➡️18. HF2: Application Handbook (1st grade to 3rd grade)

Fundamental Skills 2

Introduction

The Fundamental Skills for Children is a cognitive analysis of the fundamental skills that influence learning for students from 1st to 3rd grade of primary school (6, 7 and 8 years old).

The test Fundamental Skills for Children (2) should only be administered at school, as it requires close supervision by the test administrator and prior preparation of the test taker. Please refer to the following manual for general specifications on the application process.

• General manual for the application of tests in the school

If you are administering the test for the first time, please read the following instructions carefully.

General test considerations

Objective: To measure cognitive skills that condition fundamental learning.

Benefits:

• To suggest appropriate methodologies that lead to the development and strengthening of logical-verbal, logical-mathematical reasoning skills and basic reading.

• To suggest specific recommendations to parents according to their child's results in each area of work.

• Suggest recommendations to the school to enrich or remedy skills within the academic curriculum.

Aimed at students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade.

Duration: 30-45 min.

Specific materials and resources:

1. Headphones may be required in the case of students who do not yet have optimal reading development.

2. For proper application, it is recommended the test be applied in small groups of 3-4 students at a time.

3. If the test is administered to the whole group at the same time, a ratio of supervisors per student is recommended, considering the information in the table below. It is also recommended to seat the learners strategically so that the supervisors can adequately monitor and assist the group they are assigned to. For example, if there are students with certain cognitive difficulties in the group, it is advisable to seat them close to each other in order to assist them together.

Specific considerations on the application

1. It is recommended to project the test on a large screen using the demo user (a.k.a. Pepe pruebas), in order to explain step by step instructions and examples.

2. Express instructions for each challenge should be given to the students before they perform them.

3. The applicator must ensure that these instructions are fully understood.

4. In this manual there is a script with the list of challenges and suggestions for their correct explanation to the students.

5. There is an icon on the instructions; by clicking on it, an audio will be played with the sentence that accompanies it.

6. The audio option is optional; it will be used for those students who may still have very limited reading or comprehension difficulties. If necessary, headphones/earphones can be used, preferably headphones.

7. Younger learners should be helped to select themselves from the list on the platform. Once this step has been done, but without starting the test, these indications should be given:

• You are going to take a test that allows the school to know the level of your intellectual abilities. (You can explain with the simile of "the tools you use to learn", for example...).

• If you have any doubts, you can ask by raising your hand.

• Some challenges will be so difficult that you may not be able to answer them; this is normal, so there is no need to worry. The important thing is that you make an effort to do your best.

• It is very important to maintain an atmosphere of respect and concentration. For this, it is essential to be quiet in the classroom and to raise your hand if you want to ask any questions to the teacher.

• When you finish, you must remain silent until the rest of your classmates have finished so as not to interrupt their concentration.

8. At all times it will be important to follow the instructions given in the test rigorously.

At the beginning of the test…

As well as in the instructions to carry out each of the challenges:

9. The examples of each challenge should be done together with the students, making sure that they have understood what the challenge is about. Only after this, the students will proceed to complete the challenge independently. The instructions for each challenge are explained here below.

Challenge 1: CUM1

Instructions: "Find the picture that corresponds to the word. For example, the word dog corresponds to the picture of a dog".

Then, after checking that they have understood, ask them to click on "start".

Challenge 2: CUM2

Challenge 3: CRM1

Instruction: "You have to guess what happens between picture 1 and picture 2. For example, in 1 there is a baby and in 2 there is a man. What happened? In the process the baby became a boy".

Challenge 4: CRM2

Instruction: "Look at the pictures in blue. Between these pictures there is a relationship. Man is to home as bird is to nest. Find the picture that is related in the same way as in the first two pictures. Look carefully at the options.

Challenge 5: CRM3

Instruction: "Now, instead of pictures you are going to find a pair of words. These words have a special relationship.

Challenge 6: CSM

In this case it would be useful to make a representation of the above explanation on a blackboard/whiteboard by effectively drawing the elements in play.

Challenge 7: CSS

Instruction: "In this exercise you have to follow the sequence. To do this, you have to find the next number that follows the rule".

Challenge 8: CUF

Instruction: "The figures you are about to see are incomplete. Try to recognise them and match them with the corresponding word".

Challenge 9: EUF

Instruction: "Find the figure that is exactly the same as the one shown in the model".

Challenge 10: NTS

Instruction: "Find the word and separate it correctly by clicking on the box at the beginning and at the end of each word".

10. Next, students will start each challenge individually by confirming their details and clicking on "start".

• It is necessary to supervise the students in order to ensure silence and provide support if needed.

• The teacher or person in charge of the application should expect that, although there is an average duration, as there is no time limit, some students will finish more quickly than others. Anticipate what they should do once they have finished, so that the noise does not cause interruptions or difficulty in concentration for those students who have not finished.

11. The results will be processed immediately and are ready for review. Users with the following assigned profiles within the platform will be able to log in to consult them: director, counsellor and teacher.