16 Teacher and Student Test-Prep Tips

Kirsten 0:09

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know the southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things, social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Hello, there fabulous teachers. Welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast, I wanted to continue this talk about state testing, and talk about specific test prep tips. There's a total of 16 that we're going to discuss today. The first set, we're going to talk about our test prep tips as a teacher, for your upper elementary students, and ways you can support your students for any state standardized tests that they may be encountering this year. And then I will be going over eight test prep tips for students. So this is kind of more relatable for students and things for them to note, this specific test prep tips that I have for students is actually something I gave to my own fifth graders a couple of years ago. So this is going to be something that my students thought was really helpful. And I remember even one of the parents emailing back, this was really helpful, thank you. So hopefully, this helps your students and parents as well.

The first tip I have is to understand the test format. Hopefully, this is something you've already started doing months before the actual test, because I'm sure the state standardized testing is coming up in the next month or so. So make sure to familiarize yourself with the format of your state test. Understand the types of questions time limits and any specific instructions, this will make sure that you are able to tailor your teaching to align with the test requirements. Usually, any type of state tests such as the star for Texas is going to have their information along with previous state tests or previous release test usually. So yeah, if you go to for example, for Texas if you go to the ti a.texas.gov. And you'll see Star resources for everything you need to know for any type of test as well as different resources and blueprints about what's expected on that specific test.

The second tip I have is to review the content standards. Make sure that your curriculum aligns with the state standards being tested. Any type of guided curriculum that you might have or supplemental resources, district resources, just make sure that what you're teaching is aligning with the actual state standards that are going to be tested. review any specific content areas and skills that will be assessed and focus your teaching on these key concepts. For most state, likely, this is not going to apply for Social Studies. If you're listening to this and you're in a grade level that tests social studies, definitely make sure that what you're teaching is aligning to the test. But this could apply for ELA writing, math, science. All of these are applicable to really any subject.

The third tip I have is to practice with sample questions. Incorporate sample questions into your lessons, make sure that students are familiar with a question types so that it helps alleviate test anxiety, as you are practicing with sample questions also provide explanations for correct answers. To reinforce understanding, we always did sample parts. Sometimes we would do the whole test. But also we would take just to look at a couple of questions at a time and analyze the questions. Give them the chance to answer the questions on their own, and then discuss those answers together as a class.

The fourth tip I have is to implement test taking strategies teach effective test taking strategies that have worked for your students in the past and continue to work. This could include any methods for approaching different question types, managing time during the test, and also strategies for eliminating incorrect answer choices. One of the big things that I did with my students in ELA is if they're reading a passage, they are annotating taking short notes on the side. And when they're coming across the question, they are highlighting and underlining key words and phrases that will give them clues as to where to look in that specific passage. When they come across different answer choices, and they read those answer choices. They're also eliminating answer choices, that just cannot be the correct answer, like completely off the rails incorrect, you know, it's incorrect. And usually, with a lot of the tests we took, they're able to eliminate one or two incorrect answers that are wildly incorrect or are definitely not correct based on what they know. And they may be able to narrow it down to two possible correct answers. From there, they're going into the passage and finding based on the clues or finding any correct answer and evidence supporting that correct answer. What we would have students is underline text evidence in the passage, and they mark their answer. They label that evidence as question number one. So if they are deciding that B is the correct answer for number one, they're underlining that evidence proving the answer for question one, and they're also labeling their answer with the question number, so they're going to label next to the evidence number one in the passage. So those are just a few different test taking strategies as far as ELA.

The fifth tip I have is to create a positive testing environment. Usually the tests are going to be taken in the classroom, and likely on a device I know a lot of tests now are completely digital, and there are no longer any opportunities to take it with pencil and paper. But either way, make sure you are fostering a positive and supportive atmosphere in the classroom, you can help develop a growth mindset with your students and emphasize the importance of doing their best rather than focusing solely on scores, taking their time really reading the answer choices and questions. And try not to skip ahead too many times are quickly pressing buttons on their device, and just also respecting other people not making fidgeting noises, or, you know, just being respectful to those around them.

Number six simulate testing conditions, kind of piggybacking on the fifth one, dedicate time to simulate testing conditions having a mock star as we do in Texas, or mock state test. So we would even have the teachers who are going to proctor our classrooms go in and give the test as if we were going to be taking that test. So just as much as possible, giving them the opportunity to simulate the testing conditions. This could be taking practice tests under timed conditions, having students only bringing snacks having certain Proctor's come in and take those students that need to be tested. This all will help students become more comfortable with the test environment and builds their stamina. This could be especially important when this is the first time that they're taking some type of state assessment and they're not really sure what to expect. If they do a mock test, they could possibly alleviate that anxiety, that testing anxiety. And they're like, oh, that really wasn't that bad. Now I know what to expect. People are talking about this test that we have to take, and I feel more comfortable.

Tip number seven provide individualized support. Make sure beforehand to identify students who may need additional support and provide extra help or resources. This kind of goes back to the previous episode when we were talking about power hours. When you're doing this six to eight weeks out. This is a really great time to make sure to pinpoint and tailor instruction to specific students based on where they're currently at and where you might expect them to be at as far as if you think they may need extra support. So make sure to tailor your instruction to meet the diverse needs of your students, whether they are not mastering certain standards or they are mastering all the standards and they're just really it's a matter of extension. and maintaining make sure everyone has the opportunity to succeed in their own way.

The eighth tip I have is to communicate with parents. keep parents informed about the upcoming state testing, make sure to give them resources and suggestions for how they can support their child's preparation at home. And also make sure you're in COURAGING open communication to address any concerns or questions. Don't leave parents in the dark if their student is possibly not going to pass the state standardized test, you want to make sure you're communicating that upfront, you could schedule a parent conference or show them their mock test scores and just kind of give them a ballpark of like what kind of standards they need to support them with and how they can best support them at home.

This next section is a really great part for students to understand, really some test prep tips and how to study for a test in general. So if you want you can play this part to your students, and have them listen in on some tips on how they can study and just best practices on test taking.

How to study for a test? Do you have a big test coming up, but you're not sure how to prepare or study for it. Here are some helpful tips and habits on how to study for tests so that you can be prepared for any test in any subject. Tip number one is to have a study schedule. Set aside some time outside of school to review and study what you have learned. Getting into a habit of studying will get better with time and effort. Tip number to plan ahead. Don't wait until the night before a test to start studying. Many people need to see a concept several times before remembering the information. So instead of studying for three hours the night before, try breaking it into smaller sessions over a week such as three one hour sessions. Tip number three, rewrite the material in your own words. If you're studying for a test that requires a lot of reading or taking a lot of notes, make sure to stop, think and summarize what you have read about in your own words, you can rephrase out loud, or you can do this by writing it down. Tip number four, make flashcards. If you're studying for a test that requires memorizing vocabulary, words, equations or other facts, you can always make your own flashcards. It's easy to carry around and it can be more helpful than reading a page of notes. Tip number five, teach the material to someone else. Find a study buddy friend or relative and explain the material to them as if they're hearing about it for the first time. This helps you reframe the information in new ways and think more carefully about how everything fits together. Tip number six, make your own study guide. Even if your teacher gives you a study guide, you can still make your own. Just making a guide can help the information sink into your mind. And it's a great way to make it in a way that you learn best. You can add your own pictures, diagrams, slideshows, flashcards, and so much more. Tip number seven is to redo homework problems. math tests are usually similar to the homework problems you've been doing. So try to review practice problems from everything you will be tested on and focus on problems that you have struggled with. rewrite the problem, hide your notes and solve it from scratch. Okay, here's my last tip for you guys. Tip number eight is to review major concepts. Always do a quick review of what you learned each day. If you have a hard time remembering smaller details, it's very important to take some time to review this too. The best way to study for a test is to make sure to study regularly and practice at home, cramming a ton of information and trying to remember things just by looking at notes. Or looking at teacher study guides may not help you get to the score that you want. These tips do take some time and effort, but they will be worth it when you get the score you're working towards. These test prep tips are good for really any test it can be for a state test that's coming up for you, or any classroom tests that you may have.

That is all I have for you today. I hope these tips were helpful to you. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review You I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in this episode for more teacher tips and strategies

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