Tis the Season for Testing!

We are currently in the middle of testing season! Some of you may have already finished your testing, but many are still preparing. Our fifth graders finished up last week, but our third and fourth graders will be testing this week.

In the past several weeks, we had reviewed a few different strategies for test-taking. We talked about how sometimes we need to know how to show what we know. Knowing about the format of the test and what to expect helps put the students more at ease. 

Now that the test was upon us, I wanted to help students reflect on what they had learned and just relax. As the test has been approaching, anxiety seems to have been building. To take the edge off, I began by giving students a special testing treat. You can get your own copy of the cards from Ms. Winston's Blog.

As students were snacking on their treats, I read aloud The Big Test. In this great book, the students are busy learning how to show what they know on the state test. As the lessons continue, the students keep getting more and more stressed out. At the end, the students learn the most important lesson: RELAX! This book was published fairly recently and does a great job showing the anxiety that often becomes associated with these standardized tests.

Once I had finished reading aloud the book, my students and I reviewed the important things we should remember when taking the test. Students wrote their ideas on post-its, and we put the post-its on an anchor chart.

The students came up with some great responses. I let them add pictures to their post-its to liven up the anchor chart, and to have a little fun! I will show you a few of their fantastic ideas. 

Read the directions and take your time.

Don't go out of the answer box.

One of my students told me the answer box was the "bane of his existence." He said he had been told "a million" times to stay in the box, but that there just wasn't enough room!

Rest for the Test!

We decided that this was such a clever slogan that we needed to start marketing it!

Get your talking out of your body.

I love this one! He said you had to talk a lot before the test so that you wouldn't have any more talking left to use during the test. No talking during the test!

While this was such a simple activity, the students really enjoyed themselves, especially when they were able to draw. I honestly think the activity helped my students realize that they are prepared for this test. This is just a chance to show what you know. In order to do this, you have to relax! How do you help your students relax?

Written Response

It's that wonderful time of year! Crunch time. The state tests are just around the corner. In Ohio, our state tests are the last week of April and the first week of May. Last year, our school analyzed our results and realized that written response was one of our major weaknesses. As a result, I developed the following lesson.

I chose five particular elements for students to focus on and then created the anchor chart above. Students also glued a copy of the anchor chart in their reader's notebooks. We are working on:

• Starting our answers with words from the question
• Supporting our answers with proof from the text
• Using key vocabulary from the text
• Writing in complete sentences
• Proofreading our answers

I noticed that my students were already burnt out on practice tests. In fact, one student mentioned that he had done the same practice test with three different teachers! Can you tell that the teachers are stressed about test prep?! So to mix things up, I began pulling several short stories from EBSCOhost. I have chosen a wide range of texts, including nonfiction, folktales, realistic fiction, and fantasy. Another great place to find articles is the teacher's section at the Highlights website. (Just click on the link!) Did you know that NAEP actually uses some Highlights stories? I figured if they are good enough for NAEP, they are good enough for me!

For the articles and stories I select, I write 4-5 questions in a format similar to the state test. Our staff met last year to draft a list of the most common types of written response questions found on the test. These are the questions I focus on. For the first question, I wrote an example response. Using the guidelines listed on the anchor chart, we analyzed my response. We underlined the elements in my response from the anchor chart. (The key vocabulary words are circled.) 

Next, we wrote a couple of written responses together, making sure to follow our guidelines. Then, students had a chance to try writing their response independently. Once students had finished their responses, they used the checklist below to self-assess. The checklist consists of the guidelines from the anchor chart. If you would like your own copy of the checklist, click on the image below.

Once students had self-assessed and corrected any mistakes, they were ready to trade with a partner. To assess their partner, they used the rubric below. Once again, the rubric included the guidelines from the anchor chart. If you would like a copy of the rubric, click the image below!

We continued to practice this process with several written response questions. This skill is still a work in progress, but I was very impressed with my students. I feel like they are really clear on what a good written response looks like. For the most part, they only make a couple of grammar mistakes. 

How do you all try and put a fresh spin on test prep?