Prepping for State Testing

My very first year of teaching was the first year we switched from AIMS to AZMERIT here in Arizona. I had no idea what to expect or how to prep my little third graders. The first day they sat down to take the writing portion on Day 1 they all looked up at me with scared faces, clearly not understanding what to do. 

I went home crying that day. I felt like a horrible teacher for two reasons. One, I don't believe in standardized testing. I have come to terms with being able to live with the fact that it is a necessary evil of teaching, but in the big picture there are so many other worthwhile ways to assess children. For now, I just deal. Two, I honestly did not understand how to prep my kids with what they were being asked to do! I couldn't really ask for help because this was the first year we were giving this test for everyone. 

During my second year I vowed my kids would be prepared no matter what, but the way I approached it was overkill, and I definitely sucked the spirit out of my classroom. In years following I finally came up with fun ways to get students prepped, without sacrificing regular curriculum time, or making it super intensive so it freaked the kids out. Essentially, its a fine balance.

1. Take what you already do and insert prep activities.

While I still teach direct instruction lessons on content, I have changed my guided reading/small group block to include test prep activities. 

• Task Cards with answer sheets available for students to check their work
• readtheory.org
• Scholastic News Test Prep (comes with your login if you receive the magazines at school)
• Chat Stations
• Show them how to play Quiz Quiz Trade with task cards

      2. Spice up direct instruction by using cooperative learning structures.
To teach test prep strategy (not necessarily content), use whole class cooperative learning structures to help students recognize and dig deeper into questions and strategy.

• Name That Strategy: Multiple-Choice Activity
• Defend Your Corner
• Newsela (upper grades)
• Smithsonian Tween Tribune (K-12)
• Have students create their own Kahoot! test questions
• Collect student writing samples to a prompt, remove their names, and have students sort them into categories of proficiency and create a rubric for the Proficient and Highly Proficient samples so they have concrete evidence for what a good sample should look like.
• Have students create anchor charts for their own strategies.

      3. Teach mindfulness strategies for test anxiety.
We all know there are highly intelligent students out there who cannot take a test to save their lives. I was one of them, every time I took a math test I psyched myself out and basically felt like a failure before I even began. Tests can be long, and a test a will power to keep going versus how much content they know. Be sure to go over Universal Testing Accommodations like asking for water and stretch breaks, using a fidget, and asking for scratch paper.

• ClassDojo has great videos on growth mindset and mindfulness (FREE)
• GoNoodle has a whole category of mindfulness videos (most are FREE)
• Cosmic Kids has videos on mindfulness and simple Yoga poses for kids (FREE)

      4. Confidence with testing tools is key!
There are lots of online sample tests for students to use to get familiar with testing tools. If they can be confident in navigating the online test, they can can focus on content and test strategy. 

• Ohio Portal
• ​California Portal
• Florida Portal
• Arizona Portal

​Good luck to you and your students during this time of year!

xoxo, Mae