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“Is This a Test???” Standardized Test Prep Strategies for YEC members

“Is This a Test???” Standardized Test Prep Strategies for YEC members. DISCUSSION GROUPS: BY GRADE & SUBJECT AREA. Please sit at a table based on where you spend MOST of your YEC tutoring time: 3-4 th Reading 5-6 th Reading 5-6 th Writing 3-4 th Math 5-6 th Math. DO’S & DON’TS.

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“Is This a Test???” Standardized Test Prep Strategies for YEC members

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  1. “Is This a Test???”Standardized Test Prep Strategies for YEC members

  2. DISCUSSION GROUPS: BY GRADE & SUBJECT AREA Please sit at a table based on where you spend MOST of your YEC tutoring time: 3-4th Reading 5-6th Reading 5-6th Writing 3-4th Math 5-6th Math

  3. DO’S & DON’TS • DO: • Promote positive attitudes about testing: “BE serious, BE confident, BE strategic”* • Practice ways to relax • Stay focused on RELATIONSHIP & LEARNING • Make learning fun, whenever possible • DON’T: • Over-focus on upcoming testing • Add to a student’s anxiety or stress by“hovering” or overcorrecting mistakes • Make it obvious every time you are practicing a test-taking strategy. (Try to integrate test prep into the learning task at hand.) *from article: “No Pain, High Gain” by Nell K Duke, Ron Richhart

  4. “Long Before the Test” STUDY SKILLS: Pick 1 to practice with your students during sessions, then try another • Repeating information and stating it several different ways, out loud, to your shoulder partner (or to your dog at home!) • After identifying an important “nugget”, close your eyes and paint a mental picture of that concept. For example, “see” the buckets from the story problem lined up in rows. Imagine what the synonym for “shuffle” (waddle) looks like and say the word out loud while picturing it. • Practice various mnemonic techniques (see handout), as you encounter important facts or lists.

  5. “Night Before the Test” tips: Look for teachable momentsto reinforce teacher’s messages about sleep/nutrition • Have your students ever been tired? Keep one of those stories in your pocket for later! (hint: share it at a time when they are NOT tired) • E.g. “You’re pretty on top of things today! Did you sleep well? You’re doing so much better than that one day when you were tired. It makes sense to me why your teacher says to get a good night’s rest before your test.” • Use a similar approach for the importance of eating a good breakfast/lunch. We call it “brain food.” Have students brainstorm what kinds of things would be good brain food (slow release of energy) and which would be poor brain food (high in sugar, quick release of energy).

  6. “DURING THE TEST” TIPS: Try to model 1 strategy for strategic test-taking through a “think aloud” during your tutoring session • Look over the whole test (or assignment) before beginning, so you can budget your time. • “Hmm. (flipping through the reading packet) It looks like we have 2 stories to read, and 10 questions. How long do you think we should spend on the first story?” • Skim through and answer the easiest questions first. Answer more challenging items next. Decide whether you will circle or “star” the ones you skip. • “Wow, problems 1-3 & 16 look pretty easy. Let’s do those real quick so we know how much time we have left to do the harder ones.” • Eliminate choices that are obviously incorrect. • “Before we answer this reading question, let me make up two possible answers. You tell me which one is totally silly because it doesn’t fit what we know from the story.”

  7. DISCUSSION GROUPS: BY GRADE & SUBJECT AREA • Take 2-3 pages of your grade level’s sample test. • Take the next 10 minutes to answer as many questions as possible. • Prepare: • Choose 1 study skill or mnemonic device (see slide #3 & handout) that could help a student remember a concept related to 1 of your test questions. • Choose 1 of the “During the Test” tips (slide #5) to practice with your group & think of a way to model it using the test pages you have.

  8. DISCUSSION GROUPS: BY GRADE & SUBJECT AREA • 4) “Round Robin” Role Play/Share: • Each member of group will play “YEC member” role and share the mnemonic device they chose. Have “students” practice it. • Each member of group will role play their selected “During the Test” tip and have “students” practice it.

  9. RESOURCES: Helpful Test Prep articles & lesson plans: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/standardized-test-preparation AZ Dept of Ed Practice AIMS tests: http://www.azed.gov/standards-development-assessment/aims/sample-for-students/

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