Marion Elementary School students started Kansas Assessments last week and will continue through April 15, said Rod Garman, principal.
?All students in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade will be taking assessments in both reading and math,? he said. ?Fourth graders will also be assessed in science, and fifth graders will take a writing assessment.?
The next tests are March 10-12 for third-grade students in reading and math.
Sixth-graders will take reading and math assessments March 24-26.
Fifth-grade students take their assessments March 31 and April 1-2.
Fourth graders test in math and reading April 7-9 and in science April 15.
?Our morning assemblies turn into mini pep rallies to motivate, encourage and support our students,? Garman said.
The school even has a theme song for the state assessments. It is ?I Like to Move It? from the motion picture ?Madagascar? because, Garman said, the students like to keep moving assessment scores upward.
?Parents can help prepare their children to be successful on these important tests by making certain they get plenty of sleep, eat a good breakfast and encourage them to do their best,? Garman said.
He also suggested parents can help by encouraging their children to go to bed early the night before testing, practicing math facts together, having a good breakfast, making a special lunch, adding a note of encouragement in the back pack and driving their child to school instead of him or her taking the bus.