CLICK HERE TO GET 10 DAYS OF TEST PREP FREEBIES

Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Home

Test Prep

Test prep can be motivating, engaging, and rigorous. Check out these articles for engaging test prep review ideas, ideas on how to best prepare your students for online tests, and ways to motivate your students.

Featured Products From the Shop

Check out my favorite test prep activities and strategies!

  • Using the RACE strategy is an effective way to help students answer constructed response reading questions. Read tips for using this strategy on this post.
  • Gallery walk review may be my favorite test prep activity. It is a spin off a gallery walk and gets kids moving and critiquing each other's work. This test prep activity works well with all subjects!
  • Preparing students to take online tests does not have to be difficult or frustrating. This post shares multiple and authentic online testing strategies.
  • FREE testing motivational quotes coloring pages. Use these motivational quotes for testing to encourage your students before and during testing days.
  • This test prep activity is a spin-off on a graffiti activity. It has the students working with multiple partners to analyze questions and even compare and contrast each other’s work.
  • This post shares details of how you can use any board game or other popular games as test prep games that are highly engaging and motivating.

Make the most of your test prep with this FREE email series!

Do you want to implement a test prep "plan of attack" to prepare your students for their state assessment in an engaging, purposeful, and rigorous way? Sign up for this free email series that takes you through organizing and planning your test prep plan and provides tips and resources to execute your plan.

By entering your information, you agree to receive email communication from me. Per my privacy policy, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Browse the archives below for even more great ideas

Reading Test Prep Strategy – Work the Text

In a perfect world, all of the reading strategies and techniques we teach our students would easily transfer over to testing situations. However, that is not the case for a lot of our students. This post will share one of my go-to reading test prep strategies that helps keep students engaged while reading lengthy texts and supports their comprehension. This reading ... Read More

Test Taking Strategies (Free Resources!)

Purposeful test taking strategies can build confidence and help students show what they know on standardized tests. This post shares tips for teaching test taking strategies, the difference between test taking strategies and best practices, and free resources for the specific strategies I teach my students. Note: I did not create the catchy sayings for the test taking ... Read More

Test Prep Videos for Motivation and Encouragement

One of the keys to success with any difficult task or challenge is definitely having the right mindset. And high-stakes testing is definitely a difficult task. I always try to keep my students encouraged and motivated through the test prep review process and through the week(s) of testing. This post shares some test prep videos that you can use for motivation and ... Read More

Free Reading Test Prep Helpers | 4th and 5th Grade Test Prep

It never fails. No matter how many times I spiral review reading skills through homework, reading review, read alouds, or guided reading, I always get those looks during test prep review. You know the ones...the deer in the headlight looks when they get asked to determine the text structure of a text or identify the point of view of a story. I learned long ago not to ... Read More

Free Test Prep Activities — 10 Days of Test Prep Freebies!

Test prep is definitely something that I implement all year through best practices and implementing strategies that translate to testing situations. However, I do spend the month before testing on review and using resources specifically created for test prep. No matter how many test prep resources I have, I still find that I am always on the look out for (or creating) ... Read More

Using Jenga in the Classroom (Collection of FREE Jenga Games)

One of my new favorite obsessions is using Jenga in the classroom to review and spiral concepts. Over the past year or so, I have been creating several games that are perfect if you want to incorporate Jenga in your classroom and they are all free! On this post, I will share brief descriptions and links to each one. Amazon affiliate links provided if you wish to ... Read More

Free Factors and Multiples Game with Jenga

Jenga is one of those games that I use in the classroom and wonder how I ever reviewed without it! It is right up there with Spoons games as my students' favorite games to play. Since they love it so much (and the Jenga sets are not super cheap), I want to get as much mileage as I can from my sets by using them to review tons of skills (see the bottom of this post for a ... Read More

Review Games and Activities with Beach Balls

Beach balls are so much fun on the sand or in the pool and they can be just as much (well almost as much) fun in the classroom. This post will help you bring a little summer fun into your classroom with these five review games and activities that include beach balls. Beach Ball Review Activity 1 – Beach Ball Basketball Materials: 1 Beach ball 1 Large ... Read More

Outdoor Review Activities and Games

Reviewing concepts and facts can get tedious in the classroom, but not when you take the activity outside for some fun, friendly competition and sunshine. This post has five fun and active games for outdoor review that get your class moving while reviewing the information they need to know. These activities can be used as competitions to gain points for a class reward, or ... Read More

Test Prep Coloring Pages | Motivational Quotes for Testing

Testing season is upon us. This can honestly be one of the most stressful times in the classroom for both students and teachers for many reasons. Today, I have some motivational quotes for testing coloring pages to share with you. You can use these test prep coloring pages in a variety of ways (and we will touch on those ways in this post). Hopefully, you will be able to ... Read More

Review Games and Ideas with Plastic Eggs

Plastic eggs fill the shelves during the months of March and April. March and April are also the months of the year when students get a bit antsy and ready for spring break. Mixing things up is a must! This post will share some fun and pretty simple to prep review games and ideas to use with plastic eggs. 1. Egg Hunt Egg hunts are so much! Simply fill eggs with ... Read More

Tips for Teaching RACE Constructed Response Strategy

I remember the shift from multiple choice reading assessments to constructed response reading questions like it was yesterday. When we first made the shift, we got everything from blank stares (because they didn't understand the question), to single word answers, simple phrases, answers that were off-topic, and let's not even talk about the grammar and spelling. Hint: It ... Read More

Welcome friends! I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students. Learn more about me.

Top