Saturday, January 26, 2013
ELA and Math State Test -- UGGGHHHHH!!!!
Get ready for a bunch of posts on these upcoming treacherous exams ......
ELA sample questions Checklist
http://www.casamples.com/downloads/Common-Core-Checklist-NY.pdf?source=ready-ny-ccls-information
The Common Core Learning Standards are here. They’re more rigorous, and they require a whole new instructional approach. How do you succeed at teaching these standards? We asked the nation’s leading Common Core experts, teachers, and school administrators what to look for in a CCLS program.
Overall
Does it have all brand-new, not-repurposed content true to the details and intent of the New York CCLS? Does it provide instruction and practice on all the tested standards?
Does it use a research-based, gradual-release instructional model for students that supports mastery of complex standards?
Does it include thoughtful, embedded professional development on the CCLS with step-by-step guidance for teachers that makes it easy to implement new standards?
Does it include prerequisite skills lessons to help teachers reteach skills students may not have mastered in earlier grade levels?
Does it connect to an optional valid and reliable online assessment that enables teachers to pinpoint needs and provide automated online instruction to students in need?
Do lesson texts match CCLS complexity expectations?
Do the books contain complex, authentic text from a wide range of genres?
Do the questions consistently require students to give text-based evidence to support answers?
Does the instruction effectively integrate reading and language arts standards? Does it deepen knowledge on grade-specific topics?
Does the math instruction emphasize conceptual understanding while also building procedural fluency?
Is the math practice rigorous, i.e., does it have multi-step problems, problems with more than one correct answer, and problems requiring analysis and explanation?
Does it incorporate multiple approaches to and models of mathematical problems?
Are the Standards for Mathematical Practice integrated throughout the program?
English Language Arts
Mathematics
Top 13 Things Experts Recommend When Choosing a CCLS Program
The Common Core Learning Standards are here. They’re more rigorous, and they require a whole new instructional approach. How do you succeed at teaching these standards? We asked the nation’s leading Common Core experts, teachers, and school administrators what to look for in a CCLS program.
The Experts’ Common Core Checklist
Overall
Does it have all brand-new, not-repurposed content true to the details and intent of the New York CCLS? Does it provide instruction and practice on all the tested standards?
Does it use a research-based, gradual-release instructional model for students that supports mastery of complex standards?
Does it include thoughtful, embedded professional development on the CCLS with step-by-step guidance for teachers that makes it easy to implement new standards?
Does it include prerequisite skills lessons to help teachers reteach skills students may not have mastered in earlier grade levels?
Does it connect to an optional valid and reliable online assessment that enables teachers to pinpoint needs and provide automated online instruction to students in need?
Do lesson texts match CCLS complexity expectations?
Do the books contain complex, authentic text from a wide range of genres?
Do the questions consistently require students to give text-based evidence to support answers?
Does the instruction effectively integrate reading and language arts standards? Does it deepen knowledge on grade-specific topics?
Does the math instruction emphasize conceptual understanding while also building procedural fluency?
Is the math practice rigorous, i.e., does it have multi-step problems, problems with more than one correct answer, and problems requiring analysis and explanation?
Does it incorporate multiple approaches to and models of mathematical problems?
Are the Standards for Mathematical Practice integrated throughout the program?
English Language Arts
Mathematics
sample 4th Grade ELA questions
This will help parents gage a better idea on what the 4th grade ELA will be like
http://www.casamples.com/downloads/NYS-FAQ5_Fin.pdf
http://www.casamples.com/downloads/NYS-FAQ5_Fin.pdf
Comments on the NEW ELA and MATH state tests FAQ
email: info@kwellerprep.com
The NEW ELA and Math state tests will be the WORST we have seen thus far. So much for childhood!
Nonetheless, we are offering a rigorous test preparation program for 2 solid months (8 solid weekends) from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm starting Saturday, February 16, 2013 in small group setting to help students conquer this dreaded exam.
For the record, we originally wanted to meet the parents' requests to keep the course from only 10:00 to 1:00 instead of 10:00 to 3:00, but after reviewing all the material that needs to be covered, our academic coaches decided to keep the class until 3:00 pm....
Parents feel free to download and print this helpful PDF outlining the new standards.
http://www.casamples.com/downloads/NYS-FAQ5_Fin.pdf
The NEW ELA and Math state tests will be the WORST we have seen thus far. So much for childhood!
Nonetheless, we are offering a rigorous test preparation program for 2 solid months (8 solid weekends) from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm starting Saturday, February 16, 2013 in small group setting to help students conquer this dreaded exam.
For the record, we originally wanted to meet the parents' requests to keep the course from only 10:00 to 1:00 instead of 10:00 to 3:00, but after reviewing all the material that needs to be covered, our academic coaches decided to keep the class until 3:00 pm....
Parents feel free to download and print this helpful PDF outlining the new standards.
http://www.casamples.com/downloads/NYS-FAQ5_Fin.pdf
Friday, January 25, 2013
2012 SAT ESSAY PROMPTS
December 2012
December 2012 SAT
Essay Prompts
Prompt 1
Think
carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment
below.
Many
people admire leaders who have effectively achieved their goals. But too many
leaders are dedicated to achieving their goals at the expense of caring for the
people who follow and support them. Leaders should be judged on how well they
treat people, not on the achievement of their goals.
Assignment: Should leaders be judged according to
how well they treat people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your
point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples
taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 2
Think
carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment
below.
There
is something good to be said for holding firm opinions, whether in politics,
art, business, or daily life. A person who is deeply committed to a certain
position on a film, a political candidate, or an idea may have thought long and
hard before reaching that position. But too often such opinions are not based
on careful thought and may be so rigidly held that those who express them do
not consider other viewpoints or positions.
Assignment: Are firmly held opinions reasonable?
Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading,
studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 3
Think
carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment
below.
It
seems that we are always ready to justify our own actions and overlook our own
errors. Why, then, are we so unwilling to judge others in the same way? We tend
to hold others to very high, even unrealistic standards, expecting them to be
always right, always honest, or always conscientious. All of us have personal
flaws and shortcomings that we are quite willing to excuse. Surely we should be
more willing to excuse such shortcomings in others.
Assignment: Should people be more willing to
excuse the errors and shortcomings of others? Plan and write an essay in which
you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with
reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 4
Think
carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment
below.
Some
people believe that very few of today's "inventions" are really new.
Inventions today seem to consist primarily of improvements to things that have
already been invented. Medicines, it is said, may be better, and vehicles may
be faster, but they are really not new or different. In reality, we have not
even begun to exhaust the supply of original ideas or new inventions. There is
much more for us to invent and discover.
Assignment: Is there really much more
for people to invent and discover in the world today? Plan and write an essay
in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position
with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or
observation
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Meet the Owner - Frances Kweller
As Featured in JHP:
Frances Kweller, Esq is the founder and CEO of Kweller Test Prep ad Educational Services. Mrs. Kweller graduated from New York University (NYU) Steinhardt School of Education in 2004 and from Hofstra University School of Law in 2008. She passed the NYS bar exam on her first try, becoming the first attorney in her family.
Soon after, she simultaneously launched a low cost legal service and what is now known as “Kweller Test Prep” in her childhood neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens.
Her company now has two locations in New York City and has helped over 2,000 families get their children into the high schools and colleges of their dreams. In 2012, Mrs. Kweller launched the First in Family Fund, a registered non-profit 501c3 designed to help underprivileged students pay for college applications, tutoring, test preparation and expenses associated with college campus visits. “Enough wasn’t being done [at school], so I founded Kweller Prep to fill in the gaps.” says Kweller.
She was heavily involved in the Jewish Heritage Programs (JHP)
while a student at NYU and is honored to be giving back as an alumni mentor
today.
“It was a hard road to get to where I am today. I went through a lot of changes, personally and professionally. No one I knew was a female entrepreneur or lawyer, and I took a lot of risks to get to where I am today, but I never lost faith in myself or in my abilities to be the person who creates positive change around her," she adds.
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"I aspire
to be a great role model, an amazing daughter and incredible wife and someday
mother. Hundreds of kids walk through the doors of Kweller Prep; parents trust
us with their most prized possessions- their children – and we certainly do not
take that responsibility lightly. "
As of 2015, Kweller Prep has been certified as a 100% women owned business (WBE Women Business Enterprise) in New York City and New York State. Frances Kweller is also the visionary and founder of the First in Family Fund, which became a certified 501C nonprofit earlier that same year.
Although still in its early stages, Frances looks forward to FIFF growing as a scholarship for students when they need it most -in grades 9-12- years before the college application process actually begins!
When asked if Kweller wants to further expand her tutoring business, she responds, “Anything is possible, but I will never sacrifice quality for quantity.”
ISEE test dates
ISEE Test Dates in New York City 2012-2013
ISEE administrations at independent schools in New York City will be held on the following Saturdays (unless otherwise noted) during the 2012-2013 school year:
Oct. 20 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn, NY
Oct. 22-25 ERB Offices • 470 Park Avenue South • New York, NY
Nov. 17 Horace Mann School • 231 West 246th Street • Bronx, NY
Nov. 17 Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Nov. 17 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn
Dec. 1 Riverdale Country School • 5250 Fieldston Road • Bronx, NY
Dec. 1 Marymount School of New York • 1026 Fifth Avenue • NY, NY
Dec. 1 The Brearley School • 610 East 83rd Street • New York, NY
Dec. 1 The Dalton School • 108 East 89th Street • New York, NY
Dec. 8 Staten Island Academy • 715 Todt Hill Road • Staten Island, NY
Dec. 9 Rodeph Sholom School • 168 West 79th Street • New York, NY
Dec. 9 (Sunday) Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Dec. 15 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn, NY
Jan. 12 Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Jan. 26 Spence School • 22 East 91st Street • New York, NY
Apr. 13 Friends Seminary • 222 East 16th Street • New York, NY
Register 3 weeks before test date. Late registration is 3 to 2 weeks before date. The ERB (the company responsible for the ISEE) engourages students and parents to register on-line.There are several registration options for the ISEE:
Oct. 20 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn, NY
Oct. 22-25 ERB Offices • 470 Park Avenue South • New York, NY
5th – 6th grade • Oct. 22 & Oct. 25 • 2:45pm
7th & 8th grade • Oct. 23 • 12:45pm
9th – 12th grade • Oct. 24 • 12:45pm
.
Nov. 17 Horace Mann School • 231 West 246th Street • Bronx, NY
Nov. 17 Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Nov. 17 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn
Dec. 1 Riverdale Country School • 5250 Fieldston Road • Bronx, NY
Dec. 1 Marymount School of New York • 1026 Fifth Avenue • NY, NY
Dec. 1 The Brearley School • 610 East 83rd Street • New York, NY
Dec. 1 The Dalton School • 108 East 89th Street • New York, NY
Dec. 8 Staten Island Academy • 715 Todt Hill Road • Staten Island, NY
Dec. 9 Rodeph Sholom School • 168 West 79th Street • New York, NY
Dec. 9 (Sunday) Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Dec. 15 Poly Prep Country Day School • 9216 7th Avenue • Brooklyn, NY
Jan. 12 Avenues New York • 259 10th Avenue • New York, NY
Jan. 26 Spence School • 22 East 91st Street • New York, NY
Apr. 13 Friends Seminary • 222 East 16th Street • New York, NY
Register 3 weeks before test date. Late registration is 3 to 2 weeks before date. The ERB (the company responsible for the ISEE) engourages students and parents to register on-line.There are several registration options for the ISEE:
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