Friday, April 29, 2011

Still wondering.....


What questions do you still have about the Grade 6 Math EQAO Assessment?

Answering Open Response Questions

Here are some strategies the students in Mrs. Takeda and Mr. Fromstein's classes decided were helpful to know:
- read the whole question
- make sure you understand what the question is asking
- use a tool (e.g, calculator, manipulative etc.)
- write something!
- write your response IN the box only!
- stay on topic
- write in English


What other strategies do you think are important to know?

Multiple Choice Questions

Here are some strategies the students in Mrs. Takeda and Mr. Fromstein's classes decided were helpful to know:


- read the entire question
- make sure you understand what the question is asking
- eliminate the choices that you know are wrong
- use manipulatives (or make your own if you can't find one that matches the question)
- do the math!


What other strategies do you think are important for other Grade 6 students to know?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Your Rights

Did you know that during the assessment you have the following rights:

- to use a calculator during the entire assessment?
- use any manipulative (e.g., cubes, protractor, etc.) in the classroom?
- ask your teacher to read any question out loud to you?
- get extra time to finish answering the questions?


The important thing to remember is that only you can DECIDE to use these rights!  Your teacher cannot tell you to or remind you to use any of them!

2008-2009 (Measurement - surface area)




Not sure what 'show your work" means?  Check out the definition and examples.

Record your answer using the comments button below. 


2007-2008 (Patterning - rules)



Not sure what 'justify your answer" means?  Check out the definition and examples.


Is Sam's rule correct?  Record your answer using the comments button below.  Remember to justify what you decided.

2008-2009 (Data Management - broken line graphs)





Not sure what the word "explain" means?  Check out the definition and examples.



Record your answer to the second part of the question using the comments button below. 

2009-2010 (Geometry - transformations)


Did you know that if you don't know what the word 'transformations' mean, your teachers cannot explain it to you during the assessment?  You can't use a dictionary either.  So what do you do?

2008-2009 (Data - double bar graphs)


? What strategy did you use to figure out the answer to this question?

2008-2009 (Number Sense - ordering decimals)


? There are a lot of numbers in this question.  What strategy did you use to figure out the answer?

2008-2009 (Measurement - estimating area)


? Choice B is the correct answer.  Why is that?

2008-2009 (Measurement - area)



? Which might some students choose C as the answer to this question?

? What strategy did you use to solve this problem?

2008-2009 (Geometry - rotations)


? Some students might guess the answer to this question.  Why is that a bad idea?

2009-2010 (Number Sense - unit rates)


Not sure what 'show your work" means?  Check out the definition and examples.

Record your answer using the comments button below. 

2009-2010 (Number Sense - order of operations)



? Which choices are obviously WRONG?

2009-2010 (Probability - spinners)


? Why might someone choose C (green) as the answer to this question?

2009-2010 (Geometry - polygons)


? What strategy did you use to solve this problem?

2009-2010 (Patterning and Algebra - solving equations)


? Why might this question be confusing for some students?

2009-2010 (Probability)


? Why do you think the writers included 3 as a choice?

2009-2010 (Geometry - angles)


? Did you know that you can use ANY manipulative you want during the entire assessment? 

? Which manipulative would be helpful to answer this question?



? If you didn't have a ready-made manipulative, what could you do?

Scoring Guides

Once you solve an Open-Response question, you can compare your response with the examples.

2009-2010

2008-2009

2007-2008


You can find all the old assessments and examples of student work on the EQAO website.

Show your work

 According to EQAO, when you see 'show your work' in a question, you should:


Record all calculations and all the steps you went through to get your answer. You may use words, numbers, graphs, diagrams, symbols and/or charts.


Here are some examples of what this might look like:




Explain your thinking (or answer)

According to EQAO, when you see 'explain your answer' in a question, you should:


Use words and symbols to make your solution clear.


Here are some examples of what this might look like:






Justify your answer

According to EQAO, when you see 'justify your answer' in a question, you should:


Give reasons and evidence to show your answer is correct.


Here are some examples of what this might look like:







2009 - 2010 (Data Management - mean)


Not sure what the word 'justify' means?  Check out the definition and examples.

Record the missing scores using the comments button below.  Remember to justify your answers.

2009-2010 (Patterning and Algebra - table of values)


? Why did the writers use 4 as the first number in all the ordered pairs?