It’s Test Prep Season: Here Are 4 Ways to Make It More FUN!

Okay, we are in the middle of March, which means you are probably on your spring break or getting really close to your spring break. But that also means that you are getting ready to enter test prep season.

And I know that this time of year can be very stressful for teachers and students. I was a fourth grade teacher and I feel like the just the memories of the end of your standardized test are still so very fresh. So I know that this season can be stressful. There’s a lot of pressure from your school, your district, your state, but there are ways that you can make test prep season more fun.

One of the things that I often remember is my first year of teaching fourth grade I was so just worried and anxious about the test. I feel like I had a lot of anxiety about it. I know my students did as well. But after a couple of years, I was like, You know what, I don’t need to be as worried about this. Like, it’s a test. Obviously, it’s a big deal for like the school data. But at the end of the day, I know this test is not measuring all of the growth my students have made. And it’s not measuring all of my success as a teacher.

And I was determined to find ways to make it fun and engaging for my students and fun and engaging for me as well. So I want to share with you today, four ways that you can make test prep season, more fun and engaging for you and your students.

Now, before I share with you those very specific strategies, I want to take a minute and just kind of talk about some myths or misconceptions around test prep. And I think, unfortunately, especially in third, fourth and fifth grade, standardized testing takes up a lot of our attention and our thoughts. And I feel like every year I was in the classroom, we would start talking about it so much earlier. It’s like sometimes at the very beginning of the year, we start thinking about test prep. And it’s just that is that is not how it should be.

So let me share with you really some I think mindset shifts that we have to have around Test Prep. So first of all, the very first one that I’m going to try to bust in this episode, specifically, I think oftentimes we assume that test prep is going to be boring for our students. I think our students assume that it is going to be boring, it’s going to be monotonous, it’s going to be really hard.

And the truth is it doesn’t have to be. You know, one of the things that I think is really important for us to remember is that our students match our energy. So if we start test prep season, and we are excited about it, and we have some really fun things planned, and the way we present it to our students is high energy, excitement, it’s an opportunity for them to show what they know to show off their strength, you can make it fun and engaging. So test prep season does not have to be boring, it does not have to be hard for your students, it can have a lot of energy to it.

I think another thing that we really need to reconsider is the idea that test prep has to be done independently. I know that I worked with some teachers that they would spend most of their test prep season, having their students complete independent practice test after independent practice test after independent practice test. And so students are doing a practice test every day for two to three weeks. And it’s two to three hours a day of students just working independently.

But I think what we have to remember is that learning is collaborative and collaborative learning. You know, when students are working in groups and in partnerships, not only is it a great way to boost their confidence, but it also helps with their mastery, you know, students are going to be independent on test today. And maybe it’s a good idea to give them one or two practice opportunities where they are independent.

But we want to take advantage of any learning opportunity that they can have, and give them opportunities to share their thinking to work with their peers to encourage each other. So your test prep does not have to be mostly independent work. There are other ways that you can structure it. And again, I’ve got some ideas I’m going to share with you.

The other thing that I think we really need to reconsider is that test prep has to take up the majority of our day and ultimately, it should not. I know that it can seem like it is our main focus. But even though we have this test and it is important to the system, it should not be the only thing that we are doing. You know we have to remember that our students are they’re kids, they get tired, they get exhausted, they have limits.

You know so if you are spending your entire day doing test prep, and it’s you know, test prep for math, test prep for reading, test prep for science, test prep for writing, that is going to be exhausting for your students, and they are going to burn out before test day. So do not let your test prep take up the majority of your day.

Make sure you are still doing really fun things with your students like read alouds, and your morning meeting, make sure you’re still teaching them content, you know, you’re still talking about science and social studies, and they’re still learning. And it’s not just all about test prep.

And kind of along those same lines, you know, sometimes I think we have this confusion that during test prep, we turn it into a content cram session. And we focus on you know, we’re teaching main idea again, and we’re teaching summarizing again, and we’re teaching, you know, character analysis again, and we’re trying to teach all of our content again.

I think we really need to recognize that when we get to the point where we are in test prep, we have already taught everything, and our students know what they’re going to know. And us trying to teach in, you know, get them to learn a standard is not going to stick in a few weeks. And so when we get to test prep, we really want to focus on test taking strategies, helping students understand the structure of a standardized test, helping them understand strategies that will help them select the right answer, eliminate incorrect answers, pace themselves.

Things that are related to the test, and not trying to get them to quickly learn content, because we’ve already taught that in the year. So don’t try to make it a content cram session focus on test prep strategies.

And then I think another thing that we really need to think about is how long are we spending on test prep. And I think so many times I hear teachers talk about doing test prep for five weeks, six weeks, or even longer. And ultimately, that is too long, you know, five to six weeks is a long time where you could still be actively teaching.

And so when you think about test prep, think about it being no more than two to three weeks before the test. Our students don’t need to have this mental pressure and this constant countdown and reminder that they have this big test coming at the end of the year, they just don’t need that. So keep your test prep to two to three weeks. Anything longer than that should just be normal teaching without any mention of this test at the end of the year.

So those are kind of like I said, some myths or misconceptions that I feel like exist out there and other ways that we want to think about test prep. So hopefully that helps you as you get ready to enter this test prep season.

And now I want to share with you four things that you can do to really make your test prep more fun and engaging for your students. And these are really like activities or structures that you can put in place as you’re going through practice tests, as you’re teaching different strategies to your students. They are ways that you can really just like structure, your test prep season.

So the first one is to incorporate a cooperative learning strategy called Rally Coach. And this is a Kagan structure. If you’ve ever been to a Kagan training, this is one of their strategies. And it works really great if you’re doing something like a multiple choice test.

So this is how it works. You have two students and every partnership. And they are given one paper and one pencil. So if your students are completing a reading practice test, you would have two students, we’re going to call them Tommy and Dasia, for this example, and you’re going to give Tommy and Dasia, just one practice test and one pencil, and they need to work together to read the passages and complete the answer choices.

So they’re going to read the passage together, they can either read it chorally together, or they could take turns reading each paragraph out loud, but they’re going to read the passage together. And then when they get to the questions, they’re going to decide one person who’s going to answer the odd questions and one person who’s going to answer the even questions.

So Tommy would take the pencil, and he would read Question one, and he would read the answer choices out loud, before he selects his answer. And then he’s going to explain his thinking to Dasia. So he’s going to say, Okay, I think the answer choice is B. This is why I think it is B, do you agree?

And before Tommy can correctly circle the answer, Dasia needs to say, Yes, I agree with you, I think you’re on the right track. Or she might say, You know what, I don’t know if that’s the best answer choice. Let’s go back and look at paragraph two, or let’s look at this answer choice again. And they have to agree on the answer before they move forward.

So once Tommy circles the answer for question number one, he passes the pencil to Dasia, Dasia is going to read question number two, and the answer choices. And then she’s going to say, Okay, I think the answer choice is C. I think this because, and then Tommy’s gonna say, Yes, I agree with you, or he’s gonna say, You know what, I’m not sure if that’s the right answer. Let’s take a look at this one, or go back in the text. So then she will circle the answer choice and pass the pencil back to Tommy.

So then they go back and forth like this until they finish the test. And I use this with my students all of the time. And what I loved about it is first of all, students get to work in a partnership. So it’s going to be fun for them. And you can, you know, switch it up, you can let students pick their own partner, but I really loved to do it, and be strategic with my partnerships.

So if I had a student who I knew rushed through a test, I would pair them with a student who really took their time; if I had a student who was really strong with reading, I would maybe pair them with somebody who struggled a little bit. So you can get really strategic to make it intentional.

And I also really liked this because there’s accountability, that, you know, your students are going to go through each question carefully, because they have to read the question and the answer choices out loud, but then they have to explain their thinking to their partner.

And I think just in general, having this collaborative answer process is either going to help your students feel really competent in their answer choice. Or if they didn’t have the right answer choice, somebody is there to point out feedback. So you know, if the students disagree, somebody’s going to have to feel really confident in their evidence, you know, in order to convince the other person. So it really helps them develop confident and finding evidence to support their answers. So students love this option. So that is one way that you can make test prep just a little bit more fun.

The second option might seem a little counterintuitive to you. But the second idea is to give your students the answers. So give your students a practice test, and then immediately give them all the answers, you can give them the answer key, or you can give them the test with the answers already circled.

And what you’re going to do is you’re going to let them know that the important part is not the correct answer. But the important part is the thinking process that gets them to the answer. So the goal of this, you know, is obviously that students like for every correct answer that they’ve already been given, students need to go back in the text and find the evidence that really explains or justifies the correct answer.

And this works great in math. So if you teach both subjects, this is a really good one for math, because students still have to do the work, but the answer is given to them. But it also works with literacy as well.

So you know, if there’s a question that asks students to use context clues to figure out the meaning of the word, they need to make sure that they find that section of the text, and they, you know, circle it, are they color coded? Or they say, yep, here’s the part of the text that tells me the definition of the word or has the context because it tells me that definition. If the question is about the main idea, students need to be able to identify the supporting details in the text that show them what the main idea is.

So students could use color coded highlighters, you know, so for question number one, they highlight the evidence in the same color, you know, as they circled the answer choice, or you could have them, you know, come up with some sort of system or clue that shows them how they found their evidence. But the goal is, is that students know the answers and so they just have to connect to the answer to the text through the evidence.

And this is a strategy that students love, because they’re just like, wait a minute, you’re giving me the answers. It’s also something that I would do it maybe once or twice during your test prep season, this is not something I would do necessarily every single day. But when you do it, I think students really enjoy it.

And it just sort of gives them like a sigh of relief. It’s like, okay, I’m gonna do something to help me prepare for the test. But I don’t have the pressure of trying to get the right answer, because they realize it’s all about finding the evidence, finishing the test, putting in the work. So that’s a good strategy that you can try as well.

Another one kind of on the same lines that really focuses on finding text evidence is when you have students physically cut apart the test. And this is one that we often did during test prep. And you can have your students work in groups of two or three usually works really well.

And you’re gonna give them one practice test and set of multiple choice questions. And you want to make sure that it is printed only on single side because students are going to do some cutting and gluing. Give them a scissors, give them a glue stick, and then give them a giant piece of chart paper. And you can have them collaboratively read the test. And you could tell them that they could glue the passage on the paper in the middle.

And then what they’re going to do is they’re going to cut apart the questions along with the multiple choice answers. And they’re going to glue the question next to the section of text that the evidence came from. So students, again, are really hunting for the text evidence, and then they’re matching the question next to the evidence.

And students love this because they get to work in groups, they get to be out of their desks working on the floor, it feels more like a project than it does a practice test because they’re cutting and gluing and pasting and drawing lines to thing. But again, it’s really focused on having students find the evidence versus just getting the correct answer. So it really reinforces the idea that the process is more important than the correct answer.

So then my final suggestion is to do quiz quiz trade. And this is another of my favorite activities that we would often do in my classroom. Again, this is another great activity if you feel like your students could benefit from getting up and being out of their desks.

And with quiz quiz trade, the students are going to read the text on their own. So you would have students you know, read the passage. And then when it comes to answering the questions, that is where the quiz quiz trade comes in.

So you would have students you know, first of all to prepare, you are going to cut all of the questions and answer choices. So students would get a strip of paper that has one multiple choice question and one answer option. And so students are going to read their question and answer that they have been given the answer choices that they’ve been given, and they’re going to figure out what They think the correct answer is, and then students are going to walk around the room to find a partner.

I usually would tell my students, you know, put your hand up, if you’re looking for a partner, once you found your partner, give them a high five, and then put your hand down so that way other students know that you have a partner that you’re working with.

So once students partner up, they are going to quiz each other with the question and answer choices that they are holding. So if I am partners with Brooke, I’m going to show Brooke my question and answer choices. And she is going to tell me what the correct answer is. And I’m either going to tell her she’s correct or incorrect. And then Brooke is going to show me her question and answer choices. And I’m going to tell her my answer. And she’s going to tell me if I’m correct or incorrect. And then we’re going to trade and go find a new partner.

And then this is going to continue on where students find a partner, they quiz each other, and then they trade cards until either the time is up, or students have answered all of the questions.

So a few things to just sort of note about this, it can be really helpful to give students an answer recording sheet, so that way they can write down their answers to the questions. This helps them keep track, you know, because the first partner they come to might have question number five, the second partner might have question number eight, the third partner might have question one, so it helps them know what questions have to be answered. And then it also allows you to go over all of the questions at the end. So you can still see how your students did.

It can also be helpful to remind students that if they disagree on an answer, they can discuss it and explain their answer choice, but it is okay if students disagree and want to have a different answer choice on their answer sheet, because you’re going to correct it at the end anyways.

And then, you know, it’s possible that you probably are going to have a passage that does not have 22 questions, or however many students you have. And that’s okay, just double up on the question and answer choices. So more than one student might have the same question. So you might have three students that have question one and three students that might have question two. And that’s okay.

You know, students will just go around and if they partner up with someone, and they’re like, oh, I have question seven, you know, they can be like, Oh, I’ve already answered that one, I’m gonna go find another partner. So that’s super easy. And then it just makes the the quiz quiz trade go faster. That’s another really fun one that students enjoy.

Now, with all of these activities, whether it is rally coach, or giving your students the answers or cutting the test, or quiz quiz trade, you want to make sure that you clearly state the expectations, you explain the purpose of the activity, you model, you practice and you give them feedback. You know, students can be really successful and have a lot of fun when you incorporate these activities in your classroom.

But they also involve a lot of moving and collaboration, which means there’s possibility that things could kind of get out of control or out of hand, which means you really need to be clear on the expectations before you get started.

Now, just a couple episodes ago, back in episode 183, I did a podcast that talks about four steps you can take to create independent students while you pull small groups, those same four steps that I shared, can also help you when you are introducing and setting up these activities. So if you have not listened to it yet, or you need a refresher, go back those same four steps can help when you are introducing the test prep activities I shared with you today.

And then let me just end with some encouragement. I know testing season, it is stressful. And there is a lot of pressure, I think it is unfair pressure that is placed on teachers and students. So let me just remind you, that one end of your standardized assessment, in no way is going to be able to show all of the growth and progress that your students have made this year.

So make sure that you help them recognize that, that their value and their growth goes way beyond the results of the standardized test. And it’s also important for you to recognize that your success as a teacher is not going to be measured by this standardized test.

So regardless of how your students perform on this test, it does not say anything about you know the type of teacher you are or how hard you have work this year, do not let a test have power over the way that you view yourself as an educator, or have power over the way that your students view themselves as students.

You know, you and your students have had an incredible year, I know that you have done wonderful things to support them. And regardless of what the test says that cannot be taken away. So focus on the reality that you know, like I said, the test is just one test. It is one part of the measurement that schools use, I think we give too much emphasis on it. So don’t let the results of this test influence the way that you think about yourself as a teacher.

So have a stellar week. I hope that these strategies help you feel just a little bit more confident as you enter into test prep season.