In the coming week, we will shift our focus toward review for our cumulative final exam. I will be providing students with a number of helpful resources plus seven straight days of in-class, semi-structured study time.
GOAL SETTING
My goal is for each student to equal or better his or her marking period average on the final exam! In other words, students whose average grade over marking periods 1-4 is a 90% or better should be shooting for an A on the final; students whose average so far is in the 80% range should be aiming for an A or a B on the final; students whose average for the year is in a 70% range should score at least a C on the final, and so on.
As I told your kids on Friday and as I will tell them again Monday morning in my pre-final-review pep talk, I am not going to let all of their hard work this year go to waste! I need their focus, their teamwork, and their best effort over the next week and a half as we study for what will probably be their most challenging final exam. I'll plan plenty of fun stuff for the last week of school if they'll just give me eight more good days!
OUR SCHEDULE
The test consists of 100 multiple choice questions plus 1 open-ended written response. It will be given on Wednesday, May 25th. Periods 3 and 4 will complete the exam in its entirety that morning, while Period 2 students will have 50 minutes on Wednesday and 50 minutes on Thursday to finish, according to our school-wide final exam schedule.
For the next six days (May 16 - 20 and 23) we will be operating on a two-hour-delay schedule for classes - even though freshman students will still arrive to school at the regular time. Keystone Exams will be administered to students taking Keystone Biology (May 16-17), Keystone Literature (May 18-19), and Keystone Algebra (May 20, 23) from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., while 9th graders work on a variety of activities designed to help them plan for their future in high school and beyond.
We will have just over 30 minutes per day for the next six days, then one normal 50-minute class period on Tuesday, May 24, for review. I expect that students will still need to spend time outside of class preparing for our final exam, but the four hours of distributed practice I'm willing to provide them during school time - in addition to all of the resources that continue to be available to them online - should be a great head start!
FINAL REVIEW RESOURCES
Our review class periods will be used as follows:
In addition to these three most important review materials, students may also choose to use some or all of the following items as they prepare for the May 25th exam:
No group of students I have ever taught has had this many resources available to them . . . but that means nothing if the students don't use them - or don't use them effectively.
Please help me encourage your child to make one last push - 8 days! - to the finish as we prepare for our Final Exam.
I want ALL of them to exceed their own expectations on the final, and I want ALL of them to realize that hard work and active studying translates to academic success!
GOAL SETTING
My goal is for each student to equal or better his or her marking period average on the final exam! In other words, students whose average grade over marking periods 1-4 is a 90% or better should be shooting for an A on the final; students whose average so far is in the 80% range should be aiming for an A or a B on the final; students whose average for the year is in a 70% range should score at least a C on the final, and so on.
As I told your kids on Friday and as I will tell them again Monday morning in my pre-final-review pep talk, I am not going to let all of their hard work this year go to waste! I need their focus, their teamwork, and their best effort over the next week and a half as we study for what will probably be their most challenging final exam. I'll plan plenty of fun stuff for the last week of school if they'll just give me eight more good days!
OUR SCHEDULE
The test consists of 100 multiple choice questions plus 1 open-ended written response. It will be given on Wednesday, May 25th. Periods 3 and 4 will complete the exam in its entirety that morning, while Period 2 students will have 50 minutes on Wednesday and 50 minutes on Thursday to finish, according to our school-wide final exam schedule.
For the next six days (May 16 - 20 and 23) we will be operating on a two-hour-delay schedule for classes - even though freshman students will still arrive to school at the regular time. Keystone Exams will be administered to students taking Keystone Biology (May 16-17), Keystone Literature (May 18-19), and Keystone Algebra (May 20, 23) from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., while 9th graders work on a variety of activities designed to help them plan for their future in high school and beyond.
We will have just over 30 minutes per day for the next six days, then one normal 50-minute class period on Tuesday, May 24, for review. I expect that students will still need to spend time outside of class preparing for our final exam, but the four hours of distributed practice I'm willing to provide them during school time - in addition to all of the resources that continue to be available to them online - should be a great head start!
FINAL REVIEW RESOURCES
Our review class periods will be used as follows:
- VOCAB Review (May 16-17): Students will be given a sheet containing 99 sets of terms that they should know, focusing on similarities and differences, relationships, examples, and applications. Students can write, draw, make flash cards, and/or have conversations with each other and with me in order to refresh their memories on those terms.
- CONCEPTS Review (May 18-19): Students will be given 12 pages (71 questions) worth of prompts and scenarios geared toward understanding, explaining, and applying the ideas from chemistry, physics, and ecology that we've learned about this year.
- SKILLS Review (May 20, 23): Students will be given 10 pages (31 questions) requiring them to do things like interpret graphs and diagrams, calculate slopes, complete temperature and metric unit conversions, write chemical formulas and name compounds, write and balance chemical equations, and solve mole problems.
In addition to these three most important review materials, students may also choose to use some or all of the following items as they prepare for the May 25th exam:
- Practice Final Exam on Schoology. Students may want to simulate taking the final exam and self-assess areas of weakness for review purposes. The Practice Final will be scored immediately on Schoology, and students can take it as often as they wish. Some students may want to establish a base line by taking the practice test early this week, then take it again next weekend after completing a majority of the review, then try one more time before taking the test. The Practice Final is not required, but it's strongly recommended as a study tool!
- Review Screencasts on Schoology. Last year, students requested that I make videos to re-explain important or confusing terms and topics. I have re-posted all of those screencasts along with a "Request A Review Screencast" discussion board that students can use to ask for additional recordings over the next 10 days.
- Past Test Corrections and CUA Reviews. This week, I will pass back test corrections and review packets from all past Common Unit Assessments. If they followed my test correction procedure and actually described the questions and answers instead of just writing "I put A but the answer was C," their test corrections should be a fantastic study tool. It should help students focus on items they missed the first time they saw them on tests and remind them of the types of questions they will see.
- Past Exams - during ACT only. Last year, some of my freshmen not only reviewed their test correction sheets but asked to look them back over in the context of their past exams. For test security purposes, I will only give students access to Unit 1-7 assessments during Academic Coaching Time (2:35 - 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays).
- All Course Materials on Schoology. Every set of notes, every lab, every practice worksheet, every review resource, every video . . . literally every single thing we have done this year is on Schoology, sorted by units and lessons. As students review, they can go back to any individual topic or lesson and study using our original class activities OR the wide range of "extra help" games, videos, and links I have available on Schoology.
No group of students I have ever taught has had this many resources available to them . . . but that means nothing if the students don't use them - or don't use them effectively.
Please help me encourage your child to make one last push - 8 days! - to the finish as we prepare for our Final Exam.
I want ALL of them to exceed their own expectations on the final, and I want ALL of them to realize that hard work and active studying translates to academic success!