Whether you’re crunched for time, or you just want to focus on a few high-impact test review skills without overwhelming yourself or your students, I’ve got you covered.
In fact, the three skills I’m sharing with you are wildly helpful to implement all throughout the year—-not just for test prep only. If you’re thinking about how to get the school year running next time ‘round as well as what you can do now, then these three skills will support you.
It’s not about making test review feel like test review; it’s about student engagement and having massive impact without burning out.
Let’s get started!
#1 Reading Test Review Skill: ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
This is the genre-specific vocabulary your students need that are unique to your reading content.
Examples:
Fiction Vocabulary >> Plot, conflict, characterization
Argument >> Point of view, claim, bias, author’s purpose
Poetry >> Stanza, lines, imagery, theme
^ Those are just a few ideas to get you started, so consider genre-specific words and phrases you’ll need beyond just the handful I shared. Also consider other genres such as informational or expository texts, drama, etc.
Then, use my renowned “Tents for Talking” method I go into detail with right here. In a nutshell, you fold a piece of paper horizontally (ideally, you’ll use a heavy card stock because they stand up on desks and are more durable). On each side of the “tent” you just created, you list all kinds of academic, genre-specific words, phrases, and sentence stems that students will encounter throughout their tests. Then, provide one tent per small group of students so they can refer to it as they discuss the reading selection. This ensures that they have choices and that they get to see, hear, and use these terms and phrases on a regular basis. Pro tip: You can create a set of tents for each genre and keep them handy so they’re always ready to go because you can use them repeatedly.
Get my entire genre-specific “Tents for Talking” Collection right here!
Get a whole host of other hands-on, engaging strategies for vocabulary in the classroom during test review season when you join us for the one & only virtual test prep event to help Middle School Reading + Writing Teachers review for “The Test” without feeling like you’re actually reviewing.
#2 Reading Test Review Skill: THOSE RIGOROUS QUESTIONS!
This particular skill requires absolutely zero prep for the teacher, and yet I’ve found it to be the single most impactful use of time when it comes to test review. . . And it works wonders for both struggling students and for those who fly through the questions way too quickly and then miss what’s asked of them.
Think about this: A student reads the selection and actually comprehends it! This student has some thoughtful insights and genuinely seems engaged. Then that student reads the questions (let’s assume this is a practice scenario—not the real test) and needs help.
“I don’t get the question,” they ask you, brow wrinkled and frustration creeping into their voice. “I don’t get this. What is it asking?”
- The author best conveys his message through which of the following…
– What does convey mean? Is message the same as theme?
- How can the reader infer the author’s purpose in sharing the anecdote…
– Am I the one inferring? Or is the author inferring? What’s an anecdote?
- The use of the metaphor in line 7 highlights which central message…
– What do they mean by highlight? Is central message a main idea or theme?
I don’t ever want a student to miss a question simply because they didn’t understand what the question was asking in the first place.
So the skill I’m talking about here is simple in addressing that.
All you need to do is allow time in class (works best in a small group scenario like a station) where you simply talk about what the questions on a test—a practice test—are asking.
That’s it!
You’re not reading the passage itself. You’re not literally trying to answer the questions. All you’re doing with students is talking through what the question wants them to do.
This is eye-opening! You could spend half an hour just going through 10 test questions and allowing your students to talk about what those questions are asking: What certain words mean (i.e. convey, illustrate, underscores, highlights, infers, etc).
And if I haven’t invited you yet (wink!) please join us for a deeper discussion on all things test prep for reading comprehension and analysis. When you do, you get not just practical tips and ideas like what I’m sharing here in this article—you also get actual lessons, materials, and resources to use in class right away so you implement now!
Join us for the one & only virtual test prep event to help Middle School Reading + Writing Teachers review for “The Test” without feeling like you’re actually reviewing.
#3 Reading Test Review Skill: MAKING LOGICAL INFERENCES!
I’ve stopped thinking about how to help my students infer. . . Because they can definitely do THAT. The problem is that so often, their inferences are totally off-base, not founded on facts or the best text evidence, or simply created based on reading through their own schemas.
That’s why I’m niching down to LOGICAL inferences, ha!
The best way I’ve found to help my student make the best logical inferences based on the best text evidence is to tie it back to author’s purpose.
Yes, the author’s purpose!
Whether it’s a poem, a speech, an editorial-style passage, or even a fictional character in a short story… If students can make an inference that is supported by the PURPOSE of the author (or speaker, or character) in sharing something in the selection, then the odds are in their favor that they’ll make the best, most logical inference.
Oftentimes students feel that test questions or answer choices are trying to trick them. They can typically rule out two of the four answer choices pretty quickly, but the problem is that usually there are two choices that seem very similar. One is a good choice, but one is the better choice.
When students feel like they’re stuck in a jam in this way, my rule of thumb for them is choose the answer that most aligns with the author’s purpose.
In general, when you consider the overall reading selection, is the author…
- trying to get you to believe something? Do something? Understand something?
- hoping to make a connection between something from his past and the present?
- making a point or sharing an opinion about a specific topic he cares about?
In other words, when we can teach our students to get clear on the author’s reason (purpose) for writing something or for including a certain detail, then that clarity can help guide us to choosing the best answer over the one that’s just “good.”
Then, understanding an author’s purpose becomes a tool in our students’ toolboxes that they can use to help themselves when they feel like they’re in a jam during a multiple choice testing scenario.
Better yet, if we can move them into a place where they can annotate out to the side of a passage an author’s purpose for including a flashback, or an anecdote, or anything at all really, we are empowering our students to simply be better readers.
And THAT goes far beyond test review.
^These three practical reading skill tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to engaging test prep that doesn’t feel like test prep… And that serves students and teachers outside of testing season.
Join us for the one & only virtual test prep event to help Middle School Reading + Writing Teachers review for “The Test” without feeling like you’re actually reviewing.
