Standardized Testing Tips & Tricks

Standardized Testing. (deep sigh)

I know, I know…test prep is the absolute LAST THING that any teacher wants to talk about, especially since Covid has completely disrupted our way of teaching, as well as our students’ way of learning. From issues with student behaviors to academically being behind…I’ve heard SO many teachers talk about the hardships they are facing due to the continual interruption of these uncertain times.

Standardized testing, however, is something that is inevitable, which is why I thought it would be a good idea to tell you what has worked for me in order to see my students achieve growth. Keep reading…

Academic Vocabulary & Standardized Tests

It is not enough to teach the skills that are on student exams, we have to teach them how to understand the academic vocabulary that they will see.

When I really started to dig into academic vocabulary, I saw student scores soar! I would spiral the vocabulary throughout the school year, and I even used a pocket chart as a place for them to play an academic vocabulary matching game as either a whole group, independently, or as center work.

I always maintained the goal to have each of my students calm and self-assured as they began testing. They were empowered with knowledge, and so the marriage of skill and academic jargon created the perfect duo for success.

Another way that I taught my students vocabulary, was through a PPT that I created. It was the perfect way to help with visual engagement in the learning process.

Text Evidence Responses

This is something that I have used or years! I keep these posters up year-long so that students can refer to them and get used to using them. It has made all the difference in their writing and also in their confidence in their own writing!

When answering open-ended responses, students need to know how to provide evidence, which is why this is so important to display.

Writing the Perfect Evidence-Based Response

I wish I could have a show of hands-on how many of you have to teach students how to write an effective open-ended response. In Pennsylvania, our fifth-grade students have to complete something called TDAs. These are Text Dependent Analysis questions. You are teaching your students how to analyze, infer, organize, and then write their findings in a five-paragraph essay. This is NOT an easy task, but I LOVED doing it!!

So what did I do?

I would show my students writing samplers that our state issued. They are past state exams that have been thrown out and are now used to instruct students on what will be seen as quality writing responses.

For a few days in class, everyone became a part of the state exam “scoring panel,” which is when we would hide the TDA scores on these samplers, read them, evaluate them according to the rubric the state uses, and rate each sampler.

This is a game-changer!! In order to make sure everyone would see these samplers, I put them on our Hovercam, which projected them onto our SmartBoard, which made them the size of our whiteboard! This was perfect for analyzing each response.