Standardized test! Ugh! Every year I dread the time when I have to
really start to think about, “the test”.
The pressure is exhausting!
It wasn’t until this year that I started to really focus on
the verbs of the standards. You can read
about that here.
Teaching students what it means to explain, cite,
demonstrate, and categorize are among 42 of the words that my students interact with
throughout the year. We have a test prep
interactive notebook that we add to.
Students provide a synonym and an antonym, then provide examples on how the word may be used in both math and reading.
We continue to refer back to the notebooks throughout the year. It has been a powerful tool! When a student comes across a word in daily
practice or on a test, they like to go back to their notebooks and add the
example. There have been many ah-ha moments,
which is SO exciting!
You can find the Interactive Notebook for Test Prep Vocabulary Notebook shown above HERE or by clicking the image below.
To add a little fun we started playing bingo with these
powerful verbs. Since there are 42 verbs
that we have covered at this point, I usually choose about half of them at a
time when playing. Students know which
verbs will be called out during bingo, so they pick 16 of the words to place on
their board.
Then the fun begins.
I read the definition and/or give an example of how the word would be
used. For example, if the word is “cite”
I may simply read the definition. My favorite is to give them
an example, because it seems to be more meaningful. For example I may tell them they may need to
do this when describing a character and need to prove a point.
The traditional rules of bingo are followed, and the
students love it! They are having fun
playing a game while reviewing these crucial verbs! Amazing!
You can download the FREE Bingo for Test Prep Vocabulary HERE or by clicking the image below.
Wishing you and your students successful testing!
