March Madness

March Madness is upon us, SMS! And I'm not just talking about a basketball tournament!

A quick glance at the March calendar shows quite a bit of madness. We've got lots of activities, sixteen extended hour school days, one dance, one massive test, and a week of spring break! Add on top of that the start of the basketball tournament that for which March Madness was named and we've got  quite a bit going on this month!

First things first. Let's talk ISTEP+. The first half of our state test is coming up soon. We're planning on taking the Applied Skills test on Wednesday and Thursday, March 12th and 13th. Everybody will get a booklet and a pencil… it's old school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders will start with a math exam that will include a few multi-step math problems. Test evaluators will look at the answer and the process. It is important to remember that the answer alone will not earn full points. Students get points for the answer and points for the steps. Show your work. Show your work. Show your work!

Right after the math exam, students will take an English/Language Arts exam. Typically, students are given a short story or article to read and then are asked to write something in relation to the article. Although the topics vary, the expectations remain the same. Read carefully, do a quick 'pre-write' to make notes about how you will answer, and then write a response that answers the questions. In this test, the evaluators will only grade your actual answers on the lined portions of the book. Your pre-write isn't graded, so don't get too wrapped up in that! Do take time to edit your work for capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and word use. And of course, write neatly so that test evaluators can read your work!

On the second day of testing, we will start with another 55 minute E/LA exam. Sixth and seventh graders get one more brain-drain with science and social studies tests respectively. These tests are typically short answer. Read carefully and answer fully. No problem. Eighth graders do not have a third subject exam. Life is good in 8th grade!

Thanks to each of you (in advance) for giving your best effort on each exam. Your Applied Skills test will be combined with May's Multiple Choice test to get one score. Before we get your scores in June, have fun at the dance, learn all you can in our extended days, attend all of your club meetings, and pick the right teams to get to the final four!

I'll share my basketball picks after the brackets are announced.
I also look forward to bragging about your scores when they are announced.

Good luck, SMS!