Feeling Discouraged

So let me take a moment out of my usual posts and have a pity-party.  We've spent the last few weeks doing our state standardized testing, end-of-the-year tests, and finishing out IEP reviews.  

In my state, 3rd grade is the BIG testing year.  Students must pass the FCAT to move onto 4th grade.  In case they don't pass the FCAT, there is a back-up plan that is the 3rd grade portfolio.  Basically, it's 14 cold read comprehension passages covering different areas (Main Idea, Context Clues, Multiple Meaning Words, Author's Purpose, etc.).  The students have 3 rounds to take the 14 different passages and must get at least 5 questions right on each area during those 3 rounds.  

Sounds fairly easy enough right.......basically 14 passages in total and they only need to get 5 out of 15 questions correct to be considered passing on each of the 14 passages.  We did round 1 in January and we're doing round 2 now.  If you don't pass the FCAT or the portfolio during rounds 1 & 2, you do round 3 in summer school.

However, my kids are reading below grade level and these passage are hard for them.  I feel like I've worked hard this year with them....real hard.  We've done 2 direct instruction programs working on decoding skills.  I pushed them hard through those programs.  We've done guided reading.  We've worked on fluency.  We've done weekly word study where we spent a lot of time working on phonics patterns.  I've done a bunch of comprehension lessons.  

And they've made progress!  A lot of progress.  Most of my students came at a 1st grade reading level and are now reading on a 2nd grade reading level.  If you checked out my fluency post {here}, you saw how one of my kids started the year reading a VERY basic 1st grade passage at 13 wpm and is now reading a 2nd grade passage at 50 wpm.  Now that's a whole LOT of progress!!

So while I keep trying to tell myself that we've come a long way, these kids are doing great, I've improved their reading progress........I'm sitting here asking myself have I done enough?  What else could I have done?  I didn't take them from reading on a 1st grade level to reading on grade level (3rd grade).  Is there a way to do that?  What am I missing here?  There seems to be a lot of pressure to hold special ed students to the same standards as gen ed students.  Parents want their kids on grade level.  And believe me, I want my kids on grade level.  Is there some program I'm missing out on?  Some instruction I'm not doing?  Something I could do better?

I'm having a hard time here and feeling really discouraged.  Do other special ed teachers feel this way?  Is there a magic solution out there that people use to bring kids up to grade level when they're so far behind?  How do you guys feel about your students' progress?

Standardized Testing (Freebie)

Well, it's getting closer and closer to the dreaded state test. In Fl, my students will be taking the FCAT 2.0.  It's been revamped this year (hence the 2.0), so it will be even more rigorous than previous years.  Does anyone else hate the word rigorous?  Errrr....moving on.

My students are struggling readers.  Not only do they have trouble reading the passages on the standardized tests, they also struggle to read all the words in the questions.  Words like compare, italics, difference, and understand are really hard for my students to read.  Last year, I decided to treat these words like sight words and hope that my students could memorize some of them.  I made this vocabulary game last year, but I revamped it some now.  I hope that by practicing reading these words in isolation my students will be able to identify them on the test.  Click on the picture to download your own FREE copy!

Now onto something I'm really excited about!  One of my 1st graders with autism is grumpy a lot.  He doesn't socialize a lot.  He's usually just kind of unhappy and reluctant to do things at school.  Well on Friday, he was wearing a Batman shirt and mentioned his shirt to me.  I asked him if he liked Batman and he said yes.  I told him that I could make him a Batman sight word game, and his face lit up!!  We talked about what the game would be like and what we could use for the Draw Again, Give Back 2 Cards, and Lose a Turn cards.  I told him I'd make the game and have it ready for him on Monday.  I can't wait to see if he likes the game or not.  I hope he's not disappointed and this peps up his mood some!  Click on the picture to check out the game at my TPT store.

I've also just added this other cute Cat at the Circus Sight Word Game.  

Graphics by: Scrappin Doodles, Digital Bake Shop, JW Illustrations, Spring Hill Graphics, and Goodness and Fun

Dinosaur Sight Word Game ~ Free!

One of my sweet Kindergarten students put in a request for a dinosaur sight word game.  He put a lot of thought into what he wanted, because he told me what the cards should have on them and what the special cards should say.  He asked me everyday last week if I had made the game for him yet.  I know I could't let him down, so I whipped this game up today.  I wasn't able to give him EVERY special card he wanted, but I did get one with a palm tree on it.  I hope it lives up to standards!  Click on the picture to get your FREE copy!

On another note, are there any 3rd grade teachers from FL out there?  In FL, 3rd grade students must take the FCAT standardized test in the spring and this can determine if a student passes or fails 3rd grade.  As a back up in case students do poorly on the FCAT, 3rd graders also complete a reading portfolio.  It's a set of 14 reading passages covering many different skills (i.e. author's purpose, multiple meaning words, figurative language, etc.).  

We started our reading portfolios last week.......WOW!  My poor students haven't been doing that well so far.  Since they are all below grade level, I knew this would be difficult for them.  I know a lot of the problem is that they are not able to decode the passages enough to fully comprehend them.  However, the types of questions were really tricky for my students.  We've spent so much time working on building their reading abilities that I haven't spent much time focusing on the types of questions found on standardized testing.  This is an area that we will really need to work on ASAP.  

Right now, I'm putting together a unit on Author's Purpose where they can work on reading shorter text and answering the types of questions that they will likely see on FCAT.  I'm going to try and really work on all these skills between now and late April when they will take the test.  Would anyone else be interested in units that would focus on standardized testing questions?

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!

Graphics by Scrappin Doodles.