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4 Authentic State Testing Prep Ideas

4 Authentic State Testing Prep Ideas

state-testing-prep

State Testing Prep isn't a fun topic to talk about, but it's a reality public school teachers face. Instead of stressing about the test, preparing can happen naturally year round. This doesn't mean teaching to the test, rather helping build students' skills so they are comfortable with the testing platform.
In turn, students are learning valuable technology skills that can be carried into other content areas.

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State Testing Prep | #1 Get Kids Typing

Just like handwriting, typing takes practice. While there is value in using typing games, this shouldn't be the only way students learn to type. Typing games can be great homework practice or a morning warm-up.
The real typing practice takes place when students are using the computer authentically.
Yes, it will take students forever to complete assignments through typing. At first.
However, the more it's an integrated part of the classroom, the less stressful typing will be for students. Published pieces are a great start, but also have students type “unpublished work”. Typing shouldn't be seen as a final piece type of tool. 
Think about how we, as adults, use computers daily to complete tasks. Not also of us are typing to create a published piece! Emailing, texting and lesson planning are a few of many ways how typing improves efficiency into our lives.
Students should have the same opportunities as well, that are appropriate to their learning environment, to use typing authentically.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Give kids a creative writing prompt once a week where they need to type what comes to their brian and not having to use the entire writing process.
  • Have students typing their thinking about reading when using paper books.
  • Turn the weekly reading log and response into a digital assignment
  • Have students explain their thinking when solving a math problem through typing
The more integrated assignments are, the more kids will respond naturally when they are posed typing questions on a test.

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State Testing Prep | #2 Answer Digital Questions

Along with having students type in a variety of ways, answering questions online is equally as important. Many questions on the computer are different than traditional paper & pencil tests. Both have importance, and both need to be practiced.
Some varying question types that differ on the computer are: scrolling on a page, toggling between two tabs and drag and drop questions.

Below are some great free resources to use with your students year round to practice answering digital questions.

1. Readworks.org: Differentiated reading articles you can digitally assign to students with corresponding questions

2. TweenTribune.com: Kid-friendly current events with deep thinking questions and a few multiple choice. There are often a few differentiated levels of each article as well.

3. Google Forms: Students don't need a Google Account to answer questions on a Google Form. Take a screenshot of the math problem/reading article you want students to focus on. Then, create different types of questions to correspond with it.

4. IXL.com: While there is a paid monthly membership, students can still answer a certain number of questions for free each day. The site is organized by grade-level, math concepts, and standards. It will immediate tell students if they are correct of incorrect with their thinking.

5. Math Playground.com: Free online math manipulatives. Using tangible manipulatives is important too, but students do need to know how to use digital manipulatives for various testing platforms.

6. GetEpic.com: This is an amazing, free-for-teachers website. With eBooks, audio books, read-to-me and videos not connected to YouTube, teachers can find resources that fit any content area. Teachers can also create quizzes for books with your own questions.

7. BoomLearning.com: This is also a website that has free and paid features. You can assign digital, self-correcting task cards to students for free to correspond with your content. There are many free card decks and paid decks to choose from.

 

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State Testing Prep | #3 Answer Questions Using a Rubric

Students should be given time to practice a short constructed response in comparison to a rubric. After reading an article, have students respond digitally through typing. Then, print their responses for the following day (without names).

Pass out the written responses and in partnerships, have students evaluate the responses based on the criteria rubric. Afterwards, discuss as a class why certain responses were scored accordingly.

This exercise isn't meant to embarrass kids; rather a learning opportunity on how they can improve. This also gives students a chance for their work to be seen from a different point of view.

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State Testing Prep | #4 Learn Testing Tools

Part of the reason why students become overwhelmed with testing on the computer is knowing how to access the digital tools.

I teach in Colorado and we take CMAS, which. is a form of PARCC. There is a practice website to view and try question types and respond digitally.

As the testing window draws closer, practice with students how to use the tools on the practice website first. Creating a scavenger hunt to help search for and access the tools can help guide students' exploration.

Here is an example of one scavenger hunt task:

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If possible, have students work in pairs to complete the hunt. This will give students the opportunity to talk about accessing the tools in a less stressful environment and add an element of gamification to the lesson.
 
Does your state use PARCC or CMAS? Click here to grab these scavenger hunts for 3rd-5th grades. They are no-prep and also include a mini lesson to help introduce the test and question types.

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Don't forget to grab these scavenger hunts for your class!

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What questions do you have about preparing for state testing? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ or send me an email, contactnaomimeredith(at)gmail.com, and I would love to chat with you!