In Kindergarten we don't take very many tests, so I'm going to give you some tips on how we help encourage the older students in our school! The K-2 classes pair up with a 3-5 class. We make them cards to wish them good luck on the standardized tests that they take a few times a year. The students don't know that we are making them cards, and their teacher surprises them with it on the 1st day of testing.
Peace signs are my girls' new favorite things to draw in my class ;)
We also do a big school wide assembly celebration at the beginning of the testing week. In the past, we've had cheerleaders and our high school mascot come in and get the kids excited. For the past 2 years, all of the teachers have done a fun parody of a popular song, similar to some I'm sure you've seen on Youtube. The kids absolutely love seeing the teachers dress up and sing & dance! Thanks goodness I couldn't find any pictures or videos of this!
My mom is a 6th grade teacher, so I asked her for some tips & tricks. Many of her ideas have already been mentioned on the previous posts from our Elementary Entourage friends. Great minds think alike! This year, her school made an "effort checklist". The students would evaluate themselves on how they did during each portion of the test. At the end of all of the tests, any student that truly did their best and worked hard got recess. 6th graders don't get recess anymore, so they were pumped! My mom said that the teachers go through and see if the students were honest with their answers on the effort checklist. It's ultimately up to the teacher to decide if the student did their best and deserves the recess.
What kind of tips and tricks do you use in your classroom to help your students prepare for testing?
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