Testing Season!
With testing right around the corner (literally, next week), I know my kids will be stressing. Luckily, they don’t feel all that pressured as my school doesn’t value state tests as much as they do natural assessments. Many of my kids will also be opting out. Either way, I need to be prepared for the next two weeks and those that will be taking the test. Usually before state testing, I don’t plan any major lessons. I spend time going over strategies they’ve learned, common testing terms they might see and what they mean, and so on.
Here is what I plan on going over with my kids this week and next as they take their ELA/Math Exams. You can obviously add whatever else might apply to your kids:
Before:
Go to sleep early: As kids get older, I’m sure they spend more and more time online on social media websites. They text their friends, Instagram, Facebook, etc… I urge my kids to shut their phones off after 9pm, and go to sleep. They could lie in bed, read a book, or just go to sleep early. I stress that they will be sitting in a room for 3 hours (many of my kids have extended time), so they’ll want to be as rested as possible.
If you think you have kids who don’t get enough sleep, or you just want to stress the importance, maybe you could spend that time reading about the benefits of sleep. There’s plenty of article online, here’s one example: Teens & Sleeping
Eat a big breakfast: My kids eating habits are questionable. I see kids eating chips, candy, you name it. Stress the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast in the morning, especially on the day of the test. If your school provides breakfast, remind kids that they should come early and eat. Same as with sleep, you can review some facts about why eating breakfast will help them on the day of the test. Here’s a sample article: Breakfast & School Performance
During:
Use testing strategies: Throughout the year your kids have learned strategies that they could totally use during the test. This includes context clues for any unfamiliar words, annotating, chunking, breaking down questions, using essay prompts to organize their essay, outlines, crossing out MC answers that don’t apply, etc.. You can easily spend an entire session just going over these strategies and making sure your kids know them. Another thing you can do is a quick model of these strategies in case any of your kids forgot.
Don’t stress: I like to remind my kids that if a passage or question is hard, DON’T freak out. Try your best to get through it. If a question is difficult, don’t fixate on it, come back to it later! Also, don’t leave anything blank. Even if you have to guess, 25% chance of getting an answer right is better than 0% J.
Time yourself: This is probably difficult for most of my kids, but maybe successful for our higher level ones. We usually tell our kids how much time they should spend on each passage/question. This way, kids can keep track of how long they’re taking, and to make good use of their time.
Drink water & keep hydrated: I just think everyone should drink more water, no explanation needed ha :)
After:
RELAX: Once you’re done, and you’re out of the testing room, it’s time to unwind and relax. Stretch out and don’t stress about the answers you may have missed, the essays you didn’t finish writing, or the problems you didn’t solve. What’s done is done, and there’s no point in worrying about it now.
Repeat each step for every test day!
Lastly, I remind my kids that this test doesn’t define them, and in the end….it really doesn’t matter. Good luck to all your kids out there!
What strategies or tips do you give your kids before the big test?