Test Prep: On the January "TO DO" list!

How do you prepare for the upcoming state tests? With January historically being the month where teachers in upper elementary begin to panic seriously start prepping and preparing, I knew that I wanted to have something in place ready to go as soon as my students and I returned after break. With the switch to the new PARCC tests this year, I realized that my strategies to prepare my class would need a makeover, too. After studying many of the websites and articles geared towards the new assessments, I decided to take the plunge and make my own practice activities to mirror the PARCC as closely as I could. My first goal was to try and provide my students with a variety of different types of literature. I wanted them to be exposed to not only good narrative prose, but also to poems, myths, and traditional/ cultural pieces. My next step was to give my students additional practice with really using text-based evidence to support their reasoning. My last step was to try and include as many of the literature Common Core standards as I could throughout the stories to ensure that my students had exposure to all skills that might be asked of them. I'm getting excited to begin trying them out with my class in another week! If you are finding that you are in the same boat with needing a test prep make-over, check out this freebie below!

Please continue to hop through our blogs for some more amazing ideas & activities to jumpstart YOUR January! Don't forget to enter our raffle for a $50 gift card AND links to some special $1 deals on TPT for a limited time! Happy Teaching!