Sunday, January 27, 2013

ELA and Math Weekend Class Curriculum at Kweller Test Prep

Kweller Test Prep

“Where the Great Get Greater!”

www.KwellerPrep.com

ELA and Math Weekend Class Curriculum

1(800) 631-1757

Class Start Date: Saturday February 16, 2013

Duration: 8 weekends

 
English Language Arts Curriculum (ELA)


10:00 am to 11:45 am
Vocabulary Building and Grammar
-Learning vocabulary, integrating new vocab into sentences and paragraphs, deriving vocabulary meaning from context
-Learning and practicing grammatical concepts:
  -Verb tenses
  -Subject/verb agreement
  -Parts of speech
  -Complete sentences vs. sentence fragments
  -Adjectives vs. adverbs 
  -Nouns vs. pronouns
  -Antonyms and synonyms
11:45 pm to 12:00 pm
Break
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
Reading Comprehension and Critical Reading Strategies and practice exercises
Skills:
-Analyzing central ideas, style elements, character, and plot development, and vocabulary in context
-Finding/using details to draw inferences
Strategies:
-Avoiding “distractor choices”: incorrect responses that, on the surface, appear plausible (designed to “trick” or mislead students)
-Finding support for answers in text
-Pre-reading vs. post-reading strategies
-Utilizing process of elimination
-Maximizing both time efficiency & accuracy
1:45 pm to 2:00 pm
Break
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Integration of skills- Constructing open responses
-Short answer constructed responses (3 sentences)
-Long answer constructed responses (1-2 paragraphs)
            -Essay writing
-Integrating vocabulary, grammar, and critical reading skills to develop efficient written responses
 

Math Curriculum

 

10:00 am to 11:45
Practice problems and content review – Operations and algebraic thinking, fractions/decimals/percentages, visual fraction models, establishing and continuing number patterns based on given rules
11:45 pm to 12:00 pm
Break
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
Multiple choice math problems, strategies
Strategies:
            -Process of elimination
            -Estimation
            -Plugging in values to ensure correct answer
-Working backwards
            -Checking answers / developing multiple          solutions
1:45 pm to 2:00 pm
Break
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Math Open–Response World Problems
Skills:
-Integration of simple concepts to solve word problems
-Articulate mathematical reasoning effectively
-Solving multi-step world problems
-Organizing and solving equations using unknowns denoted by letters
Strategies:
-Underlining key information and variables
-Using keywords in world problems to determine variables
-Identifying unknown variables and creating tables
-Visualizing word problems using diagrams, graphs, and tables
-Applying relevant equations and mathematical strategies to determine answers efficiently and accurately
 

 

*Towards the end of the course, we will modify the schedule to allow for full-length practice tests to recapitulate real test scenario and review responses with relevant strategies.

 

New York State English Language Arts Exam

Grade 3

 

“Common Core Reading and Language Standards”

 

The Common Core standards guide students toward building a foundation for “college and career readiness”.

 

-Reading:

-Students must read from a range of high-quality, challenging literary and informational texts, including stories, dramas, poems, myths, and articles.

-Writing:

-Students must support opinions in order to demonstrate understanding of the subjects they are studying.

-Students must gear the form and content of their writing toward their audience.

-Students must build knowledge on a subject through research and subsequently analyze literary and informational sources.

-Language:

-Students must understand conventions of English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

-Students must be able to determine the meanings of vocabulary words based on context.

-Students must appreciate words’ non-literal meanings and relationships to other words, thus expanding their vocabulary through studying content.

 

 

Test Duration and Format

 

-The 3rd grade ELA exam spans three days:

-Day 1:

            -Book: 1

                        -Format: 5 passages and 30 Multiple Choice questions

                        -Time: Estimated 50 minutes; allowed up to 70 minutes

-Day 2:

            -Book: 2

                                    -Format: 1 passage and 7 Multiple Choice questions

                        -Book: 3