Test Prep Ideas and a Linky Party!

Adrianne Meldrum from The Tutor House is hosting a Test Prep Linky Party at her blog! She has been kind enough to invite me to contribute to this Linky!

Test Prep

I taught 2nd grade for one full year last year. I began the Words Their Way program with my students and every Friday my students took a spelling/phonics skills test. Every day students would rotate through word study groups during Daily 5 time. Since the test was given Friday, Thursdays would be our test prep day. Since so many students love to learn through games, my students would prepare for Friday's test with a game of ZAP! If you haven't played ZAP! before, please know it is SO easy to organize and play!

ZAP!

1. Using the Words Their Way blank templates (or the ones I've created that you can access here), write or print ZAP! on 5 or 6 cards.

2. Combine ZAP! cards with the spelling/phonics words in a cup/container. Make sure it is not see-through.

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3. Have students sit in a circle.

4. Have one student hold the cup while the student to their left draws a word. The student then says the word (you can also have them find the sort category it would belong in, or address any other skill your test will be over). 

5. If the student answers correctly, they get to keep the card. If not, then they put it back and the cup is shaken to mix the words up.

6. When a student draws a ZAP! card, they have to put all of their words back into the cup!

7. The student(s) with the most words at the end of the round wins!

My second graders loved this game! It is ideal for small group, but can also be done whole class.

Jeopardy

Earlier this year I helped prepare a Jeopardy game for a staff meeting at my school. We had recently received some data and my Principal asked if I could make the review fun. We are in the process of beginning a 1:1 program, so I wanted to use our iPads as answer boards for our staff to write their responses on. This way the iPads were in their hands and they could see how simple it is to use this educational tool. I went to Jeopardy Labs and created my own, iPad friendly, Jeopardy game. It is free, non-PowerPoint based, and very easy to use. You can select up to 12 teams and keep track of their scores. I projected the game from my iPad and the teacher groups used Doodle Buddy to write their responses to the questions. They had a great time!

There are so many fun and engaging ways to prepare for tests with your students. Check out the Linky above to see more. Thanks for stopping by!