Last week, a teacher friend told me about Quizizz and I knew I had to check it out. Quizizz is an online multi-player review game that is a great alternative to Kahoot. It is self paced and can be completed as a whole group review game or assigned as homework (or independent work - more about this later). This is great for classrooms that are 1:1 and great for classrooms ... Read More
Browse the archives below for even more great ideas
Teaching Students How to Study
One thing that I have learned teaching upper elementary is that some students have to be taught how to study. Most don't come to us already knowing how to study. Sure, some students grasp the material quickly and retain it easily. However, the majority of my students needed me to explicitly teach them strong study methods they could do independently or with someone else. ... Read More
Test Prep Dress Up – Engaging Test Prep
I have a love/hate relationship with test prep. I dislike it for all the obvious stressful reasons: the stress on the students and teachers, the time it takes away from instruction, and how monotonous it can get. But, this year my teammate and I have been very intentional about planning engaging test prep activities that the students (and teachers) love! Here is my new ... Read More
Test Prep Egg Hunt Activity
Test prep doesn't have to be boring and stressful for the teachers or the students! We try to keep some of our test prep activities super engaging and fun to keep our kids from getting stressed. Here is one of my favorites that I love doing, and it works perfectly for the time of year. Test Prep Egg Hunt! For this activity, I gathered multiple choice test prep ... Read More
Preparing Students for Online Assessments {Online Test Prep}
A few weeks, my team and I were told that there was a possibility that our 5th graders would be taking the state test online this year. Yikes! I immediately knew that I needed to up my game when it came to getting my students on the computer for assessments. (Note: I do not have 1:1 devices. Instead, we have a handful of computers and tablets to use.) After asking a few ... Read More
Test Prep Centers {Rock the Test!}
Whew! State testing is officially over! Well, for now... Retakes for the students who didn't pass math and reading still have to happen once the scores are back. But for now, a huge sigh of relief! I have been meaning to write a post showing my test prep centers that I made this year. I used Rock and Roll graphics to create a Math Set for 4th and 5th Grade (9 centers ... Read More
Hands On Test Prep for Upper Grades
Testing is starting Monday! My students have been working so hard to prepare and practice their skills. I still have a few hands on test prep ideas to share with you for keeping your students engaged during test prep and making it fun! This activity is similar to the sentence surgery idea that has been spotted floating around Pinterest. Click on the image to see the ... Read More
Get Them Moving! Test Prep Gallery Walk
As promised I am back with another test prep strategy that we have been doing. This one may be my favorite. It is a spin off a traditional gallery walk and gets the kids moving, reviewing, and critiquing each other's work. I prepared the activity by writing 6 practice problems (math for this lesson, but keep reading for ideas of how to implement this in any subject ... Read More
Test Prep: Graffiti Style
Anyone else knee deep in test prep? This teacher is! I hope to blog several times this week sharing what we are doing for test prep. First up this week....Test Prep: Graffiti Style! If you have never seen this before, students respond to a text or stimulus on butcher paper at the same time. For this activity, I took three test prep questions and taped them to the ... Read More
Test Taking Tips for Reading
I don't know about you guys, but I am beginning to feel the pressure of standardized tests! We have been working hard all year on comprehension strategies that really make the students think about a story. You can read about that here and here. Now, I am trying to be much more deliberate about teaching the students some specific strategies and test taking tips to help ... Read More
Test Taking Strategies {Teaching Students to “Work the Text”}
Well my friends, I don't know about you, but the new year has always brought me testing anxiety! Gotta get those kids ready to take the TEST. However, this year I have a little less stress than usual. Did I get the gifted students? Nope! Do all my kids read on grade level? I wish! Did I learn some test taking strategies in the past few years that work? Yes, and this ... Read More
