Fall Conference Workshop: Start Preparing for the CST Now!

Thank you for coming to my workshop! Feel free to email me at miki.litmanovitz@gmail.com with any questions or suggestions.

Here are the resources I promised:

CST blueprints: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/blueprints.asp
Remember to check how many questions are asked for each standard, and focus on the key standards

CST released questions: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp
Remember to look in the back to find which questions correspond to which standards. Then when you are giving an assessment on a standard, you can use the released questions.

Scale scores: www.startest.org/pdfs/STAR.post-test_guide.2006.appendix_b.pdf

Amount of time and number of questions for each test: www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/itemtimecharts08.pdf


For the following documents, click 'Download' at the top of the document and click either 'Microsoft Word' (if you want to customize the document) or 'PDF' (if you want to keep it the way it is).

Testing accommodations and modifications: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7193560/Testing-Variations

Homework template: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7191908/Homework-Template

Quiz template: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7192446/Quiz-Template

Practice test answer sheet: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7193288/Practice-Test-Answer-Document

Practice test instructions: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7193359/Practice-Test-Instructions

Letter to students on the day before the test: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7193672/Day-Before-Star-Test-Letters

Some reasons why the CST is important to students:
Makes you feel good
Makes your family/friends/teachers proud
First impressions (for future teachers)
Reflects on the school
Reflects on the community
Determines your schedule

Strategies to prepare yourself:
Solve the CST release questions yourself
Make a list of words that are used in the released questions (Vocab words and test words)
Make a list of things they need to be exposed to (underlined words, not questions, find the mistake, lines on poems, which of the following could be, most likely, best explanation)

Strategies to prepare your students:
Daily CST Test question in the warm-up
Include a few multiple choice questions on the homework every day
Give periodic all-multiple choice homework
Spend certain days teaching test-taking strategies
Give quizzes that are in multiply choice formats
Give practice tests that simulate the real CST

Here are some fun pictures from last year's CST prep: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2171165&l=44243&id=6402515