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Saturday, March 11, 2023

Test-Prep Throughout the Year



Standardized tests are a fact of life for students and teachers.  However, it is not necessary to “teach to the test.”  Instead of succumbing to the pressure of getting your students ready for “the big test,” keep reviewing skills previously taught throughout the school year. 
Three Easy Ways to Review
1. Spiral Your Curriculum:  In a spiral curriculum, learning is spread out over time rather than being concentrated in shorter periods. In a spiral curriculum, material is revisited repeatedly over months and can easily be differentiated. For instance, I teach adding and subtracting fractions to my 5th graders after winter vacation.  But in reality, I start teaching this skill in the beginning of the school year. I have 3rd and 4th grade task cards/scoot games/center activities that students play during structured math time (usually in centers, but sometimes during small group time).  For students who show mastery of the skills, I assign them “special group activities” which they can use with other peers in the same group.  (These activities are the grade level task cards/scoot games/center activities that I use later in the school year but are more appropriate for these students.)  You need to know your students’ strengths and weakness when you are spiraling your curriculum.  When I begin the chapter where students are formally being taught adding and subtracting fractions, the students who already used the activities use it as a review and can also assist their peers as they work through the problems.
2. Gamify Your Classroom:  Once you have taught a standard, put activities/games/flashcards in your center area for each group.  For instance, in the beginning of the year I teach Order of Operations to my students.  This year I have two math groups of students who are below level.  In their center bins they had single-digit multiplication and also addition flashcards and the other group had single digit division and subtraction flashcards as well.  This allowed those students to work in pairs to reinforce their basic skills, and to be/feel successful while practicing basic and necessary skills.  What about my on-level students, you ask?  Well they also had addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division flashcards in their bin when I taught Order of Operations.  However, they had weekly challenges (which they loved!) involving their cards.  They were given one “magic” number each week, and then needed to take the cards out of the packs and paperclip them to a sentence strip (in the order they wanted them) and use a pencil to draw parenthesis on the sentence strip… the equations with the paper clipped cards needed to equal the specified “magic” number.
3. Use Task Cards and Play Scoot:  Whether you teach Reading, Math, Science, etc. you can always take a set of task cards that have previously been in a center and review the skill with a whole class game of Scoot.  Scoot is so easy to implement, and students love being able to move around.  In order to play you need enough task cards for every student in your class, a recording sheet for each student (it can be as simple as numbering a piece of paper), enough time for students to rotate to each card, and then enough time for you to review the answers with your students. 
Place one task card on each student desk, or in front of each student if yours sit at tables, and make sure you let your students know where each number is placed.  (It can be tricky the first few times you play, but if you place the cards in the same numerical order each time - after 3 or 4 times your students will be pro’s at where to go next.)  Students stand behind each desk and work on the task card.  After about one minute, you say “Scoot” (or use another signal word… for instance I say “Moo” since my students know that I love cows).  Once the signal word is called students leave their task card, take their recording sheet and pencil, and scoot/move over to the next task card and begin working on that problem right away.  This can be done with any subject and I have played this game with students in 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th… all students LOVE playing Scoot!
As you can see, it is not necessary to teach to the test. You can review standards all year long and have fun doing it too!
Hopefully, after reading this post you have some great ideas on how you can review basic skills and grade level standards throughout your school year.  If you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out.  I love hearing from and collaborating with other teachers.  To stay connected be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to this blog!
  I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your feedback in the comments. I look forward to connecting with you!



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