CREATIVE TEST PREP!

Traditional test prep can be a recipe for disaster for teachers and students. This is not how you want to approach the big test day with your students. Since the brain likes novelty, incorporate it into your test prep. It basically freaks out your students’ brains and causes them to listen instead of turning you off.

Some ways to do this:

1. Incorporate a theme into your test prep (Olympics theme, Music theme, Racing theme, etc.).
2. If applicable, dress the part. Dress up in your “race car” attire.
3. Play related music as students enter your room.
4. Decorate your room according to your theme.
5. Allow students to practice passages in teams. I have found this produces much more productive talk than individual work, and it is much more beneficial overall.
6. To go over passages, play a game related to your theme. Teams compete against each other to review the answers. A team must give the correct answer AND support for the answer (or explain their answer). If an incorrect answer is given, the turn passes to the next team. If a team answers correctly, their “race car” is moved down the “track.” The first team to reach the end of the track wins—let them leave first when the bell rings or come up with another great reward. This is more engaging, even with older students, because it is different from traditional test prep.
7. To review the writing rubric, have students “score” the lyrics to popular songs (as appropriate). You will be surprised at what a great review this is!

Are you getting the idea? Basically, get creative and have fun with it! Your students will enter the test with a better attitude, and you will go home each day feeling accomplished as a teacher.

If you teach 8^th grade reading, www.ELAConnections.com has done all the creative work for you. Check out AIR: Adventures in Reading. You can use this before the main test or use parts of it for the retests.

Happy test prep!!