# FlyingMinds — Iowa Assessments / ITBS Test Prep

Interactive, self-grading practice tests for the Iowa Assessments and ITBS, built in the
FlyingMinds style with the "Fred" coaching model. Lives on the **`Iowa`** branch.

## Principles
- **Learn first, then practice.** Every test opens with a *Learn* tab that teaches the
  strategy (e.g. the Swap Test for synonyms, context-clue types, prefixes/suffixes) before
  any questions appear.
- **Original content.** Questions are written by FlyingMinds in the Iowa/ITBS *style* and
  *difficulty*, then upgraded for reasoning. They are **not** copied from Testing Mom or any
  publisher — this keeps us clear of copyright.
- **Upgraded quality.** Items push for *why*, not just recall: every answer (right or wrong)
  gets a Fred explanation, and the bank includes context clues, word parts, shades of meaning,
  and analogies that the source practice sets do not teach explicitly.

## How a test is built
Each test is a single self-contained HTML file that reuses the existing FlyingMinds unit
engine (CSS + JavaScript from the rich-lessons units):
- Self-grading MCQs via `.mcq` + `data-correct` / `data-correct-msg` / `data-wrong-msg`.
- Scored writing via `.ask-fred` (length, target vocabulary, mechanics).
- Progress stars + completion modal, persisted to `localStorage`.
- Read-aloud (Web Speech) and select-to-define dictionary, inherited from the engine.

Per-test config edited in the script block: `LESSON_ID`, `TOTAL_MCQ`, `TOTAL_WRITING`,
`SECTIONS` (the tab list), and the per-tab score boxes.

## Coverage plan
| Grade | Vocabulary | Language | Reading Comp | Math |
|------:|:---------:|:--------:|:------------:|:----:|
| 3 | ✅ 134 | ✅ 132 | ✅ 90 | ✅ 133 |

**Grade 3 is complete across all 7 subjects:** Vocabulary (134), Language (132), Reading (90), Math (133), **Science (68)**, **Social Studies (68)**, **Sources of Information (56)** — every test verified (balanced answers, headless-graded, 0 JS errors). Source PDFs in `_source/` (gitignored). Shared build tooling in `_build/_shared/` (fmtest.py, buildgen.py).

**Grade 4 (Math/Science/Social Studies) and Grade 5 (Math/Science/Social Studies) are built and verified:**

| Grade | Math | Science | Social Studies |
|------:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 4 | ✅ 88 | ✅ 62 | ✅ 52 |
| 5 | ✅ 78 | ✅ 52 | ✅ 56 |

All math answers Python-verified; all tests headless-graded with balanced answers and 0 JS errors.

**Grades 3, 4, and 5 are COMPLETE across all subjects — 19 tests, ~1,860 questions, all verified.**

| Grade | Subjects |
|------:|:---------|
| 3 | Vocabulary (134), Language (157), Reading (90), Math (143), Science (68), Social Studies (68), Sources of Information (56) |
| 4 | Vocabulary (102), Language (133), Reading (90), Math (98), Science (62), Social Studies (52) |
| 5 | Vocabulary (100), Language (145), Reading (90), Math (88), Science (52), Social Studies (56) |

Engine teaches (coach + retry-until-correct); answers balanced A/B/C/D in groups of four (no section clusters on one letter); reading is all public-domain. **All three grades' Language tests** now carry authentic Iowa-format subtests (Spelling/Capitalization/Punctuation find-the-error with "No mistakes," and Written Expression revision), and **all three Math tests** include an Iowa-format Computation section where one choice is "N — not given" (answers verified at build time, choice order preserved).

**Grade 6 is COMPLETE across all six subjects:**

| Grade | Vocabulary | Language | Reading | Math | Science | Social Studies |
|------:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 6 | ✅ 100 | ✅ 157 | ✅ 90 | ✅ 98 | ✅ 70 | ✅ 66 |

Grade 6 Reading uses public-domain texts (Maupassant's "The Necklace," Dickens's *A Christmas Carol*, Defoe's *Robinson Crusoe*, Aesop, and poems by Tennyson, Wordsworth, and Longfellow). Grade 6 Math carries the Iowa Computation ("mark N if not given") section with arithmetic verified at build time. Grade 6 Social Studies covers the ancient world (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome) plus world geography, economics, and government. All headless-graded, balanced A/B/C/D, 0 JS errors.

**Grades 7 and 8 are COMPLETE across all six subjects:**

| Grade | Vocabulary | Language | Reading | Math | Science | Social Studies |
|------:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 7 | ✅ 100 | ✅ 169 | ✅ 90 | ✅ 92 | ✅ 62 | ✅ 58 |
| 8 | ✅ 100 | ✅ 181 | ✅ 90 | ✅ 80 | ✅ 68 | ✅ 52 |

Grade 8 Reading uses the hardest public-domain texts (Brontë's *Jane Eyre*, O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief," London's "To Build a Fire," Aesop, and poems by Shakespeare, Shelley, and Whitman). Grade 8 Math covers the gateway-to-algebra topics (exponents, scientific notation, slope, systems, functions, the Pythagorean theorem, 3-D volume) with the Iowa Computation section; Social Studies covers U.S. history from the Revolution through the Civil War.

## 🎉 The FlyingMinds Iowa suite is COMPLETE — grades 3–8, all six subjects (37 tests)

Every test: learn-first, Fred coaches with retry-until-correct, answers balanced A/B/C/D, public-domain reading, Iowa-format item types, headless-graded full marks with 0 JS errors, "built by FlyingMinds" attribution, and the copyright footer.
| 4–6 | planned | planned | planned | — |
| 7 | — | planned | planned | — |
| 8 | — | planned | planned | planned |

Source structure was studied from the Testing Mom practice PDFs; all delivered items are original.