Standardized tests are a fact of life for students and teachers. However, it is not necessary to “teach to the
test.” Instead of succumbing to the
pressure of getting your students ready for “the big test,” keep reviewing
skills previously taught throughout the school year.
Three Easy Ways to Review
1. Spiral
Your Curriculum: In a spiral curriculum,
learning is spread out over time rather than being concentrated in shorter
periods. In a spiral curriculum, material is revisited repeatedly over months
and can easily be differentiated. For instance, I teach adding and subtracting
fractions to my 5th graders after winter vacation. But in reality, I start teaching this skill
in the beginning of the school year. I have 3rd and 4th
grade task cards/scoot games/center activities that students play during
structured math time (usually in centers, but sometimes during small group time). For students who show mastery of the skills,
I assign them “special group activities” which they can use with other peers in
the same group. (These activities are
the grade level task cards/scoot games/center activities that I use later in
the school year but are more appropriate for these students.) You need to know your students’ strengths and
weakness when you are spiraling your curriculum. When I begin the chapter where students are
formally being taught adding and subtracting fractions, the students who
already used the activities use it as a review and can also assist their peers as
they work through the problems.
2. Gamify
Your Classroom: Once you have taught a standard,
put activities/games/flashcards in your center area for each group. For instance, in the beginning of the year I
teach Order of Operations to my students.
This year I have two math groups of students who are below level. In their center bins they had single-digit
multiplication and also addition flashcards and the other group had single
digit division and subtraction flashcards as well. This allowed those students to work in pairs
to reinforce their basic skills, and to be/feel successful while practicing
basic and necessary skills. What about
my on-level students, you ask? Well they
also had addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division flashcards in
their bin when I taught Order of Operations.
However, they had weekly challenges (which they loved!) involving their cards. They were given one “magic” number each week,
and then needed to take the cards out of the packs and paperclip them to a
sentence strip (in the order they wanted them) and use a pencil to draw
parenthesis on the sentence strip… the equations with the paper clipped cards
needed to equal the specified “magic” number.
3. Use
Task Cards and Play Scoot: Whether you teach
Reading, Math, Science, etc. you can always take a set of task cards that have previously
been in a center and review the skill with a whole class game of Scoot. Scoot is so easy to implement, and students
love being able to move around. In order
to play you need enough task cards for every student in your class, a recording
sheet for each student (it can be as simple as numbering a piece of paper), enough
time for students to rotate to each card, and then enough time for you to
review the answers with your students.
Place one task card on each student desk, or in front of each
student if yours sit at tables, and make sure you let your students know where
each number is placed. (It can be tricky
the first few times you play, but if you place the cards in the same numerical
order each time - after 3 or 4 times your students will be pro’s at where to go
next.) Students stand behind each desk
and work on the task card. After about
one minute, you say “Scoot” (or use another signal word… for instance I say “Moo”
since my students know that I love cows).
Once the signal word is called students leave their task card, take
their recording sheet and pencil, and scoot/move over to the next task card and
begin working on that problem right away.
This can be done with any subject and I have played this game with
students in 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th…
all students LOVE playing Scoot!
As you can see, it is not necessary to teach to the test. You can review
standards all year long and have fun doing it too!
Hopefully, after reading this post you have some great ideas on how you
can review basic skills and grade level standards throughout your school
year. If you have any questions or need
help, feel free to reach out. I love
hearing from and collaborating with other teachers. To stay connected be sure to follow me on
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