What's the Score?

As we draw closer and closer to the infamous test the acronyms EOC and STAAR are in my life a LOT! I am not afraid to talk to my kids about the test. I do not think this means I teach to the test. In fact, I often use it as a great example of how every job (no matter what) has some form of performance measure. For my non-college bound kiddos, I talk about welding exams, cosmetology exams, and the plethora of other tests that exist in the world. Taking the EOC is about so much more than the knowledge they are testing you on. It's about knowing the information AND how they want it because let's be honest here: pick the better answer is seriously one of the most frustrating things for all of us in the world.

One of my favorite strategies is to play a "game" of What's the Score?

This can be done with short answers or the essay. I have done this cold before (meaning my kids hadn't written the same essay or read the short answer story before), but I find it works best with a bit of ground work.

The Background Work: 

At Region 10 training this summer, we learned a strategy called "unpacking" the rubric. You provide students with a copy of the state scoring rubric (all materials for this entire activity are found here). I put them into groups and have them create a "student voice" version of the rubric. I mean VERY student voice. I have them create a table with the same number of bullet points in each box.  I give them example from the Development of Ideas in Score Point 2. The state rubric says something about the argument being superficial and inappropriate to the task: "Mini-Skirt Barbie argument" is how I tell them to write it down.

This year, I learned that GOAT means Greatest of All Time. (That's what one group wrote for their explanation of the necessary sentences in Score Point 4.

I take the best pieces from allllll the groups to create one giant Student Voice Rubric, and I end up with something like this. It's not perfect: That isn't the point!

Then, they have to represent a score point 4 visually... Some of them get a little bit crazy! (See Unicorn Pooping a rainbow below) They explain their poster to the class, and we hung them in the hallway.

I do this activity in small pieces over a week's time:

Monday: Score Point One (10 minutes)
Tuesday: Score Points Two & Three (10-12 minutes)
Wednesday: Score Point Four & Begin work on Visual (10-12 minutes)
Thursday: Work on Visual (10 minutes)
Friday: Finish Visual (10 minutes)

The Background Work Continued: 
I, also, make sure that my students have already written the essay/short answer themselves BEFORE we play. I think it gives them a better understanding of the essay or the short answer piece, so that when you are playing the game, it is about those answers not about comprehension.

I had my students pick between the Big City vs Small Towns essay and the Learning is Positive essay from the Released Tests (again found here) from 2014 and 2013 for their fall semester exam. (I know I'm not the most careful and thoughtful grader the day before Christmas Break, so I save these essays to use when we return for second semester (that way it's not a waste for the kids).

For the short answer, I used the excerpt from "The Custom of the Country" from the 2013 state release. I have them read the piece and do the short answer question for homework in advance. I send no other questions home with the piece, just the one short answer question... because I really want them to do it and pay attention.

Side Note: I told my kids to quit focusing on "the strategy" that we have been drilling into their brains to answer the SAQ. (We use ROQC. It's super similar to APE.) Instead, I said write a paragraph answer. For SO MANY kids, this explanation clicked like NEVER before!!! 

Okay, so that is the background work.

What's the Score?
On the day of the game (these are two separate days worth of games, and they probably take about 20 minutes a piece), I give each group a packet of essays or short answers. They must work together to determine the score of each piece. [I make them enter their answers independently into the clickers, so I have a daily grade. Plus, I can see where each group is at. AND if someone disagrees with their group, they can enter their own choice.] I project the student rubric we created together.

Then, I use my Google Slides presentation to go through the answers with them. I make them tell me out loud why each essay is score what it is. We have quality discussion about why each essay or short answer received it's given score. It is awesome when they argue for what they believe, and with all the background work they feel like they have a firm foundation to argue from.

Here are my presentations - again all this material is taken from the state scoring guides. I have just formatted it in a way that works for classroom use.





Here are links to each show, if you want to use them in your classroom.

Short Answer
Persuasive

I would love to hear how you work with the EOC rubric in your class! Let me know in the comments below.