ANDREA RUNNELS
WOW! Testing season is here and it’s time for the big show. Like in 8 hours! I decided to spend Friday helping my 5th graders combat test anxiety instead of having a cram session. I am a firm believer in promoting the concept of “believe and you will achieve.” Here are some of the things I did for test prep in the weeks building up to the test.
1) Show testing parodies. My class really loves this “Thrift Shop” parody. I have several other parodies pinned on this Pinterest board. I also had my students try out writing their own when they had some free time!
2) I uploaded several study guides, review Power Points, and other links on my course page. This is our county version of a website. Check your state’s Department of Education (DOE) website for testing info. The Georgia DOE has a testing guide that is almost 200 pages! Google is your best friend when it comes to test prep stuff!
3) I asked my students this one question about the Georgia Milestones, “What is the worst that could happen?” And of course the answer was they would have to go to summer school and retake the test. Nothing life-threatening so it isn’t something to be extremely worried about.
4) I then had them write down their worries on red paper because I told them they are “red-y” for the test. While they did this I had a little heart-to-heart pep talk about eliminating friend drama, setting themselves up for success by going to bed early starting on Friday, eating the right way and dressing comfortably, and coming up with a plan if they get stressed out over the weekend. I gave them suggestions like going for a walk (with parent permission), listening to music, drawing, reading, talking to someone, yoga, or writing. The Flocabulary blog has a great post with tips for helping kids deal with stress. Blog Post
5) Speaking of Flocabulary, I used one of the Vocabulary clips to help the students reframe their thinking. I didn’t want to just leave them thinking about their worries and no outlet!! I gave them some examples of positive self-talk and then we watched this clip. Of course you have to have a subscription. They do offer free trials! I Want Fame
6) Next on the agenda was making test confetti! And after doing this with all three classes I teach I was exhausted! It was worth it though! The kids LOVED it! I had them rip up their worries while playing a cheesy Zumba song called Shine that is probably from the 70s. Then they threw them in the air, stomped on them, and trashed them! What a way to let them go!
7) I had some BOOM post-it notes left over from my Post-It Treasure Box so I thought those would be perfect to have my students write down their own personal testing mantra. On the back they wrote down an action plan for what they could do this weekend or during the testing weeks if they got stressed out.
I plan to follow up tomorrow morning with my annual tradition of positive testing sayings that are puns with types of candy. I jazzed up the boring old ones I had and posted them in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I could never find exactly what I wanted—–>meaning the ones with the most candy for the least amount of money! So I created my own. I hope you can use them to help ease your students test anxiety!
I would love to know what you do to help ease your students testing worries!
