Mrs. Hartwell is preparing her class to take the Big Test. Knowing they have studied and are well-prepared, she helps the students practice how to sit quietly, fill in the bubbles, and follow the directions. She even instructs them on proper morning-of-the-test nutrition. As her students grow increasingly anxious about the Big Test, Mrs. Hartwell realizes she has to teach the most valuable test-taking skill of all- learning to relax!
Mrs. Hartwell is back (First Year Letters, 2003, etc.) in a gentle
satire on teaching to the test. It's a Monday at the end of a
really great school year. The kids have learned a lot and had fun
along the way, but it's time now for the dreaded standardized test.
But first, they need to learn how to show what they know. On
Monday, they practice sitting still. Tuesday's lesson is on
bubble-filling, and Wednesday finds the class taking a timed
practice test. Throughout, Mrs. Hartwell finds that she is writing
a lot of passes to the nurse's office-the students can't take the
pressure. And so on Thursday, Mrs. Hartwell tosses her lesson plans
and leads her nerved-up class to the library for a little
relaxation. Danneberg's tongue-in-cheek humor is definitely in
evidence as she describes the rigors of getting ready for a
standardized test and the maladies that arise in anxiety-ridden
students. Love's ink-and-dye artwork captures the varied
expressions and body language of a classroom full of students, from
a finger-down-the-throat gesture of disgust to the pride on their
faces at having learned so much. Once they stop laughing at the
spot-on depiction of standardized testing, teachers should take a
page from Mrs. Hartwell's book.
--Kirkus Reviews Mrs. Hartwell's students have been working hard
all year, but they are not sure they can deal with the Big Test.
The week before it is slated, their teacher tells them they have
just a few more things to learn. They need to know how to sit still
for long periods of time, how to fill in the bubbles on the answer
sheet, and how to follow directions. At each turn, the kids worry
and get headaches, stomachaches, and other maladies. On Thursday,
Mrs. Hartwell lines up her class and marches them down the hall to
the library. The sign on the door says, "Library Closed: Students
Testing." But inside it's a test party. The students get to play
and relax and eat. This works so well that no one is sick anymore
and they breeze through the actual Big Test on Friday. The
illustrations, done in ink and transparent dyes on watercolor
paper, are priceless. The children's faces clearly express all the
agony that the situation requires. The youngsters appear to be
about second or third graders. This title will be popular in school
and public libraries.
--School Library Journal Books about school anxiety, especially the
first day of school, abound, but this take is refreshing for its
unusual focus on testing-related anxiety. After Mrs. Hartwell
explains that they "have to know how to show what you know," the
class tackles one skill daily: sitting still and working
individually, reading all the directions, filling in answer
bubbles, and more. The multicultural kids' facial
expression--perplexed, worried, determined, and relieved once the
test is over--aptly convey their experience. Standardized testing
is an accepted reality in most public schools; this portrayal
effectively reassures students that anxiety and challenges are
normal and common, and can be overcome.
--Booklist
Mrs. Hartwell is back (First Year Letters, 2003, etc.) in a gentle satire on teaching to the test.
It's a Monday at the end of a really great school year. The kids
have learned a lot and had fun along the way, but it's time now for
the dreaded standardized test. But first, they need to learn how to
show what they know. On Monday, they practice sitting still.
Tuesday's lesson is on bubble-filling, and Wednesday finds the
class taking a timed practice test. Throughout, Mrs. Hartwell finds
that she is writing a lot of passes to the nurse's office-the
students can't take the pressure. And so on Thursday, Mrs. Hartwell
tosses her lesson plans and leads her nerved-up class to the
library for a little relaxation. Danneberg's tongue-in-cheek humor
is definitely in evidence as she describes the rigors of getting
ready for a standardized test and the maladies that arise in
anxiety-ridden students. Love's ink-and-dye artwork captures the
varied expressions and body language of a classroom full of
students, from a finger-down-the-throat gesture of disgust to the
pride on their faces at having learned so much. Once they stop
laughing at the spot-on depiction of standardized testing, teachers
should take a page from Mrs. Hartwell's book.
--Kirkus Reviews Mrs. Hartwell's students have been working
hard all year, but they are not sure they can deal with the Big
Test. The week before it is slated, their teacher tells them they
have just a few more things to learn. They need to know how to sit
still for long periods of time, how to fill in the bubbles on the
answer sheet, and how to follow directions. At each turn, the kids
worry and get headaches, stomachaches, and other maladies. On
Thursday, Mrs. Hartwell lines up her class and marches them down
the hall to the library. The sign on the door says, "Library
Closed: Students Testing." But inside it's a test party. The
students get to play and relax and eat. This works so well that no
one is sick anymore and they breeze through the actual Big Test on
Friday. The illustrations, done in ink and transparent dyes on
watercolor paper, are priceless. The children's faces clearly
express all the agony that the situation requires. The youngsters
appear to be about second or third graders. This title will be
popular in school and public libraries.
--School Library Journal Books about school anxiety,
especially the first day of school, abound, but this take is
refreshing for its unusual focus on testing-related anxiety. After
Mrs. Hartwell explains that they "have to know how to
show what you know," the class tackles one skill
daily: sitting still and working individually, reading all the
directions, filling in answer bubbles, and more. The multicultural
kids' facial expression--perplexed, worried, determined, and
relieved once the test is over--aptly convey their experience.
Standardized testing is an accepted reality in most public schools;
this portrayal effectively reassures students that anxiety and
challenges are normal and common, and can be overcome.
--Booklist
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