5.17.07

"Idea for Check Tests and Warm Ups a= t the Beginning of English Class"

by Donna Garn= er

I just thought of a quick way for English teachers to do check tests/warm ups at the beginning of class to make sure students have worked through an assigned unit on www.MyS= tudyHall.com, Grammar Modules.

The teacher s= hould assign students a particular unit (e.g., Grammar Module One, Verbs) to be completed by a certain date. = On that date students must either hand deliver their progress reports (generated automatically by MyStudyHall.com) or have their progress reports e-mailed to the teacher (automatically sent by e-mail from MyStudyHall.com after each u= nit test). The progress report wi= ll serve as documentation to show that the student completed the unit.

Teachers shou= ld choose a Practice Quiz or a Level Quiz from the assigned MyStudyHall.com un= it, cut/copy/paste the quiz onto WORD, run off a class set of the quiz, and giv= e it to the students to take as a quick check test/warm up at the beginning of English class.

The teachers = should count the check tests/warm ups as actual numerical grades in the grade book while the progress reports should only count as = completion grades or extra credit.

By following = this plan, busy teachers would not even have to take the time to create their own warm ups/check tests; just use the ones from MyStudyHall.com. The Practice Quizzes and Level Quizzes are already closely aligned with the tex= tual content which is taught on MyStudyHall.com.

Teachers coul= d run off a class set of a different quiz for each class period in order to avoid= any possible sharing of answers among students between classes. =

The check tes= ts/warm ups would cause students to realize that they must actually learn&nb= sp;the concepts taught in the grammar units and that they cannot just skip to= the quizzes. Students would also = learn that it does not help them to get answers from other people in order to get high scores on the progress reports because everyone is going to have to kn= ow the answers to the check tests/warm ups.

With the larg= e number of Practice Quizzes and Level Quizzes in each unit on MyStudyHall.com, the students could not possibly memorize the answers; and the check tests/= warm ups along with the teachers' lesson plan book would serve as documentation.

Once the stud= ents have completed an assigned grammar unit, the teachers should feel free to h= old students accountable by taking points off their compositions for improper grammar usage. Teachers shoul= d even penalize students in their oral presentations for using improper grammar on= ce the students have finished a particular grammar unit. <= /p>

This plan wou= ld be a great way to hold students accountable to use correct grammar in their writ= ing and speaking, and their SAT/ACT scores would most assuredly climb since the= se two tests now have many multiple-choice grammar questions on them. The 49 multiple-choice grammar que= stions on the new SAT count 70% of the Writing score.

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To activate t= his plan, English teachers must know the grammar modules themselves and will ne= ed to be thoroughly familiar with the terminology and the explanations which a= re used on MyStudyHall.com.

This summer w= ould be a great time to ask English teachers to work through the three grammar modu= les at their own pace in the privacy of their homes, hand in their progress rep= orts as documentation, and reward those teachers who complete the modules with a= day off of in-service training during the upcoming school year. =

If a school d= istrict purchases at least 100 site licenses ($35 per student/per year), every teac= her in the district will have free access for a year to MyStudyHall.com, 24 hou= rs a day, 7 days a week.

Tim Thomasson=

President, MyStudyHall.com

106 N. Denton Tap Rd.

Suite 210, Box= 159

Coppell, TX 75019

214-695-8347<= o:p>

tim.thomasson@mystudyhall.com=

www.mystudyhall.com=

Dr. C. Grant = Endicott

Vice Presiden= t, MyStudyHall.com

606-780-1114<= o:p>

grant.endicott@mystudyhall.co= m

Allison Garne= r

Marketing Dir= ector

972-874-5599<= o:p>

ga.garner@verizon.net<= /b>

Donna Garner<= o:p>

Writer/Consul= tant

254-666-2798<= o:p>

wgarner1@hot.rr.com<= /p>