.

Be sure to stay ACTIVE when reading the
questions! Students often answer questions
incorrectly because they didnt read the question
carefully!
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What if I run out of time?

• If you rush through the FCAT to finish in time,
  but sacrifice being an active reader because you
  are rushing, and you score 50, how is that
  better than taking your time and only getting to
  75 of the questions but getting more of them
  right?
• Most students will score higher if they take
  their time even if they run out of time AS LONG
  AS YOU ARE TRULY USING EVERY MINUTE, not running
  out of time because you stared into space or put
  your head down! ?
• Time isnt an issue in the long run! Why? Because
  if you have to take a retake in 11th or 12th
  grade, you will have ALL DAY, so time will not be
  an issue.
• What will be an issue? If you havent practiced
  being an active reader so you still rush and only
  get 50 right even when you have all day to take
  the test!

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YOU Can do this! You are ready, you are capable
and you will defeat the fcat!

• Test Expectations
• Do your personal best
• Read the passages twice
• Check your answers
• Work for at least 45 of the 70 minutes of the
  allotted time

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Take a minute to watch this FCAT Music video from
some students in south florida
http//youtu.be/POLzlB3Lpzk