Us History Regents All You Have to Know
Prepping students for the New York State U.Southward. and Regime Regents Examination can be stressful. Your effectiveness every bit a teacher is oftentimes tied to students' results.
Experience helps; every year yous become more familiar with the exam and tin can better support your students. Now there'due south a new test in town. Those years of experience with the former U.S. Regents can go in the drawer with your DVD movies and fidget spinner. Here is a guide to gear up your kiddos for the exam.
What's on the New U.South. History Regents?
Similar the sometime regents, the new test is comprised of three parts:
What skills do students need for the new test?
First and foremost they demand reading and writing stamina. Every step of the test requires i or the other. The number of multiple choice questions has been cut by most half, only EVERY SINGLE QUESTION is based on a document.
Each document is followed past ii or 3 questions. That translates to about 13 documents that must exist digested, just for Function 1! Aye, some are political cartoons and maps, but many are paragraphs of text.
The Civic Literacy Essay is comprised of 6 documents. The Curt Essay Sets (aka SEQs) include a total of 4 documents. If you lot add information technology all up, the documents that students must read, understand and clarify it'southward about 35 documents in a 3-hour time frame! For struggling learners and those that just hate to read (I have many!) this is huge barrier to success.
In theory, the amount of writing is identical to the previous version. There used to be 2 essays, average 4 paragraphs each. Now at that place are 2 mini essays, 2 paragraphs each, and ane traditional 4 paragraph. Simply it feels like more than because information technology'due south 3 essays instead of 2.
Please don't tell my students, just I personally would rather accept root canal that accept to sit down for this exam.
How to build necessary skills for the New U.S. Regents throughout the year
Are you ready — this is what yous've got to teach the kids:
Reading Stamina
This really is the biggest hurdle for many, both students with disabilities and many gen ed kids who just don't like to read. When I have proctored and graded past regents I see it over and again, students get tired and break downwardly. Here are some ways to prepare them.
Railroad train anybody to read the question first. Many times it's not necessary to read the whole document; if you know what yous're looking for, detect the respond and motility to the next document.
Another arrow for students: later they read the question try reading the beginning and last sentence of each paragraph when given a long document. Often that will exist enough.
When you assign a reading that is a page or more chunk it downwards by putting a few lines and a question between paragraphs. This allows for mental pacing: read a paragraph, accept a breath, motility on.
If y'all teach students with disabilities create more than one version of the reading. This is something that I pushed back against for a long time for many reasons (a story for another post). Long story short, it REALLY helps. If you have students reading at a 5th or 6th form level they cannot even begin to engage with some primary and secondary source documents.
A common technique we use at my school is to pre-annotate the text, double space it and make the font larger. This addresses several barriers and but takes two minutes.
If you lot have a document that can't be edited for whatsoever reason but annotating the main points will aid guide struggling learners to the main ideas. There are many means to differentiate is y'all want to know more.
Use a timer to challenge everyone to stay on point.
Writing stamina
The best answer in i (hyphened) discussion: quick-writes. Several times a week as a do-at present or exit put up a certificate with a question and have students write a five-sentence paragraph. Do the same for homework. This trains them to leap in and start writing.
Scaffold this process by giving sentence starters in the beginning to help facilitate their ability to put pen to paper without also much hesitation. Y'all can take this away afterwards awhile, or go along it simply for the students with disabilities.
Beginning by giving them eight minutes. Then 7. So vi. Work your way down to five minutes, five sentences.
Quick story. A few weeks ago one of my classes was out of control all calendar week, despite using every classroom management trick in the book. I stood on a chair to get their attending and took the work for the day and ripped information technology upwards. "Your assignment today is to write a v-paragraph argumentative essay and it will exist graded as a exam."
I know, I lost it:(
Grumbling, disbelief (I never did this before) and complaints, "I can't write an essay in 1 period" ensued. 1 educatee, however called out to the class, "Subsequently Morgan'southward quick-writes every day, this is easy." And she proceeded to write an essay in 30 minutes.
Historical content
I assume history teachers are reading this article, and therefore don't demand me:)
The only caveat I take on this topic is that sometimes students are given "review handouts" to study that are too long and intimidating; they merely don't know what to practice with it. As you know, many students rarely report and don't know how.
I have created different packets over the years for kids. The i thing they have in mutual is concrete activity steps. For example, I will assign them one unit of measurement for homework and answer the questions at the terminate of the unit. Sometimes, rather than writing out the answer they must comment the reply in the reading and number the notation to reverberate which question it answers. This encourages close reading and checks for comprehension.
My newest U.South. Regents review breaks downwards core content into iii-page unit summaries, followed past 10 stimulus-based multiple choice questions on the topic. Shameless plug: I have uploaded each U.Southward. History unit on TpT if y'all want to save time and take hold of 1 or ii in that location. You can just look at the preview and make your own version using the same model. Check it out hither.
Certificate Analysis
The new U.S. regents exam includes TONS of documents! There are lots of acronyms for teaching this topic. English language teachers take theirs, history accept theirs — I bet math has ane, too!
I like HIPPO, merely because information technology gives me a take chances to include a cute hippo on my PowerPoints and handouts:) Students need a full lesson defended to this topic. Afterwards that sprinkle information technology in do-nows, exits, homeworks, exactly the same as quick-writes.
If you're wondering, H is is historical context, I is intended audience, P is betoken of view, P is purpose and O is outside information or evidence. For quick do focus on any one of these, or ask students to choose 2 and identify for the document.
To read more than on HIPPO this guide from Tomasso History is clear and concise.
Elimination skills
If students successfully eliminate ii of the 4 possible answers of a sudden they have a fifty-50 shot at being correct, even if they apply the old eeny-meany-miny-moe method (scientifically proven to piece of work – never!)
In groups of 4 assign 12 multiple option questions. Each group member is in charge of three questions. They must read the question and choose 2 that can be eliminated giving justification. "The question is about World War ane and the respond involves Hitler; he's World State of war 2." Next, every bit a group, they assess each group member's work and make changes as the group deems necessary. Offering an answer sheet at the end of the period for students to cocky-bank check their results.
Throughout the twelvemonth insist that students eliminate equally a natural part of any multiple selection piece of work. Railroad train their minds to do this until it'south every bit natural as breathing. Take a point off during quizzes and tests if elimination is non done.
Create a dirge for the form to recite.
Teacher: What do we want?
Students: To graduate!
Instructor: How do we practice information technology?
Students: Eliminate! (My students are used to me beingness VERY corny!)
Timing skills
At that place are a significant number of kids who don't get to finish the examination. You know the type: those methodical workers who carefully read and work their way through an assignment, often write slowly and can't seem to blitz even if their life depended on information technology. There are a couple of things you can do.
Interruption it down for them, how long each portion should take them. They have 3 hours, roughly an hour for each section. Repeat this at least ten times throughout your test prep; that's how oftentimes the average person needs to internalize new data.
Take them self-assess: am I faster at reading or writing? If a pupil is self-aware they can set their personal timing schedule to fit their needs. A wearisome reader needs more fourth dimension on the multiple pick questions, a slow writer the essays.
Practice, do, practice. If you read the tips on writing stamina to a higher place, quick-writes are magical for the wearisome author. If yous tin go a child to write v sentences in 5 minutes they can write a 5 paragraph essay in under half an hour!
Do the aforementioned with the stimulus-based multiple choice questions. They have well-nigh 2 minutes per question averaged out over the hour. The reality is that they demand time to read each document and should take a minute or less actually answering each questions.
Suggested xv-Mean solar day Lesson Plan Guide for the New U.S. Regents
xv Day Test Prep – Download PDF
Test-taking Hacks
First a simple one: tell students to chew glue. If you tin swing it, provide it for students. Studies have shown that chewing gum increases focus and release stress. Soldiers are routinely issued glue for these reasons.
Mindset is huge. Give students pep talks often. Let them know that their self-speak influences their grades. Every day of prep leading up to the test should be infused with optimistic sentiments. Students who become into a test believing they will not practise well get lower results than equal level students who believe they tin can practise well. Changing a student's outlook can be tough, specially if they accept experienced failure in the by.
Basic habits should be reinforced. Enquire educatee'due south to share: What fourth dimension are they going to go to slumber the night before the exam? How are they going to ensure that they get up on time? What are they going to swallow for breakfast? These fundamentals can derail a teen as much as lack of content noesis.
In one case at the testing site if there are tips or tricks a student wants to recollect advise they jot it down somewhere on the test ASAP. And then they have information technology in front of them and it's not taking upwardly brain bandwidth.
New U.S. Regents Determination
The New U.S. Regents is intended to exam mutual core skills. There will exist many portions that are more of a reading examination than a measure of content knowledge. This will benefit some and hurt others.
Spending a few weeks prepping prior to test date is critical. Bombard them with practise that looks just like the regents. Their eyes and brains volition exist familiar with the layout and format. And so on exam day when confronted with the booklet, information technology will be like seeing an quondam friend. Okay maybe not exactly, but you get my drift.
However you feel near this test — love it, hate it, neutral — is irrelevant. If you accept been pedagogy for any period of time you know that things are always irresolute. And nobody cares what teachers think. Facts.
Warmest wishes, Joan
Source: https://teachnthrive.com/teaching-ideas/how-to-prepare-students-for-the-new-u-s-history-regents-2020/
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