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
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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
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Break
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12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
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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
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1:45 pm to 2:00 pm
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Break
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2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
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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
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Math Curriculum
10:00 am to 11:45
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Practice problems and content review – Operations and
algebraic thinking, fractions/decimals/percentages, visual fraction models,
establishing and continuing number patterns based on given rules
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11:45 pm to 12:00 pm
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Break
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12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
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Multiple choice math problems, strategies
Strategies:
-Process
of elimination
-Estimation
-Plugging
in values to ensure correct answer
-Working backwards
-Checking
answers / developing multiple
solutions
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1:45 pm to 2:00 pm
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Break
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2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
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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
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*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
