Eeeek U-A-Oh!

EQAO.
Yep. 
It'll be here before we know it and we've been working since day one to prepare for the assessment. I haven't talked to the class about it yet; that'll come in the next day or two. 
I don't refer to EQAO as a "test", otherwise it becomes something bigger than it is. I call them "EQAO booklets" and it works well. That's why the students do so many booklets in my class. It gets them in the right mindset.    

Right now, the boys and girls are working on a new booklet based on a story I wrote called, "This is NOT a Halloween Story." Just like the EQAO booklets, they'll answer all kinds of reading and writing questions. They'll also write their very own Reading Response Letter to the text.

Today the students read the first few pages of the story and wrote their four questions. Tomorrow they'll read a little more and write any additional questions they have. 

After that, it's time to begin writing their letters.  They know all about letters because I write them on every morning as part of Morning Message.  This assignment is really a coming together of everything the boys and girls have learned so far. It's a big deal! Once the letter is written, the students will hand it in and I'll write them back, giving them feedback on their work. They'll then be expected to implement the feedback right away. 

I love the idea of students having their own copy of the story so they can highlight, circle, whatever they need to do to help them be successful. 

We got off to a really good start today. As I said, we haven't had "the talk" about EQAO, but it's coming soon.  I'd like to send home the story for the kids to read aloud to you. As a class, our goal is to become very fluent readers who are able to read the way people speak.  

I'm looking forward to sharing the rest of this story with the students. There's a lot of learning that can be extracted from this non-Halloween tale!