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GLAT-TASTIC!

INFORMATION CENTRE

Find answers to your questions about the GLAT. When is the GLAT? What is the GLAT? How many subjects will my child take at their grade level? What are the time allotments for the exams? How can I assist my child to prepare at home for the GLAT? Are there any particular tips for each subject?

WHAT IS THE GLAT?

WHAT IS THE GLAT? Grade Level Assessment Test National Examination produced by the Testing and Evaluation Section of The Ministry of Education Grades 3 and 6 are the focus groups for the examination

Provides a marker for where the students are academically in their grade level.

Can be prepared for. A week of examinations held in May-June

Students can only complete sections that students are currently working on if they are late to an exam.

Any absentee students will not be able to sit the exam

Do not send students to school if they are sick.

GLAT PREPARATION

Students have been preparing all year for their GLAT examinations. Preparation has come in the form of receiving the daily curriculum in class, exposure and completion of GLAT practice exercise along with additional GLAT classes. With continued practice at home and at school, our students have performed extremely well on the GLAT examinations.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Time Management

Early Arrival

It is important to be on time for the examination. Students need to be in school at least by 7:30am so that they can get settled in their class groups, sign the attendance registers, participate in the morning devotions and await the instructions for the examinations to begin.

Students Who Are Late

If students enter the examination after it has started, they will not be allowed to have any additional time.

Timing and Pacing

Each exam has its own time limits. Students are asked to adhere to those limits. There will be no additional time for students who do not complete the exam. It is therefore important for students to pace themselves and ensure that they complete all of the examination in the allotted time provided. In school assessments and MOCK examinations have prepared the students for pacing themselves during examinations.

ALLOTED TIMES FOR EXAMS

GRADE THREE EXAMINATIONS

Mathematics

Concepts 30 minutes

Computation 30 minutes

Application 1 hour

Writing skills 40 minutes

Reading Comprehension 1 hour

Listening Comprehension 1 hour

Language Skills 40 minutes

GRADE SIX EXAMINATIONS

Mathematics
Concepts 30 minutes
Computation 30 minutes
Application 1 hour
Writing 40 minutes
Reading Comprehension 1 hour 30 minutes
Listening Comprehension 1 hour
Science Multiple Choice 50 minutes
Science Structured Questions 50 minutes
Social Studies Multiple Choice 50 minutes
Social Studies Structured Questions1 hour 30 minutes

READING COMPREHENSION GRADES 3 and 6

What To Expect on the Grade Three Reading Comprehension Examination

4 passages

Short answer

Multiple choice

Fill in the blanks

Passages, poems, calendars, schedules

Application of reading skills

Direct comprehension from the text.

Points awarded per question

What to Expect From the Grade Six Reading Comprehension Examination

5 passages

Multiple choice

Fill in the blanks

Passages, poems, calendars, schedules,

Application of reading skills

Direct comprehension from the text.

1 hour and 30 minutes

Points awarded per question

It is important to know the various reading skills and be able to respond to questions which require the application of these skills.

Theme
Summarize
Cause and Effect
Compare and contrast
Author’s Purpose
Sequencing
Main Idea
Inferences
Drawing Conclusions
Story Elements

TIPS FOR BEST PERFORMANCES IN THE READING COMPREHENSION EXAMINATION

Read the questions carefully. Understand what is being asked.
Do not begin answering until the questions have been read carefully.
Look at the points awarded for each question. Be prepared to provide the details required to achieve the marks for each question.
Use evidence from the text to answer questions.
Answer in complete sentences if the question format requires this.
In multiple choice questions, select only ONE appropriate response unless the question indicates that additional selections can be made.
Pacing and timing are important in order to complete the examination. Each student should complete the exam at least 10 minutes before the examination is concluded and spend the remaining ten minutes checking over their work.
PINKY TEST-Check that all of the questions have been answered. Use the pinky finger to run down each page and ensure that all of the questions have an appropriate answer.

WRITING GRADES 3 and 6

GRADE THREE WRITING EXPECTATIONS

3 paragraphs-40 minutes

Narrative, descriptive, persuasive

Well developed paragraphs

Topic sentence

Grammar, spelling punctuation

Remaining on topic

Concluding essay

Students are expected to address a prompt in 40 minutes. The prompt can be either a descriptive or narrative prompt for Grade 3 in addition to expository and persuasive for Grade 6. Link back to the homepage in order to view more specific writing prompts to support practice activities. Writing Support

EXPECTATIONS FOR WRITING FOR GRADE SIX.

5 paragraphs-40 minutes

Inclusion of topic sentence

Strong development of topic

Narrative, descriptive, persuasive

Grammar, spelling, punctuation

Conclusion brings essay together

Following the requirements of the prompt

TOP PERFORMANCES IN WRITING NORMALLY REFLECT THE FOLLOWING:

Writing that has a sequential flow-a beginning, middle and end
Topic sentences which are lively and interesting and engage the reader from the very beginning.
Descriptive details-writing that includes descriptive details like the color, shape, size, texture and sound of things.
The use of vigorous verbs which combine with adjectives to make interesting writing.
The use of dialogue if it ties in with the expectations of the prompt.
An essay that remains on topic-it is important to remain on topic throughout the essay.
Use of transition words which connect thoughts, sentences and paragraphs.
Good strong use of spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation.
A CONCLUSION- it is so important for all of the thoughts in the writing to be summed up in a final paragraph.
Students have taken the time to go back and read over what they have written to ensure that any mistakes have been avoided.

MATHEMATICS GRADES 3 and 6

The GLAT Mathematics examinations for Grades 3 and 6 are comprised of three sections which are taken over a series of days. The three sections are Concepts, Computation and Application. Each Grade level has distributed its own topics for review for the GLAT examination. Link up to the Homepage for more Mathematics support. Fluency In Mathematics

A few examples of:

CONCEPTS OF NUMBER ›

Patterns, Missing Numbers ›

Greater Than & Less Than ›

Shapes, Place Value ›

Rounding ,

Roman Numerals ›

Ordinal Words,

Counting Money,

Fractions

COMPUTATION Students MUST know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide in order to do well in this area. It is important that students know their multiplication tables. ›

Knowing when to regroup is of great importance.

APPLICATION Students must use their critical thinking skills to solve word problems.

Application involves: word problems, graphs, shopping lists, calendars.

Key words are important in helping students to decide which operation is needed to solve the problem.

ALLOTTED TIME FOR MATHEMATICS EXAMINATION IN BOTH GRADE LEVELS

Mathematics

Concepts 30 minutes

Computation 30 minutes

Application 1 hour

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCES IN THE GLAT EXAMINATIONS

Read all of the questions carefully. Do not rush. Think about what is being asked. Then answer the question.
Know and understand mathematics terms and vocabulary

Know Your Math Terms:

Addend (3+5)

Sum-the difference to an addition problem

Difference

Factor

Product

Divisor

Dividend

Quotient

Show all working out. This is an important step for the marker to see. Points can be gained by showing your thought process as you worked on a problem.
Look at how many points a problem is worth.
Write your digits carefully and neatly. The marker will not know how you write. Form your digits properly.
Be able to recall your multiplication tables quickly and accurately.
Know your number bonds.
Check your work over at the end.

LANGUAGE SKILLS GRADE 3

TIME ALLOTTED FOR THE LANGUAGE SKILLS 40 MINUTES

TYPICAL CONCEPTS IN LANGUAGE SKILLS

Types of Sentences (Begin with a capital letter and use the correct end mark for each type of sentence)

Word Order (Arranging words in the correct order to make a complete sentence)

Parts of Speech (nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives)

Syllabication (by number and using a hyphen [-] to divide into syllables) e.g. dislike = 2 syllables, dis-like)

Homonyms/ Homophones

Synonyms

Antonyms

Subject-Verb Agreement (e.g. He was playing, We were playing)

Possessive Nouns (E.g. Boy’s, James’)

Alphabetical Order

Spelling (Circle the word spelt correctly out of a set of words)

Abbreviations

Plurals

Letter Sounds (Circle the word that has the same sound as given words)b\ Beginning Middle and Ending sounds

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE IN LANGUAGE SKILLS

1.Read the questions carefully.

2.Be sure to bubble in only ONE answer if the format is multiple choice.

3. Read over the answers selected and be sure that the directions were read carefully.

4. Answer ALL of the questions.

SCIENCE AND SOCIALSTUDIES GRADE 6

There are two papers in the Science and Social Studies GLAT examinations. It is very important for students to spend as much time reviewing the content of each subject area from Grades 4-6.

TIME ALLOTED FOR THE SCIENCE EXAMINATIONS-Only Grade 6 takes a Science examination.

PAPER ONE MUTLPLE CHOICE 50 MINUTES

PAPER TWO STRUCTURED QUESTIONS 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

Multiple Choice Questions

Read the questions carefully
Start to eliminate answers
Bubble in clearly when the correct answer is selected
It may come down to two choices-select the one that is most likely correct.

SOCIAL STUDIES PAPER ONE-MULTIPLE CHOICE

Read the questions carefully
Be prepared to identify maps either of The Bahamas or the World Map even if they are unlabelled.
Read the instructions on each question carefully
Learn the dates and events of historical events and/or information about significant persons in history.
Look at the pictures/maps and use these and the writing on them to answer questions

SOCIAL STUDIES PAPER TWO-STRUCTURED QUESTIONS

WHAT TO EXPECT

2 questions from Grade 6 content

1 mixed topic question from various grade levels

1 question from Grade 4

Read the directions carefully
Understand what the question is asking before responding
Support explanations and opinions with dates, events and specific details.
Read directional instructions very carefully e.g. from Nassau to Abaco

SCIENCE PAPER ONE MULTIPLE CHOICE-50 MINUTES

SCIENCE PAPER TWO-STRUCTURED QUESTIONS 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES

LISTENING SKILLS Grades 3 and 6

ALLOTTED TIME FOR LISTENING SKILLS FOR GRADES 3 AND 6 1 HOUR

Passages are read twice.

Questions read aloud once

Students answer questions and then the process is repeated.

Full phrases from listening passages must be written down.

One word answers will receive less points.

Students must listen attentively and complete sections –under time limit for each section

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE ON THE GLAT

Listen attentively to the speaker.
Focus on the speaker
Think about what is being read. Try to visualize it.
Focus on answering in complete sentences if that is what is required.
Select ONE or TWO answers if the questions are in a multiple choice format.
Try to include as much of what the speaker read in the passage in your answer.
DO THE PINKY TEST-Run your pinky finger down each page of the exam in order to be sure that you have answered ALL of the questions.