State testing has arrived. Students have worked hard all year, and now it’s time for them to show what they know!
Students will be expected to:
- Answer multiple choice questions
- Write short constructed responses to reading
- Write a paragraph(s) (younger students)
- Write an extended piece (older students)
- Edit
The tests vary slightly from state to state, but general test-taking principles apply across the board. Ideally, these skills should be taught all year long. Still, it is always good idea to do a refresher of test taking tips and strategies with your students/children before they test:
- Read all the answers before you mark one. Often all of the answers have some relationship to the text. Pick the one that is most related to the text.
- Look back at the passage to locate answers. Think about where in the passage the answer might be found and read that part.
- When writing, make sure you write to the prompt and use the language of the prompt in your paragraph or essay.
- Make a plan to keep the writing organized. Include a beginning, middle, and end.
- Be sure to include interesting details.
- Reread your writing prompt to check for capitalization, punctuation, and any errors.
Keep in mind, state testing is only once a year, and offers just a “snap shot” of students’ capabilities.
These test taking strategies and skills are good for all year long. They may seem a little obvious, but I see students make these type of mistakes (e.g. not reading all the choices, etc.) all the time! I hope this helps.
