Test prep can be so draining, for both students and teachers. In a behavior support classroom, this is the time of year when our students frequent our rooms more often. Anxieties are high, and behaviors pop up.
This year, I took a fun, easy approach to test prep. I explicitly taught students how to take standardized tests, using my Test Prep Decades sets. We had "dances" throughout the decades, with theme Powerpoints for the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. The students LOVED this! I played some well-known songs from the decades using Grooveshark.com (Pandora.com was blocked by our servers).
I also played some "students vs. the teacher" games. These are fun, because they teach teamwork, and the students always love to try to beat the teacher. I mean, who wouldn't?! (Although, I did have one little guy who pretended not to know an answer to try and help me get points... too cute!)
We also played baseball. We moved the desks out of the way and taped plates and bases to the floor with Painter's tape (could also use stage tape... or masking tape if you're planning to take it off right away... otherwise it sticks for good!). Partners also used tape to make numbers and names for their shirts.
Thanks to Graphics from the Pond for the font in this picture!
Next, I air "pitched" them a question. They had three chances to answer (strikes), and out of four choices it was pretty easy to "hit" the ball.
I took our review packets and put numbers beside each question--
Single - Easy
Double - Slightly more challenging
Triple - Challenging
Home Run - Very challenging
This made it easy to differentiate for students. It also made it easy for students to "pitch" questions to me, because they just had to read it off of the paper.
I made a printable score board, which we used to keep track of the points.
This year, I took a fun, easy approach to test prep. I explicitly taught students how to take standardized tests, using my Test Prep Decades sets. We had "dances" throughout the decades, with theme Powerpoints for the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. The students LOVED this! I played some well-known songs from the decades using Grooveshark.com (Pandora.com was blocked by our servers).
I also played some "students vs. the teacher" games. These are fun, because they teach teamwork, and the students always love to try to beat the teacher. I mean, who wouldn't?! (Although, I did have one little guy who pretended not to know an answer to try and help me get points... too cute!)
We also played baseball. We moved the desks out of the way and taped plates and bases to the floor with Painter's tape (could also use stage tape... or masking tape if you're planning to take it off right away... otherwise it sticks for good!). Partners also used tape to make numbers and names for their shirts.
Next, I air "pitched" them a question. They had three chances to answer (strikes), and out of four choices it was pretty easy to "hit" the ball.
I took our review packets and put numbers beside each question--
Single - Easy
Double - Slightly more challenging
Triple - Challenging
Home Run - Very challenging
This made it easy to differentiate for students. It also made it easy for students to "pitch" questions to me, because they just had to read it off of the paper.
I made a printable score board, which we used to keep track of the points.
What do you do to make test prep more fun? Please share in the comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment