Based on the Common Core State Standards, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)is the District of Columbia’s annual assessment of Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA).  Each spring, students from grade 3 to grade 8 and high school take state assessments in ELA and Mathematics. The assessments measure the ability to understand complex texts, mathematics problem-solving, and evidence based critical writing skills. Refer to some practice papers for more comprehensive understanding. PARCC Test Format The ELA part of the test has 2 units and the Mat ..read more

Without an iota of doubt, Robotics classes can definitely spark the creativity and the necessary dopamine reward to build things. It is one of the unique STEM areas that has an immediate gratification (at least while building the smaller robots) as you keep building, it has plenty to offer in terms of learning for children, and it gives immense gratification and feel good that he or she has built something that can be used with real applicative daily purpose that one can touch and feel and everyone around them can also see it. That provides tremendous motivation for kids to build things, and t ..read more

In this post, we will discuss the various assessment programs in the state of Ohio. This includes programs for Kindergarten Readiness to assessments for school performance. These various assessments are categorized into district assessments, state assessments, and national assessments.  District Assessments NWEA MAP – a growth test designed to measure academic growth and progress of K-12 students in core subject areas. To learn in detail, go to NWEA MAP Test for K-12l. The SAT Suite – A college admission test for juniors. Ohio students are familiar with the SAT as they take PSAT/NMSQT. Al ..read more

This post covers all types of questions in all three batteries for CogAT – Grade 3-5. To know more about the CogAT test, read our post on everything about the CogAT test. The questions are not categorized into batteries. If you’re looking for battery-wise tests, you can check our other posts on battery-wise tests. Question 1: proficient,   skillful,    artsy,    ? A. dilapidated   B. orderly    C. dexterous    D. allied    E. logically Question 2: master  —>   slave   :    female —>   ? A. fashion ..read more

Let’s start the post with the “3n+1” problem. Introducing the “3n+1” Problem Take a number,  If it is an even number, divide it by 2 If it is an odd number, multiply it by 3 and add 1 Do the above steps for any number that you randomly choose repeatedly and you will end up at ‘1’. For example: take 12 as a chosen number Since it is even, divide by 2 -> 6 Since it is even, divide by 2 -> 3 Since it is odd, multiply by 3 and add 1 -> 10 Divide by 2 -> 5 Multiply by 3 and add 1 -> 16 Divide by 2 -> 8 Divide by 2 -> 4 Divide by 2 -> 2 Divide by 2 -> 1 For exampl ..read more

If you haven’t heard yet, Devin is an attempted world’s first AI software engineer that writes code by itself. It can understand what you want to make, write code for that requirement, test it, debug it, and fix the code all by itself. It is a software engineered by the company Cognition Labs. Devin will definitely change how the software development cycle works in typical products and services companies. How does Devin work? Devin has a huge repository of algorithms and best practices in computer science. Given a large task, it breaks down into smaller problems that it can deal with and has r ..read more

Microbit is used in school computer science curriculums across the world. Children create fun and interactive creations and take them home and build more. In simple terms, the microbit has a bunch of sensors, microphone, 25 leds arranged in a 5×5 grid, holes for banana plugs, and buttons to control the program for various input and output. In this post, we cover three more simple to code programs that kids can write using the microbit and a couple of input/output sensors. Dice: The objective of this program is to make the microbit behave like a dice. Shake the microbit and you get a number bet ..read more

It is one of the most commonly used formulae in mathematics. We all know that the are of a circle is pi*r^2.But, why is it pi*r^2? Imagine a circle with multiple spokes with each spoke length being ‘r’, and the distance between the spokes is ‘x’. It becomes a tiny triangle with ‘r’ as the height and ‘x’ as the base. In that case, the area of that small triangle will be ½*x*r = rx/2 (shown below) Now, imagine how many such tiny triangles will be there, the base is of length ‘x’ and is part of the circumference 2*pi*r. So, the number of triangles = number of bases that cover 2*pi*r = 2*pi*r/x S ..read more

Look around, and you will see tons of circular objects. The simple reason is they are symmetric, proportionate, and the most easy to handle. Circular objects can be moved from one place to another just by rolling. But, why is it that a circle is round and why are circular or round objects easy to roll around compared to other shapes? Why are wheels round in shape? The answer lies in the subject of mathematics – geometry. When you look at an equilateral triangle, the internal angle is 60 degrees and the external angle is 120 degrees. When you look at a square the internal angle is 90 degrees an ..read more

The Pennsylvania Department of Education launched the PSSAs (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) in 1992. The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test is an integral part of the Pennsylvania state education system. The results from this test are useful to determine the child’s progress in important academic areas such as reading, math, and science. Furthermore, the PSSA test is required by state law and is an important metric to measure the effectiveness of the school district in comparison to other subject based grade level standards. All students from public schools, charte ..read more