Reading Topics

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Can I Increase my IQ and Cognitive Abilities?

Myth or fact, can anyone improve cognitive ability, mental flexibility, MEMORY, and even improve IQ? Cognitive exercises, brain training, Second Language Acquisition, Music and Cognitive Abilities, and rewiring the brain (Neuroplasticity / Neurogenesis). “Neurons that fire together wire together.”

Fact: The mind has two operating systems, the automatic or "fast thinking" and the conscious engaged or "slow thinking". Up to 95% of our day is spent using our fast thinking system, this is automatic and running on autopilot. The brain prefers to stay in the mindless automatic state or unconscious state. The brain prefers the fast thinking system because it is less taxing mentally and uses less energy. Fast automatic thinking is the default for our brain. Slow thinking is the deep learning state and what is reached the least amount of time unless the classroom lessons and topics drive a deep state of learning. How do you shift your class from automatic fast thinking to a slow deep learning classroom?
Top ways to keep the learning deep and memorable "SLOW Thinking"

1. Start lessons with essential questions
2. Incorporate hands-on experiential activities in all lessons
3. Switch from single academic content lessons to authentic multidisciplinary phenomenon based learning 
4. Incorporate brain breaks and/or recess every hour
5. Ad more project and problem based lessons and learning activities
6. Incorporate outdoor learning and environmental science learning
7. Incorporate the visual arts and handicraft in daily learning 
8. Let the students make 25% of the learning choices based on curiosity, passion, interest for weekly genius hour time
9.  Incorporate the dramatic arts, comedy, theater, singing, plays, and instruments
10. Teach mindfulness 


According to new cognitive brain research and a relatively new field of psychology "NEUROPLASTICITY",  you can increase IQ and cognitive abilities. Learning a second language, learning to play an instrument, learning heuristic problem solving (hands-on self-discovery learning), reading and analyzing complex literary texts, and even developing mathematical problem using an abacus might greatly sharpen your abilities and even increase your IQ. Going beyond mnemonics to retain information or skills and drills that won't necessarily increase your intelligence or improve your ability to reason and think abstractly. Learning to play an instrument and or a second language seems to be one of the most powerful tools to rewire your brain. 


[PDF]On the Relationship between Aptitude and Intelligence in Second ...Cognitive abilities in SLA, the task will turn to ascertain precisely what SLA ... apply to the relationship between intelligence and second language acquisition. ... these factors increase the likelihood of finding more satisfactory and definitive answers in ...

(PDF) Increased Intelligence is a Myth (so far) - ResearchGatePDF | On one hand, intelligence testing is one of the great successes of psychology (Hunt, 2011). Intelligence ... increases in intelligence after a cognitive ..... increased memory capacity are related to ... and cognitive psychologists will be key.

[PDF]The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests : 500 exercises to improve ...HOW to improve your performance on IQ tests by practicing the many different types of ..... Cognitive reasoning ^ verbal, numerical, abstract, perceptual, spatial, mechanical. A very ... Manual dexterity ^ the skill of being able to work with your hands,.

[PDF]COGNITIVE ABILITIES: The State of the ArtIndividual differences in cognitive abilities, as well as is- sues pertaining to their development, consistency, and malleability The paradigm's history can be traced back for more ... Rothman noted, "The key to understanding the IQ con- ..... H H (1976) Manual for lot of factor- ... raise retarded intelligence Hillsdale NJ Erlbaum.

[PDF]Brain CrossTraining - IQ MindwareIt's my hope that IQ Mindware apps and resources can help set out ... potential for improving your cognitive resilience, health and performance. Enjoy your training! ... In this eBook I shall be reviewing what is known about the ...

[PDF]Associations between music education, intelligence, and spelling ...Associations between music lessons and cognitive abilities are specific to a ... that 53% of the boys had learned to play a musical instrument. intelligence was higher for boys ... nitive skills in children who learn to play an instrument, it can be asked ... larger increase than the control group taking drama lessons in the same.

[PDF]Cognitive Ability - Brookings InstitutionCognative ability. Although the term IQ is still sometimes used to refer to what such tests ..... a cognitively demanding environment can increase measured cognitive ability.

[PDF]Music and Cognitive Abilities - New York Public Libraryintelligence; cognitive development. People's eagerness for quick fixes can be seen in the ..... the increase in IQ was greater for the music groups than for the.

[PDF]UCMAS Research_USA.cdr - ucmas usaUCMAS is an abacus training program that utilises mental arithmetic training with the ... conducted on students in Sudan resulted in a net gain of 7.11 IQ points in the ... Historically, devices like the Asian and Japanese Soroban abacus have ...

[PDF]evaluation of memory in abacus learners - Semantic Scholar Abacus is a method used by Chinese, Japanese and Koreans to improve ... 50 children of average IQ between 5 and 12 years from 2 regular schools ...

[PDF]The Teachers Views on Soroban Abacus Training - EricSoroban abacus training is called as mental arithmetic training in our country. .... performances and people's general IQ and School achievements (Gathercole, ...

[PDF]the impact of abacus learning of mental arithmetic on cognitive ...Abacus is a calculating instrument used by Chinese, Japanese and Koreans since ..... I.Q.. COLLECTION OF DATA. The school managements and ALOHA centre authorities were ..... In Manual of Wallach and Kogan Battery of Creativity Test.

(PDF) Abacus Training Affects Math and Task Switching Abilities and ...
Oct 20, 2015 - PDF | Our previous work demonstrated that abacus-based mental calculation ... Executive function and IQ predict mathematical and attention problems ..... EFFECTS OF USING THE JAPANESE ABACUS METHOD UPON THE ...

Saturday, February 23, 2019

NC EOG READING TESTS GRADES 3–8 Answer Keys 2019

NC EOG Sample Reading Test  2019 Reading comprehension TESTS grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, AND 8

The NC EOG Sample Reading Test are no longer on the NC state website.
The testt below are good practice for the NC EOG Sample Reading Test!

Grade 3 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 3 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 4 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 4 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 5Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 5 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 6 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 6 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 7 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 8 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 9 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 10 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 7 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 8 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Friday, February 22, 2019

Great Book Series that Inspire a Love of Reading!

How do you help your kids/students develop a love of reading?

Great books series like Horrible Histories, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the Dork Diaries inspire reluctant readers to develop into passionate readers. Going from non-readers, struggling readers, aliterate readers to bookworms with a love of reading usually starts with a favorite author or an amazing book series. Great book series challenge our hearts, minds, and souls and take us to unimagined lands and introduces our readers to strange and amazing characters. Daily read alouds that introduce, inspire, and intrigue young readers is food for the heart, soul, and mind.  

Please share the great book series that inspired a love of reading in you and your students.

My Top Intermediate Book Series 8-12

  • Harry Potter / Percy Jackson
  • Roald Dahl books series / Beverly Cleary books series
  • Junie B. Jones /
  • Box Car Children / Little House on the Prairie
  • The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events / Artemis Fowl
  • Chronicles of Narnia / Star Wars Legends book series
  • Bunnicula / Redwall /
  • Captain Underpants / Dork Diaries / Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  • Barsoom series Edgar Rice Burroughs / The Grand Tour by Ben Bova

Our 100 Greatest Books for Kids list spans a variety of ages and genres, so there's something for ... Print out this checklist and make it yours: Mark the books.
[PDF]Pre A1 Starters - Cambridge Englishhelp children when they are just starting to learn English. The book uses many of the words from pre A1 Starters Word List. You will find the words in:.

[PDF]Helping Your Child Become a Reader - US Department of EducationChildren's books and magazines are mentioned in this booklet as examples and are only ..... The first activities in the list below work well with younger children.

[PDF]Children's Book List - CSEFELA Rainbow of Friends by P.K. Hallinan (Ages 4-8). Best Friends by Charlotte Labaronne (Ages 3-5). Can You Be a Friend? by Nita Everly (Ages 3-6). Can You ...

Monday, February 18, 2019

Read Alouds, Read Alouds, and More Read Alouds!

Why Every Classroom From Kindergarten to High School Needs a Daily Read Aloud! 

A daily read aloud is an important instructional key to building advanced academic language, active/academic listening, critical thinking, and oracy. The daily read aloud creates a bridge to advanced text concepts and advanced critical thinking. Read alouds let you stretch a child's reading comprehension level like no other instructional method by building listening comprehension and tier 2 and tier 3 academic vocabulary. A daily class read aloud builds a love of reading, class community, and advanced oracy when students actively listen and share thoughts, questions and ideas about great stories. As a former special education teacher, I have found many reluctant readers or students that hate reading find their voice and their passion for reading when they are included in advanced read-alouds of complex literature. One of my LD/dyslexic 6th graders that had been tracked in an emergent reading cohort until he got to my class was so grateful for being included in all of my advanced read alouds (Socratic Seminars). Reading is the most important skill that we teach in school! 

[PDF]Reading Aloud with Children of All Agesreading is reading aloud to children,” stressed. Becoming a Nation of Readers, a 1985 report by the. Commission on Reading. Learning to Read and Write: ...

(PDF) Interactive Read-Alouds: Is There a Common Set of ...
PDF | Read-alouds are a common component of literacy instruction. However, research on the method for providing read-alouds is limited. To determine if there ...

[PDF]Falling For Read Alouds.pdfWhy is it important to read aloud to your child? ❖ Builds foundational literacy skills. ❖ Enhances print awareness. ❖ Builds comprehension skills. ❖ Introduces ...

[PDF]The Importance of Reading Aloud to your student - Asheboro City ...A read aloud is when someone reads a text aloud to another. Often times this is when a parent reads a book to a child. This is when students are exposed to ...

[PDF]The Read-Aloud in the Secondary English ... - Semantic Scholarbetween teacher read-alouds in the secondary ELA classroom and .... teacher modeling, secondary school, middle school, and high school.

[PDF]Chapter 2: The Power of Reading Aloud to Your Students: Guidelines ...I believe that read-alouds reach their highest level of potency when they .... students in middle schooland high school. Mystery boxes make reading aloud ...

[PDF]In Defense of Read-Aloud - Amazon S3Reading aloud should take place daily at all grade levels, including junior high and high school. –Regie Routman (8). The single most important activity for ...

(PDF) Secondary School Students' English Literacy: Use of Interactive ...
Secondary School Students' English Literacy: Use of Interactive Read AloudInstructional Strategy. 

[PDF]Reaching Reluctant Readers - Penguin Random HouseONe day after school, I was in my classroom, reading aloud the first chapter of White ... readers at the high school level had read comic books when they were young. I recalled that ..... materials such as the driver-education manual from the state.

[PDF]Reading Aloud - EricABSTRACT. Reading aloud is an important motivational strategy not only for primary school children but also for upper-elementary. middle, and high school ...

[PDF]The Potential Impact of Structured Read-Aloud on Middle School ... - EricRead-aloud is a technique predominantly utilized at the elementary level. This study was designed to research the effectiveness of this technique at the middle ...

[PDF]Middle School Teachers' Read-Aloud Practices in the ... - CiteSeerXthat middle school teachers read aloud to their students, and the reading specialists ...... The types of non-electronic devices are picture exchange and manual ...\

[PDF]the Read Aloud America Reading List for 2017 Here is the new Read Aloud America 2017 Reading List of great read aloud books .... All's Fair in Love, War, and High School Rallison, Janette.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

PARCC Reading Test & Answer Key PDF Printable 2019

PARCC Reading practice tests Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 with answer keys

Grade 3 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable 2019

Grade 3 PARCC Reading Answer Key

Grade 4 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable 

Grade 5 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable  


Grade 6 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 7 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 8 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 9 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 10 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 11 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable
Large Print Paper-Based Practice Test

Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 FCAT 2.0 Sample Test Questions with Answer Keys
Mathematics and Reading | The FCAT 2.0 is very similar to the PARCC or PEARSON Mathematics and Reading tests. Using other states EOG test can be a great resource for test preparation.

Grade 3 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 3 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 4 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 4 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 5Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 5 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 6 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 6 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 7 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 8 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 9 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 10 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 7 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 8 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

FCAT 2.0 Test Questions and Answer Key 2019

Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 FCAT 2.0 Sample Test Questions with Answer Keys
Mathematics and Reading | The FCAT 2.0 is very similar to the PARCC or PEARSON Mathematics and Reading tests. Using other states EOG test can be a great resource for test preparation.

Grade 3 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 3 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 4 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 4 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 5Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 5 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 6 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 6 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 7 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 8 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 9 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)

Grade 10 Reading
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 7 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)
Grade 8 Mathematics
Test Book (PDF)
Answer Key Book (PDF)


PARCC Reading practice tests Grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 with answer keys

Grade 3 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable 2019

Grade 3 PARCC Reading Answer Key 

Grade 4 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable 

Grade 5 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable  


Grade 6 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 7 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 8 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 9 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 10 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Grade 11 PARCC Reading Practice Tests with answer keys PDF Printable

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Teaching Students to Listen, Hear and Understand at the Same Time

Top 10 listening strategies to help students build superior academic listening, understanding, and comprehension skills.

Moving students from zombie listening "fake or false listening" to deep introspective academic listening takes direct daily practice and instruction. Most published language arts programs fail our students because they skip daily academic listening and speaking instruction. Oracy: the ability to express oneself fluently, grammatically, and scholastically in speech.

Types of active listening: Listening to understand and comprehend, listening to reflect on feelings of emotional content/context, listening to analyze, listening to critique, evaluate, or judge, listening to sympathize or empathize. 


  1. Model academic and reflective listening using daily think alouds and oracy lessons. Direct metacognition instruction builds superior listening comprehension skills
  2. Actively teach students the purposes, goals, and the 4 main types of academic listening 
  3. Keep lectures short and give students time to reflect, talk, and make connections with new ideas
  4. Teach students good listening etiquette, the art of being present and mindful 
  5. Use "think pair share," student check-ins, and turn and talk/teach before, during, and after a lecture
  6. Students need a clear listening goal and listening  objectives/task to prepare their minds for learning
  7. Front-load lectures with a listening stimulant, students listen more closely when the topic is fascinating, odd, silly, outrageous, absurd, and important to them
  8. Teach students the Socratic method, teach students the art of a Hegelian dialectic
  9. Play listening comprehension games
  10. Keep your expectations high and hold students accountable 
[PDF] SW A Games That Build Listening Skills DONE.pdf - Project AccessBelow are games and activities that can build listening skills. Mime Games. 1. One way to ... Play a mime game or charades to allow students to watch a person's ...

[PDF]50 Quick Play Listening Games.qxd - Cholla Elementary SchoolIn a nutshell, listening skills are critical for communication, ... We hope that 50 Quick-Play ListeningGames will bring an element of fun to learning such an.

[DOC]Listening & Speaking Activities - PDSTDeveloping Oracy Skills: Speaking and Listening within the Classroom ... decrease stress and build confidence in listening and speaking, through game-playing.

[PDF]Games for the development of the listening skill APPLICATION OF ...some practical listening exercises and a questionnaire with students opinions in .... informal atmosphere of game play, are less self-conscious and therefore more apt to ...... http://www.ub.edu/ice/portaling/eduling/cat/n_1/cenoz-article-n1.pdf.

[PDF]The use of games in the language classroom - Skemman looks at the four language skill areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking and it gives ..... classroom, and what better way to be active than by playing games (Steve Sugar.1998.p. 3). .... have is decreased social skills because, according to Piaget, ...... slóð:

[PDF]TOP 10 ESL Speaking Activities 1. Describing Something Guessing ...Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults on Amazon. 1. ... Skills: Speaking/listening/reading ... For beginners, it's best to play after you've taught them the.

(PDF) A Think-Aloud Study: Listening Comprehension Strategies ...
A_Think-Aloud_Study_Listening_Compre...
were obtained through the method of think aloud, which is one of the utmost ... Keywords: think-aloud, listening, comprehension, strategy, primary school students .... For this purpose, firstly, as of the academic year 2016-2017, a school that ..... students were more likely to usea reading model (the deduction ...

[PDF]Types of listeningHere are six types of listening, starting with basic discrimination of sounds and ... Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the ...

[PDF]Different Types of Listening - ECEZero2Three: Dana's Child Health ... INFORMATIVELISTENING. Where your aim is to concentrate on the message being given. APPRECIATIVE LISTENING. CRITICAL LISTENING. DISCRIMINATIVE LISTENING. EMPATHIC LISTENING. ACTIVITY 3.1: SHARING EXPERIENCES.

[PDF]Listening Effectively
listening skills, listening is one of the most neglected. Our lack of attention to .... To a certain extent, this type of listening is important in the ...