Test Taking Strategies for ELA Test Prep

Tis the season for test prep and state testing. If you are looking for effective standardized test-taking strategies to teach your students, this resource is for you. With these 15 test-taking strategies, you’ll have everything you need to prepare your students to understand how to take a standardized test. Students will learn strategies like how to come up with a pacing plan for their state test, how to categorize test questions, and how to answer multiple-choice questions without getting distracted by the answer choices. 

These test-prep strategy lessons are low prep and easy to use. These lessons are high-impact for your students but are low prep for you. Each test-taking strategy lesson includes a scripted teacher lesson plan, a test-taking strategy anchor chart, a student practice activity, and a reflection sheet. You get everything you need to successfully prepare your students to take a standardized test. 

And these lessons are quick to teach. Each lesson will introduce your students to a bite-sized test-taking strategy. The lesson plans and anchor chart make it super quick to introduce and model this strategy to your students. And the practice activity included in each lesson can be done in 10-15 minutes. Once students learn these strategies, they can practice applying them anytime they take a practice test. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Here is a list of all the test-taking strategies included in this resource:

• Strategy #1 - Characteristics of a Standardized Test
• Strategy #2 - Carefully Read the Directions
• Strategy #3 - Pace Yourself
• Strategy #4 - A Pep-Talk for Confidence
• Strategy #5 - Right There vs. Thinking Questions
• Strategy #6 - Pay Attention to Word Choice
• Strategy #7 - Answer Before Looking at the Options
• Strategy #8 - Eliminating Incorrect Answer Choices
• Strategy #9 - Rephrasing Test Questions
• Strategy #10 - Locating Right There Evidence
• Strategy #11 - Creating Graphic Organizers
• Strategy #12 - Collecting Text Evidence
• Strategy #13 - Getting Ready at Home
• Strategy #14 - The Four C’s of Test Review
• Strategy #15 - Don’t Forget to Bubble In

Click HERE To check out a free sample of strategy #7 - Answer Before Looking at the Options

If you want to see exactly what is included with each lesson, be sure to check out the preview. I provide screenshots and a summary of every single strategy included in this resource. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU GET FOR EACH TEST-TAKING STRATEGY:

• 15 Scripted out teacher lesson plans (one for each test-taking strategy)
• 15 Test-Taking Strategy Anchor Charts
• 15 Student Reflection Sheets
• 15 Student Practice Activities (Includes a variety of reading passages with multiple-choice questions, a question sort, test exploration page, pep-talk letter template, home letter template, two student bookmarks, and more!)

Check out the preview to see examples of everything that is included in each of the test-taking strategy lessons.

LET'S BREAK DOWN EACH TEST PREP LESSON ELEMENT:

• Scripted Teacher Lesson Plan - These scripted lesson plans provide you with the exact language you can use to teach your lesson. If you are a new teacher or aren’t confident in how to teach test-taking strategies, these lessons will be your test-prep best friend. 
• Anchor Chart - You’ll get an anchor chart for each test-taking strategy included in this set. They are a great resource to use when you are introducing and teaching the strategy, AND you can post them on a bulletin board during test prep to remind students of all the test-taking strategies they have learned. 
• Student Activity - Depending on the test-prep strategy you’ll get a different student activity. Each lesson includes some form of practice activity. It might be a question sort, a passage with multiple choice questions, or a letter they write themselves as a pep-talk for test day. Each activity is aligned to the specific test-prep strategy. 
• Reflection Sheet - These half-sheet pages are a great way to end your test prep lesson. Students will be prompted to reflect on the strategy and think about how they can apply it on test day. 

With a toolbox filled with all these strategies, your students will feel confident and ready to tackle their tests. 

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN USE THIS RESOURCE IN YOUR CLASSROOM:

• Teach these test-taking strategies to your class during your whole group lessons. 
• Use them during a small group with just a handful of students who need help with a certain strategy. 
• Use them during Saturday or after school tutorials that focus on test prep
• Send home to parents as ideas for how they can help their students prepare for the test

If you teach one test-taking strategy lesson every day, you’ll have enough lessons for three weeks' worth of test prep! It’s the perfect amount of time to prep your students to take their state test! 

LOVED BY BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: 

→ Your students will love learning concrete strategies they can use on test day. They will feel a lot more confident about taking a standardized test at the end of the year.

→ You’ll love how quick and easy it is to prep and teach these test-prep lessons. Each lesson set is just print and teach and the lessons themselves don’t take much time at all.

→Your students will have fun with the practice activities. They will enjoy test prep activities that go beyond just taking a practice test. These practice activities are fun, engaging, and some are just a little bit silly. 

→ You’ll love how effective these strategies are. They really do help students understand HOW to take a standardized test. 

Please Note: This resource does not include actual practice tests. While it does include some student practice activities that mirror a test (passages and multiple-choice questions)  It is designed to work in connection with the practice material released by your state. These lessons are truly designed to teach students how to effectively take a multiple-choice test and the materials will work well with any standardized test materials provided by your state/district. 

Additionally, these materials work best if you are administering a paper-pencil test. We realize that many schools are doing digital tests, and maybe in the future, we will provide resources to support digital testing. 

This resource does not include a digital option at this time. 

**This resource is included in The Stellar Teacher Reading Membership**

I THINK YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

→ Reading Strategy Lessons Year-Long Bundle

→ Reading Skill Task Cards - Perfect for Test Prep

→ Reading Reference Sheet Bundle

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