Standardized Test Tip & The Lightning Thief

Have you ever been surprised when you got your students' test results back?  Have you had students that you knew were very bright, but their scores didn't reflect this ability?  It's frustrating, right?  Sometimes it's an issue of test anxiety.  Other times, I found it is a matter of rushing through their work.  These students remind me of the cartoon character, Speedy Gonzales.

I tried different strategies to slow these students down and pay attention to the details with little success.  Those little words like "not" in a questions make a big difference when taking a standardized test.  The strategy that I've had the best results with is called steal and slide.  When answering comprehension questions, students steal words from the question and slide these words into their answer.  This makes them pay closer attention to details. When I taught 3rd grade, my students answered all of their questions - social studies chapter question, science question, and reading comprehension questions with the steal and slide method  When I moved down to 1st grade,  my students learned to answer questions orally using steal and slide.  Preparing students to take standardized test should be shared responsibility.  This is one way lower grade teachers can help prepare students.

If you are interested in trying this method, click on the picture below.  This packet has questions about The Lightning Thief.  Students can practice the steal and slide method with the questions from this packet.

This example is included.  The highlighted words are the words stolen from the question which I slid into the beginning of the answer.

For more great idea, click on the picture below.

I am linking up with Jennifer at Empowering Little Learners.  She is hosting a linky party to share information about high stakes testing.  Be sure to check out the differences in how states across America test students.  Click below: