MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Please take note of these important upcoming events:

May 28 - June 2: End-of-Grade Tests

June 3: Awards Day at 1:30 p.m.

June 4: Field Day at Forest Hill Park 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 

June 9: Graduation 
Kindergarten at 9:00 a.m. 
8th Grade at 11:00 a.m.

June 10: Last Day of School (early dismissal at noon)

Summer Reading Program

Barnes & Noble is offering a Summer Reading Program to encourage students to read books of their own choosing and earn a FREE book to help them on their way. Follow these three easy steps: 

1. Read any eight books this summer and record titles in the Imagination’s Designation Journal (provided by your homeroom teacher).

2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 20 and September 2, 2014. 

3. Choose your FREE reading adventure from the book list featured on the back of the journal. 

Homeroom teachers will be sending home Imagination’s Destination Reading Journals.

Helping Your Child Avoid “Test Anxiety”

It’s good for your child to be concerned about taking a test. It’s not good for him to develop “test anxiety.” Test anxiety is worrying too much about doing well on a test. It can mean disaster for your child. Students with test anxiety can worry about success in school and about their future success. They can become very self-critical and lose confidence in their abilities. Instead of feeling challenged by the prospect of success, they become afraid of failure. If your child worries too much about taking tests, you can help to reduce the anxiety by encouraging the child to do the following things:

• Plan ahead. Start studying for the test well in advance. Make sure that you understand what material the test will cover. Try to make connections about what will be on the test and what you already know. Review the material more than once.

• Don’t “cram” the night before. This will likely increase your anxiety, which will interfere with clear thinking. Get a good night’s sleep.

• When you get the test, read the directions carefully before you begin work.

• Look quickly at the entire text to see what types of questions are on it (multiple choice, matching, true/false, essay). See if different questions are worth different numbers of points. This will help you to determine how much time to spend on each part of the test.

• If you don’t know the answer to a question, skip it and go on. Don’t waste time worrying about one question. Mark it and, if you have time at the end of the test, return to it and try again.

Basic Facts About The End-Of-Grade Tests (EOG)

English Language Arts & Reading - Grades 3-8

• The language arts/reading tests are multiple-choice tests.
• The tests are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts.
• Students read authentic selections and then answer questions related to the selections.
• The reading selections are comprised of literary and informational selections based on the Common Core State Standards.
• Knowledge of vocabulary is assessed indirectly through application and understanding of terms within the context of the selections and questions.

Mathematics - Grades 3-8

• The EOG mathematics tests at grades 3 and 4 are multiple-choice tests.
• The EOG mathematics tests at grades 5-8 are multiple-choice and gridded-response tests.
• All EOG mathematics tests are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics.
• For grades 3-8, the mathematics tests consist of two parts: calculator inactive and calculator active. Students are allowed to use calculators during the calculator active part of the test; students are now allowed to use calculators during the calculator inactive part of the test.

Science - Grades 5 and 8

• The EOG science tests at grades 5 and 8 are aligned to the Essential Standards for Science.
• The online EOG science questions are multiple-choice and technology enhanced questions.
• The paper-and-pencil science tests are multiple-choice tests (technology enhanced items are found only in the online science assessments).

For additional information about the North Carolina Testing Program, visit the Accountability Services Division website at www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/.

Sample EOG tests are available online at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/eog/