New Integrated Algebra Questions and Correlations!

Posted on May 25, 2013 by newsletter

The Math Content Team has been busy during the month of May! We have completed a couple of projects that we think you will find beneficial. Let us know what you think:

Integrated Algebra January 2013 Regents Exam has been published.
We cross-listed Elementary Science content that aligns to the Common Core standards in the Measurement and Data strand.
We added constructed response questions for Systems of Equations and Inequalities that are suitable for Integrated Algebra or Algebra 2/Trig.
We designated Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy levels for our Intermediate Mathematics course. This project spanned approximately 3,300 questions.
We added constructed response questions at the 5^th grade level. The standards targeted included 5.MD.1, 5.NBT.1, 5.NBT.5, and 5.NBT.6.

New Social Studies Multiple Choice and DBQ Questions

Posted on May 24, 2013 by newsletter

The January 2013 NYS Regents exam in Global History & Geography is now available! You can search individual questions (be sure to display newest questions first as shown below) or find the complete exam in Public Assignments.

In addition, the Social Studies Content Team has been hard at work updating our DBQ database. The United States History & Government DBQ sets from the following NYS Regents exams are all currently available:

January 2012 – Differences between the North and the South
June 2012 – Movements
August 2012 – Actions of the Federal Government Limiting Civil Liberties
January 2013 – Key Events of the 1950s

Use the DBQ tab to look at the US History sets; plus don’t forget that the individual documents and question(s) can be added to any assignment by searching for Constructed Response questions on the Question Criteria page.

Good luck to everyone working towards those end of the year exams! Cheers to June!

Great Gatsby Update: Constructed Response Questions

Posted on May 10, 2013 by castlelearning

Just in time for the movie premiere, this weekend the English Content Team will release constructed response questions for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless classic The Great Gatsby.

Nearly 200 multiple choice and constructed response questions await your selection in the English Language Arts course under the “Novel” topic, subtopic “The Great Gatsby”.

Castle Learning literature sets are designed to supplement the teaching of literary works and to assess comprehension and knowledge.

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Constructed Response Questions for Speak

Posted on May 9, 2013 by castlelearning

Constructed response questions and over 200 multiple choice questions are available for the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

The constructed response questions raise the bar for students, asking them more rigorous questions that force them to think and refer back to the text. Many of the constructed response questions build upon ideas mentioned in the multiple-choice questions and ask students to elaborate and expand these ideas.

All of these questions are aligned to the Common Core English Standards and correlated to both Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.

To include these questions in an assignment, include multiple choice and/or constructed response type questions on the Question Criteria Page filter, then select to filter by Topic. Speak questions are located in the “Novel” topic under the subtopic “Speak”.

Create a “mock” Regents Exam

Posted on May 8, 2013 by castlelearning

The January 2013 NYS Regents Exam is now live and located in the Public Assignments section in the course: English (HS).

With the recent enhancements to Castle Learning, teachers can view and administer all parts of the exam in one assignment. Now teachers can include multiple choice, constructed response, multiple reading sets, and even listening selections all in the same assignment. And that means teachers can use Castle Learning to administer a true “mock” NYS Regents exam.

To import the January 2013 NYS Regents Exam into your assignment list:

Click Assignments from the Teacher Center
Click Import From Public Assignment on the Assignments Page
Click the blue plus sign to expand English (HS)
Click the blue plus sign to expand Castle Assignments
Click the blue plus sign to expand New York
The assignment name is “NYS Regents-January 2013″
Click the name of the of the assignment to view; check the box to select for import
When you’re ready, click Import at the top left of the page

The English Curriculum Team plans to adjust the former Regents-style public assignments to the new format in the future.

Easily Display Newest Questions First

Posted on May 7, 2013 by castlelearning

Have you ever wanted to sort available questions so that you can see the newest additions to Castle Learning’s question database right away? Good news…you can!

Displaying the newest questions first is easy! Check the box labeled “Display newest questions first” on the Browse Questions page, and you’re all set!

Castle Learning Customer Support is ready and happy to help with any questions you have. You can email them, or call (800) 345-7606 ext. 1. Happy searching!

Civics and Economics Question Additions & NC Civics and Economics Essential Standards Alignment

Posted on April 27, 2013 by newsletter

The Social Studies Content Team added new high school level multiple choice questions to the Government & Citizenship and Economics areas of the Social Studies course topic tree. The questions were written with North Carolina schools in mind, but there are many new questions that are broad enough for use in all states.

The new questions can be found in the sections featuring Citizenship Knowledge, United States Government, Macroeconomics, Economics and the Government, and Global Economics.

To find the newest questions, search by Levels (J,K,L) and choose the topic you would like to view. After clicking the “Show Choices and Show me questions” button, choose the “Last” link on the top left.

In addition, all new questions, along with existing questions, have been aligned to the North Carolina Civics and Economics Essential Standards. To find these, search using the Standards filter on the Question Criteria page as shown below.

All Social Studies Questions Now with Bloom’s & Webb’s Correlation

Posted on April 27, 2013 by newsletter

The Castle Learning Social Studies Content Team is pleased to announce the completion of: Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Levels Correlation Project.

Each question is correlated to:

Bloom’s Cognitive Level
Bloom’s Knowledge Level
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Level

Teachers can search for Multiple Choice, Fill-in-the-blank and/or Constructed Response questions correlated to Bloom’s and Webb’s by clicking on the Additional Criteria filter box on the Question Criteria page.

When you get to the Additional Criteria, open the ‘Attributes Filter’ and choose the level(s) of questions you would like to review.

HELPFUL HINT: Make sure all the available Tags are selected for a more thorough search.

In addition, remember that Castle Learning reports will show your students’ success rates on each level included in your assignment, whether you searched for them specifically or not.