test prep

Test Prep Blog Hop–11 Top Reading Test Prep Tips

Welcome to the Test Prep Blog Hop from the ladies at The Lesson Deli! Here is how it works. You will hop through a few blogs, pick up some freebies and maybe learn some test-prep tips, plus enter Rafflecopter drawings for some great prizes… Such as a Starbucks gift card to perk you up during testing season or an Amazon gift card to buy a few books for your classroom (or something for yourself!). The Rafflecopter contest runs from Thursday, August 26 through Sunday, March 1, 2015. Get to hoppin’ and have some fun!

Oh, and if you’ve got a great test-prep tip, comment below!

–The Pensive Sloth

Here’s my close reading FREEBIE to help with test prep… Are you teaching students to analyze persuasive texts, identify examples of persuasive language and the effect that language has on the reader? Want to give students concrete examples of comparison, causality, parallelism, misleading statements, exaggerated statements, and contradictory statements using a high-interest text? Look no further! Here’s a new lesson, “A Baby Boa?,” with embedded test prep. The close reading passage is FREE below. Just click the image to download. You can find the foldable, skill activity, poster, vocabulary activity, and standardized test-prep reading comprehension questions that go with the passage in my TPT store.

Click the image to download this FREEBIE close reading passage. For the foldable, skill activity, poster, vocabulary activity, and reading comprehension test prep that go with this passage, visit my TPT store. This passage can be used to teach persuasive techniques such as comparison, causality, parallelism, exaggerated statements, misleading statements, and contradictory statements.

Ready to WIN a treat for your classroom? You can order books or spoil yourself with this Amazon gift card! You’re a teacher. You work HARD. You deserve it!

Rafflecopter Test Prep Blog Hop for Amazon Gift Card from The Pensive Sloth Feb. 26 to March 1, 2015

CLICK a Rafflecopter giveaway to go to Rafflecopter’s site for a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card. It’s easy and fun!

Then go to the next stop in the hop, Simone’s Math Resources Blog, to see some MATH test prep ideas!

Anchor Chart Attack

OK, so if you live in Texas or another state with a big test…basically anywhere in the US…you know the challenge that anchor charts present. I love anchor charts! My students use them. I don’t spend a ton of time making them pretty, but rather focus on making them meaningful for my kiddos because we create them together. My challenge is where to put them? I am self-contained, so I have anchor charts everywhere about everything. Other than anchor chart overload and running out of space, when the big test comes it all has to come down or be covered.

I am trying something new this year. I bought a few command hooks, some colorful dollar store clips, and grabbed a few plastic hangers and voila! My anchor charts are now removable. I could only get back far enough to see part of the wall where they are hanging, so I’m sorry about the picture. I’ll work on getting a better one up soon. Actually, they are hanging on cabinets above student lockers. It’s not perfect, but it should help significantly with hiding all of the learning and help before the big test!

See for yourself:

Fraction Boot Camp–Preparing for the STAAR Test

With our state test approaching we are reviewing concepts from earlier in the year to make sure we’ve got it! Fraction Boot Camp was one way our class prepared this year. Here’s how Fraction Boot Camp worked in my classroom:

STEP 1–Write fraction standards on chart paper, set class goals, and plan a class celebration. Our class decided on 85% for each assessment as our goal and that we would celebrate with a picnic outside on a nice weather day when we met our goal.

STEP 2–Review each skill with a mini-lesson, have students complete a few ‘number problems’ to make sure they understand, then give partner time to work some word problems while meeting with a small group who needs a little extra help. Number problems are simply working with the numbers. I need to know that my students understand equivalent fractions with mixed numbers and improper fractions prior to giving them lots of word problems to solve! Check out CC Sheets. It is one of my favorites for number only problems. Because I teach the TEKS and not CC, I search by skill rather than standard and grade level.

STEP 3– Assess and report class averages on the chart. The kids love to see their progress posted in the classroom.

$Valentine's Day fractions matching game for equivalent fractions, including mixed numbers and improper fractions$

Valentine’s Day fractions matching game for equivalent fractions, including mixed numbers and improper fractions

This year’s Fraction Boot Camp was a big success! Our class averages were in the 90s each time and we got to celebrate with a picnic outside. We also played some fraction games and you can find those here! There is a winter set, Valentine’s Day set, and St. Patrick’s Day shamrock set.

$St. Patrick's Day/Shamrock Theme Game--Students sort fractions by finding equivalent fractions and matching them to the simplified (or reduced) fraction.$

St. Patrick’s Day/Shamrock Theme Game–Students sort fractions by finding equivalent fractions and matching them to the simplified (or reduced) fraction.