Hey Y'all! It is that time of year again, the dreaded "TESTING SEASON" It is hard to believe that I've endured this for 3 years and still forget what the stress feels like. I'm talking, tired like I've never been tired before. Tired driving to work in the morning, tired. How is it that each year, I forget what it feels like? Lets just say, I am counting down the days for my sanity, not the kids. And seriously, these poor 8 years olds of mine. The stress is torture for me, I can only imagine what their little minds are going through.
I thought about testing season and knew that I needed something engaging but meaningful for test prep. So I created a set of task cards for all of the major topics in each of the 4 Reporting Categories for the 3rd grade TEKS, also known as ROCK THE STAAR! While task cards alone are a huge hit in my room, we have 12 days for review and task cards will get boring after a few days. So I came up with "Battle of the Bands" Basically, I split my kids into 4 groups on day 1. This is going to be their band until the STAAR test. I even let them create their own band name.
The idea is that each team will have the opportunity to battle against each other using the task cards from my ROCK the STAAR Bundle. When the band gets the correct answer, they will be rewarded. Here is the catch, each day they will earn points in different and fun ways. I want to be able to hold each kid accountable so that everyone has many learning opportunities so my points system is random and can change on a whim at my discretion.
Day 1: + dice
I start my day with my morning class but my afternoon class looks entirely different. Different kids, different levels and they tend to need more guidance. I will refer to them as AM and PM since they did different things today. My AM was a breeze, we rolled a 30 sided dice to tell us what task card to answer. I projected it on the board and they had a matching set at their tables. Each band battled another. The rules were that each person had to agree on an answer before their team leader could hold up their answer. I looked for speed and accuracy with this group. Since there are 4 groups. The winners of the first battle, battled each other for the points. Today, I rolled a single die which told us how many points each card is worth. Kids were having a blast and even requested to stay in my room all day.
In my PM class, I had to rack my brain on how this could work. I knew I didn't want them racing against each other for time. This group needs practice and less of a stress with the game. So my wonderful colleague suggested that each team will have the opportunity to earn points as long as their answer is accurate. Rather than a race for time, points were random. If the group had a consecutive answer, they would pick a domino, multiply the numbers and voila, points! THEY LOVED THIS! This was so much less stressful for them and everyone was able to answer and earn points. Winners are random so in my opinion ANYONE can win. I had the same team pick a domino with 0's twice. They were such goos sports about earning zero points because they thought it was hilarious.
I loved this structure of this so much that I plan to implement it for the next 10 days. They will earn points differently, but everyone will have an equal, but random, opportunity.
Day 2: +/- dice
Students will roll a positive and negative dice
Day 3: Easter Eggstravaganza
Students will choose an egg filled with random point values. Some positive and some negative.
Day 4: Jenga
Students will play Jenga. Each block will have a point value. If the team knocks it over, they will lose double the points on the block they chose.
Day 5: Stinky Feet
I got this idea from a fellow Texas blogger, Teaching in the Fast Lane! You put sticky notes on the board with positive and negative points. Each time they get a question correct, they choose a sticky note. I plan to make this a little more challenging by telling them what color sticky note they have to choose each time!
Day 6: Trashketball
Students will attempt to toss a trash ball in 1 of 3 containers different distances apart. Which ever container it lands in, is the point value they will earn.
Day 7: Musical Chairs
Four students will play musical chairs with task cards. One person will represent each band. The person who doesn't earn a chair will choose one person they want to battle against to earn a chair. The last person standing will choose a domino to determine the amount of points their team will earn.
Day 8: UFO stacking
Students will stack cups until they fall. Students will earn 1 point for each cup before they fall.
Day 9: Vote on Favorite game
Day 10: Vote on Favorite game
I want to give them the opportunity to enjoy their favorite games for the final 2 review days.
I really hope that you can find some of my test prep activities useful in your classroom. So far, we are having a blast reviewing and preparing for the big day.
HAPPY TESTING YA'LL!
I thought about testing season and knew that I needed something engaging but meaningful for test prep. So I created a set of task cards for all of the major topics in each of the 4 Reporting Categories for the 3rd grade TEKS, also known as ROCK THE STAAR! While task cards alone are a huge hit in my room, we have 12 days for review and task cards will get boring after a few days. So I came up with "Battle of the Bands" Basically, I split my kids into 4 groups on day 1. This is going to be their band until the STAAR test. I even let them create their own band name.
The idea is that each team will have the opportunity to battle against each other using the task cards from my ROCK the STAAR Bundle. When the band gets the correct answer, they will be rewarded. Here is the catch, each day they will earn points in different and fun ways. I want to be able to hold each kid accountable so that everyone has many learning opportunities so my points system is random and can change on a whim at my discretion.
Day 1: + dice
I start my day with my morning class but my afternoon class looks entirely different. Different kids, different levels and they tend to need more guidance. I will refer to them as AM and PM since they did different things today. My AM was a breeze, we rolled a 30 sided dice to tell us what task card to answer. I projected it on the board and they had a matching set at their tables. Each band battled another. The rules were that each person had to agree on an answer before their team leader could hold up their answer. I looked for speed and accuracy with this group. Since there are 4 groups. The winners of the first battle, battled each other for the points. Today, I rolled a single die which told us how many points each card is worth. Kids were having a blast and even requested to stay in my room all day.
In my PM class, I had to rack my brain on how this could work. I knew I didn't want them racing against each other for time. This group needs practice and less of a stress with the game. So my wonderful colleague suggested that each team will have the opportunity to earn points as long as their answer is accurate. Rather than a race for time, points were random. If the group had a consecutive answer, they would pick a domino, multiply the numbers and voila, points! THEY LOVED THIS! This was so much less stressful for them and everyone was able to answer and earn points. Winners are random so in my opinion ANYONE can win. I had the same team pick a domino with 0's twice. They were such goos sports about earning zero points because they thought it was hilarious.
I loved this structure of this so much that I plan to implement it for the next 10 days. They will earn points differently, but everyone will have an equal, but random, opportunity.
Day 2: +/- dice
Students will roll a positive and negative dice
Day 3: Easter Eggstravaganza
Students will choose an egg filled with random point values. Some positive and some negative.
Day 4: Jenga
Students will play Jenga. Each block will have a point value. If the team knocks it over, they will lose double the points on the block they chose.
Day 5: Stinky Feet
I got this idea from a fellow Texas blogger, Teaching in the Fast Lane! You put sticky notes on the board with positive and negative points. Each time they get a question correct, they choose a sticky note. I plan to make this a little more challenging by telling them what color sticky note they have to choose each time!
Day 6: Trashketball
Students will attempt to toss a trash ball in 1 of 3 containers different distances apart. Which ever container it lands in, is the point value they will earn.
Day 7: Musical Chairs
Four students will play musical chairs with task cards. One person will represent each band. The person who doesn't earn a chair will choose one person they want to battle against to earn a chair. The last person standing will choose a domino to determine the amount of points their team will earn.
Day 8: UFO stacking
Students will stack cups until they fall. Students will earn 1 point for each cup before they fall.
Day 9: Vote on Favorite game
Day 10: Vote on Favorite game
I want to give them the opportunity to enjoy their favorite games for the final 2 review days.
I really hope that you can find some of my test prep activities useful in your classroom. So far, we are having a blast reviewing and preparing for the big day.
HAPPY TESTING YA'LL!
