PARCC Field Testing

Several Creighton School District classrooms participated in PARCC Field Testing this spring. Some did the Performance Based Assessment (PBA) and then later several classes completed the End of Year (EOY) Test. Some classrooms took the tests via paper and pencil; others completed the online assessment. And one of our iPad flip classrooms was able to take the test online using their iPads. (Note: we would have liked to have more classrooms use the iPads but we did not get to choose which classrooms took the tests or which ones did paper/pencil or online).

One of our fourth grade classrooms used the iPads for testing. Prior to the test, the teacher had the students completed the online sample tests in the classroom. The kids were really excited to try out a new way of testing using their iPads - especially since they got to use the external keyboards!

You can see how intensely they are all working!

There were lots of thing to work on and figure out - like having to tap each square to complete the array!

These kiddos were ready to go when it came time to take the test. And it was a test for all of us to make sure everything was in working order for them. It was a good way for us to see how this would work in a real testing situation.

On the day of the field test we took the students into the library so they would have more room to spread out and work. This also made it easier for us to monitor the progress of the test and help with any issues that popped up.

The students did a great job. Too bad we won't get test results back - I'm sure they aced it!

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Digital Science Fair Projects

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Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers

Check out these online graphic organizers from Holt: Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers The site has over 30 graphic organizers for a variety of tasks. Each graphic organizer is interactive and can be downloaded onto a computer with Adobe Reader and be filled out right on the computer. There are also Teaching Notes available with tips and lesson ideas for each organizer What we really appreciate is that they also work on the iPads! Using the "Open In" feature in an IOS web browser such as Safari or Chrome, you can import the graphic organizer into the Adobe Reader app and easily fill in the fields. Students can then take a screenshot of the completed graphic organizer to share with their teacher or import into another iPad project.

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