April and May bring many things – flowers, warmer weather, field trips, and fresh air. However, they also bring the dreaded end of the year state tests. For students and teachers alike, high-stakes state testing is draining and disheartening. However, you can take steps to help your students feel more prepared for these unavoidable assessments.
Practice Common Types of Test Questions
Obviously, with each grade level, the questions on the state test will increase in difficulty. However, many times, the question types remain similar. Taking time to teach, model, and practice each of the common testing question types will help students recognize them on the test and recall strategies to tackle them on testing day!
Each state test will use different question types. For example, in my state of Michigan, I realized that the ELA test often uses the following question types:
- Word Choice – asks for a better word to replace a designated word or phrase in a sentence or paragraph.
- Reliability/Research Sources – asks students to identify the most reliable website for a proposed purpose.
- Supporting Details – asks students to identify one or more details that support a conclusion or that do not support the given claim.
- Writing Craft – asks students to identify a sentence that best fits into a paragraph’s introduction, conclusion, transition, or body or to justify why an author would make a certain choice in terms of writing tone or content.
- Text Dependent Analysis – asks students to produce a piece of writing that answers a question and uses evidence from the provided text.
- Reading Passages – asks students to read a passage and reflect on a variety of comprehension questions, some are related to the previous question types.
In order to determine the question type patterns, I printed out the available example problems from multiple grade levels and cut them up into individual questions. Then, I sorted them into groups of similar questions. With this knowledge, I’m able to intentionally give my students practice with similar questions over the course of the year, so they feel less stressed on the test!
Start Early
Almost nothing drains students more than weeks and weeks of test prep right before the end-of-the-year test! Work test prep into your routine as early as you can to help students internalize test strategies and avoid burnout before the testing day! This can be a weekly routine, daily question, or making a habit of emphasizing word problems. You can even use practice problems from younger grades to review prerequisite skills and review them from the start of the year!
For math, I love using these MSTEP prep pages as a warm-up once or twice a week, especially when the concept we are learning aligns with one of the questions! Because they are 2 to a page, I can model my thinking on one problem, and have my students try the second!
Model Your Thinking
One of the toughest parts of answering each test question is learning how to think through all the parts of each question, especially if you have students who rush through their work in order to be done! To help students with this, model your thinking out loud when reviewing test questions. Be excessively clear about each thing you notice and how you would approach a mistake. This is especially helpful if you use a similar phrase or framework each time, as students can recall that phrase and it can help anchor them on tough problems. Be sure to give students a chance to apply the thinking independently and then provide feedback, as well!
Teach Test Strategies
Unfortunately, a huge part of success with high-stakes tests is knowing how to take a test. Take time all year to teach test strategies that students can practice in lower-stakes situations. My favorite strategy? Cross out wrong answers! It’s so satisfying to cross out an answer that I don’t think is right, and students’ thinking improves when they explain why an answer is wrong. It’s a great starting point for students who are stuck or anxious. A few other great strategies are:
- Take the practice seriously! Teachers are able to help you with the practice, but not on the test! It’s silly to miss out on that!
- Skip around if you are able! I like to do the easy problems first and skip any problem that I think might be challenging or time-consuming. Then, I go back and do the easier ones. For some online tests, this may not be an option. Be sure to check before you tell students this one!
- Actually use your tools and accommodations! If you are given a calculator – use it! If the test is read aloud – listen!
How will you help your students prepare for the end-of-the-year tests? I can’t wait to hear about it in the comments!
