4 Tips & Tricks for ELA Test Prep

 

At this time every year, we enter "test prep season." It's the time when teaching really feels like an uphill battle, and we know that if we can just get across that finish line, we'll be okay. But how do you get there without dragging everyone through the mud?

Here are my top tips & tricks for ELA test prep:

1.  Start with Test Vocabulary

I wrote more in-depth about this here, but I recommend pulling out the more challenging words from your test item specs, like convey, develop, and contribute, and then working on many different activities to make them stick.

Activities like relay races, tic-tac-toe, digital games, and even dominoes games.

This is so very important because if the students don't understand what the question is asking, it's much more challenging to find the correct answer.

2.  Review standards with a bit of competition

I like to review them one at a time and then have groups compete to answer questions about the standard we just reviewed and earn points.  We keep a running tally of points for as long as it takes, and at the end, they earn a prize they all voted on at the beginning.

Prizes can be popcorn "parties", a tardy pass, a homework pass, or even bonus points.

3.  Use current events to keep things interesting

I like to incorporate whatever the students are interested in at the moment. March Madness is all the rage right now, so I used a March Madness bracket system for my competition above with a twist!

Losing teams had to be absorbed by winning teams so that everyone was still in the game! When we get to the final two teams, we will play a game show, and the winner takes all!

4.  If competition isn't your thing...try menus!

I love a good menu with a limited number of choices. For example, we needed to review the main idea, compare/contrast, and cause/effect. So, I used a picture book to get straight to the heart of the matter.  

Then, I provided a menu with 3 choices for each topic.  Students had to choose just 1 option out of the 3.  

And in case you need something more rigorous...

I made a list of projects for each standard (theme, central idea, point of view, and so on) with a point value tied to them.  (I gave higher point values to more work-intensive projects.)  Then, I told the students that they needed to earn 100 points.  They can pick and choose from the projects to add up to 100.  But just because they do the project doesn't mean they get full points.  They have to be completed based on the rubric, and before they hand it in, they have to justify why they think they should get a certain amount of points.  

But I didn't stop there. I also created a template for each project to ensure that even struggling learners can be successful. There is one caveat: Be sure students have something to reference regarding the standards. For example, we created flashcard books to review a standard before I gave out the project lists. That way, they could look back at their information to ensure they were demonstrating the standard.  

Most of these activities (everything except the standards-based menus) are found in ready-to-go format in my Test Prep bundle:

Never fear; those standards-based menus are also available here:

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