Archive for the ‘Military Families’ Category
MetaMetrics has developed a free site which allows us to develop individualized programs for all children.
Who has access to the MetaMetrics site?
1.Teachers of any grade, any subject, from any where in US or internationally for that matter as long as they are teaching in the English language.
2.Parents who have their child’s Lexile score or a good idea of their child’s reading ability and interests. Parents anywhere, anytime can access this site, meaning military families on the go have access.
3.The CHILDREN themselves. How empowering is that!
Where can the child’s Lexile score be found?
1.Many state assessments now report back reading ability in Lexiles.
2.Some norm-referenced or achievement assessments taken in schools including:
a. CTB/ McGraw-Hill: TerraNova, Tests of Adult Basic Education, b. Pearson: The Stanford 9, Stanford 10, MAT 8 and Aprenda 3 (Spanish language test of academic standards,
c. Educational Records Bureau: ERB: Comprehensive Testing Program, 4th Edition,
d. Riverside Publishing: The Iowa Tests, Gates-McGinitie Reading Test,
e. DIBELS,
f. Measured Progress: PTS3,
g. Northwest Evalutation Association: Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)
What tools that are available to us?
1.Find a Book: The teacher, parent or child enters their Lexile measurement or lexile range, books of interest or using key words, and then search. You will be given a reading list to review. The program gives you the option to a) add to “my reading list”, b) use WorldCat to ind the books at a local library using your zip code, or c) buy it from Barnes & Noble which has lexiled their books.
2.Lexile Analyzer: You are required to register for this tool but it is free. This tool allows you to scan in up to 1000 words of material from a book, magazine, newspaper, etc. and get a lexile read. You are able to upgrade to measure longer text if you are an educator. There is both an English and Spanish analyzer.
3.The Lexile Database contains measures over 10,000 books from hundreds of publishers. There are separate databases for English and Spanish titles. You must sign a license agreement with them before they give you access to download.
4.The Lexile map places examples of popular books and text on the Lexile scale as a reference guide for what a Lexile measure means. This can be downloaded in English or Spanish.
5.MetaMetrics partners with the nation’s largest periodical database services. This means that you can get Lexile measures for newspaper and magazine articles, as well as encyclopedia and reference content. A few of these are:
a. EBSCO Publishing: leading provider of online resources for schools.
b. Grolier Online: Fully integrated database collection with age appropriate learning environments.
c. NetTrekker: Fast, easy access to educational resources from the entie Internet organized and standards-aligned.
It would be time well spent to explore their site and learn for yourself how Lexiles can change your approach to lesson planning as a teacher, reading and working with your child as a parent in the know, and taking charge of your own learning as a student.
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While we all know that homeschooling is educating a child or children at home, the motivations for home schooling are not always as clear. There are several reasons for it:
1. Religion cited as a factor in their choice;
2. Poor or unsafe learning environment;
3. Objections to school curriculum;
4. Being over or under challenged at school;
5. Drugs, sexual harassment, bullying and negative peer-pressure.
Other reasons often cited are; more flexibility in the educational curriculum, more available times and days, better individualized support for children with learning disabilities, more consistent academics for children of missionaries, military families, or parents that travel as part of their career.