Wednesday, April 20, 2016

EOC Review

It's been a LOOOOOOOOONG time since I've posted. This year has gone by very quickly and we've been very busy people. We're coming up on our Algebra I EOC, and I wanted to give you a snapshot of how I review with my students to get them ready.

First thing we do is take the practice EOC that is on DESE's website. This gives the students a good indication of what to expect. This usually takes about 2 days to complete (40 multiple choice and a performance event). After they finish, I grade it and hand it back. I then give my students the list of every "I Can" statement we wrote in our notebooks this year. They rate their understanding of each on in the Pre-Review box on the paper. I then had them highlight about 5 or so objectives they felt like they needed the most review on. Here is a preview of that sheet (click on it and it will take you to the link to print):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3hyrZV9LRhuc25pVG5NQ3ZhRU0/view?usp=sharing

They also filled out an EOC Goal sheet. This shows them how many they have to get correct on the EOC to get that score, and if they thought that was something they could attain. It looks like this (again, click on the pic to take you to a printable version):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3hyrZV9LRhuWXVELXlUVzZxVXM/view?usp=sharing

After I graded the practice EOC, we spent about 2 days going over each question, giving each other tips about how we got the correct answer. I like to give my students the abilities to share their ideas out loud because they may have a method that I've never thought of that works way easier. My group of kids is a pretty good group (most of them got advanced on the practice if that tells you anything), but even they found this part to be pretty boring. I bribed them with treats to keep them going and stay on task.

After we reviewed the practice test, we started playing games. I Google searched "Algebra I EOC review games" and found a huge list of already pre-made games that go along pretty well with our standards here in Missouri. We played a math bingo game and the jeopardy game. This should take us right up to the EOC.

Our EOC is scheduled for next week, so on Monday I will have students go back to their "I Can" statements sheet and fill out the Pre-EOC column to see if they've gained any understanding over the past couple weeks.

Standardized testing season is stressful for everyone, so hopefully this gives you some fun ways to review with your students. If you would like editable versions of the PDF's above, use the "Contact Me" button and let me know. Happy reviewing!