When our students hear the word "test" they cringe and you can see the fear on their face. When we start to talk about the standardized test, that fear turns to panic and sheer horror. Thoughts flood their minds,  "I'm going to have to repeat 5th grade! My parents are going to ground me forever if I don't pass this test. Maybe I can pretend I'm sick and get out of the whole test. I wonder if I broke my writing arm if I would have to do it?" After 40 years of combined teaching at grade levels where standardized tests are administered, we have developed a TOP 10 LIST that we think will help not only your students, but yourself cope with the "stress of the test." #1: Treats! What student, or teacher for that matter, doesn't love treats? About a week before the test begins we read a letter to our students about how their parents can bring in healthy snacks and healthy drinks on the days of the test. This gets the students excited.......

For many of us in education, it's closing in on that time of year. You know the time I'm talking about... testing season. Just hearing the phrase uttered causes a feeling of anxiety to wash over me. So much pressure is placed upon teachers. Even more upsetting, though, is the pressure and anxiety that many of our students experience when the time to take standardized tests draws near. Too often, our students feel powerless when it comes to standardized tests. Therefore, when I spotted a book called The Anti-Test Anxiety Society as I was scrolling through Instagram one weekend, I had to check it out! It is written by Julia Cook, author of A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue and My Mouth is a Volcano . Before becoming an author, she was a school counselor and teacher. She lives in a small Nebraska town not far from my hometown, and she spoke to students at my elementary school several years ago. She was a phenomenal speaker! Anyway, when my book arrived, I read it immediately. ......

        Task cards are one of my favorite things in the classroom! I love how they provide concentrated practice for my students, how they can be used for any subject, but most of all, I like how engaging they can be. Students often view them as simply fun, although they are definitely an effective learning tool.         Another great thing about task cards is how versatile they are. They can be used in so many ways! In fact,  I wrote another blog post with  16 Ways to Use Task Cards , if you'd like a few more ideas!   Using task cards with board games is one activity that makes task cards even more fun!         So, how exactly do you add task cards to a board game?  1. Gather Some Board Games         If you're a mom or a dad, you may have lots of board games at home that your children have outgrown, or that you can borrow. You may also find them at garage sales or of......

With the rise of technology, standardized testing is not the same today as it used to be. The biggest hurdle is familiarizing students with the tools that they need to be able to use within the test itself.   After reviewing and dissecting test questions and scores from last year, my teaching partner and I came to the conclusion that our largest pitfall was our students' ability to manipulate the technology enhanced questions.   So, how do we overcome this hurdle?  Provide opportunity for practice and expose students to the type of questions that they may encounter.   Five of the most common type of questions I have found to occur on the computerized standardized tests are the follow: Drag and Drop Students are required to drag an item from one part of the screen to another.   Multiple Select These types of questions are similar to multiple choice with one major exception, students select more than one answer.   Text Sel......

I think one of the most effective ways to reinforce learning in the classroom is to play games. Games are great for test prep and really for any time of the year. The great thing about games is that for most kids, you've got instant buy-in, as well as engagement. They love playing games and when kids are having fun in the classroom, I think they're often learning whether they know it or not! So, here are six of my tried and true favorite review games: 1. Stump the Expert I start by placing five chairs in the front of the classroom facing the class, while I go and stand in the back of the room, facing the front of the room. Everyone takes out whiteboards (Home Depot shower board that was cut for a class set for $14.00), expo markers and their erasers (small carpet scraps). I randomly choose 5 kids to be the first experts and then I ask a question from whatever subject we're working on. Everyone writes down the answer but holds it to their chests so no one can see......

Hello! It's Deb Hanson from  Crafting Connections  today! Today I'm going to share three helpful test-taking strategy that you can teach your students for when they encounter  synonym  and/or  antonym  questions on standardized tests! What is your reaction when you see an ELA test question like this? As an ELL specialist who worked with 3rd-5th grade ELLs for more than ten years, I can tell you that viewing such a question causes me to break out in a sweat! While my ELLs know the difference between a synonym and antonym, they so often don't get to prove  their knowledge because of the advanced vocabulary words, like tenacious, present in multiple-choice questions. After encountering several standardized test questions like this one, I began to teach my ELLs a few test-taking strategies in hopes that I would be giving them the tools that would allow them to be as successful as possible. In my opinion, these strategies are beneficial......