January,    2010    Dear  Middle  School  Parents:    The  State  Achievement  Tests  will  be  administered  at  xxxSchool  from  March  2nd  through  March  12th.    Students  in  grades  6  through  8  will  be  tested  in  reading  and  mathematics.    Questions  will  be  in  a  multiple-‐choice  format  and  will  also  include  extended  writing  responses.    In  addition,  Sixth  and  Eighth  graders  take  writing  tests  and  Seventh  graders  take  science  tests.        The  curriculum  at  each  grade  level  prepares  students  to  perform  and  demonstrate  achievement  on  these  tests.  Parents  frequently  ask  how  they  can  help  reinforce  the  material  taught  in  school  and  to  prepare  their  children  for  the  tests.    Tips  for  preparing  for  ISAT  are  included  on  the  attached  page.      Instill  in  your  child  the  recognition  that  practice  is  necessary  in  order  to  succeed.  Schoolwork  was  never  intended  to  be  easy,  but  consistent  effort  and  practice  will  result  in  achievement.    Remember:  time  spent  practicing  and  preparing  now  will  result  in  achievement  this  spring!    Sincerely,      Middle  School  Teachers      

ISAT  PREPARATION  TIPS    Students  may  review  and  practice  for  the  ISAT  by  using  the  comprehensive  resources  of  the  Internet.  We  recommend  these  starting  points:    

Interactive  ISAT  Multiple-‐Choice  Sample  Questions  http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/htmls/sample_books.htm  

Printable  comprehensive  ISAT  Sample  books  http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/htmls/sample_books.htm  

Grade  Level  Skills  Help  (especially  math  and  science)  http://internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm  

     In  addition  to  making  sure  that  your  child  is  completing  his  or  her  homework  every  night,  parents  can  help  their  children  prepare  for  the  test  during  the  coming  weeks  in  the  following  ways:  

Reading  Tips  *Read  at  least  100  minutes  each  week,  including  fiction  and  non-‐fiction  materials  *Read  newspapers,  poetry,  textbooks,  poems,  plays  and  advertisements  *Write  letters  to  friends,  grandparents  and  relatives  *Discuss  with  your  children  what  they  read;  use  a  variety  of  questioning  techniques;  ask  who,  what,  where,  when,  why  and  how  the  events  occurred;  ask  about  their  use  of  reading  strategies  such  as  visualization,  making  connections,  monitoring  for  understanding,  predicting  and  inferring,  question,  summarizing,  synthesizing  and  evaluating.  

   

Math  Tips  *Set  aside  a  brief  time,  2-‐3  days  a  week,  to  practice  computational  facts  involving  whole  numbers,  decimals  and  fractions  *Follow  a  recipe  and  bake  cookies  or  some  other  favorite  recipe  that  involves  measurement  *Encourage  your  child  to  orally  discuss  the  steps  used  in  solving  a  math  problem  *Write  and  solve  one's  own  word  problems  involving  shopping  experiences,  telling  time,  following  recipes  and  linear  and  metric  measurement  *Estimate  the  grocery  or  restaurant  bill,  determine  the  tip  and  tax  in  a  restaurant  or  when  purchasing  items  *Relate  amounts  of  money  to  fraction  and  decimal  equivalents    

 Science  Tips  

*Explain  the  steps  of  the  scientific  method  for  setting  up  and  conducting  an  experiment  *Name  the  items  in  the  four  basic  food  groups  *Name  the  seasons  of  the  year  and  explain  the  concepts  of  rotation  and  revolution  *Use  charts  and  graphs  to  interpret  data