How do we get ready for high stakes testing. Here are some ideas

1. Weaving Text Genre
into Effective
Instruction
Natalie Nelson
Acting Curriculum Director FWCS
Kathy Douglas
District Instructional Coach FWCS
Mary Johnson
District Instructional Coach FWCS

2. ASSESSMENTS

3. Our Goal with Assessments

4. Take a Few Minutes to Answer
These Test Questions…

5. What Do We Notice About Ourselves
As Test Takers?
 Our Minds Wander Right Away
 We Get Tired
 We Don’t Read the Whole Passage
 We Will Skip A Question We Aren’t Sure Of
 We Skipped the Directions
 We are Competitive – I want it done first!
 ……???????

6. What Do We Notice About Tests?
 Tests include directions, many other kinds of
readings don’t.
 There are different kinds of questions. Some are
multiple choice, some extended response, some
constructed response.
 It is smart to look back at text when you are
trying to answer questions.

7. What We Notice (continued)
 Rushing leads to absent minded work.
Metacognitive test takers take the time to pay close
attention.
 The test evaluators won’t come to our school to
meet us in person so that we can explain our
thinking. We have to show them our best thinking
on the test!
 Being able to read and write is as important on
Math, Science, and Social Studies tests as it is on
Reading and Writing tests.

8. Tests are a unique genre.
They all have. . .
 Genre-specific vocabulary
 Genre-specific format
 Genre-specific procedures and
requirements in terms of answers and
timing

10. Compare the Test World and the School World

11. Test Takers Ask Questions…
 Ensure they understand the expectations of each test
question (what do they want me to do?)
 Identify the type of questions a test includes (QAR:
Right There, On My Own, Author and Me, Think and
Search)
 Clarify the test item’s format (multiple choice, extended
response, constructed response)
 Determine the content knowledge being assessed (The
picture shows stair steps that need to be built with
concrete. Will I need to use the given dimensions to
find area or volume?)

12. Some Questions They Ask…
 Where are the directions?
 Are there textual clues?
 Words may be in boxes , bold face, italics, underlined,
CAPITALIZED, varied fonts.
 Is this multiple choice, constructed response, T/F?
 Does it ask NOT or EXCEPT so I have to think backwards?
 Do I have to use the charts, graphs, tables, and pictures?
 Will I be reading multiple genres?

13. Test Takers Activate, Utilize, and
Build Background Knowledge
(Schema)
 Apply what they know about different testing
formats.
 Use what they know about tests to be ready for
confusing or tricky items.
 Build and refine their schema across test taking
experiences.
 Make sure you are using schema relevant to the
passage.

14. What do kids have to do to be
successful on tests?*
 Translate the test writers’ formal English into kid
talk
 We need translators to learn French, Spanish, etc.
 Teachers must help students translate test talk.
 Be proactive test-takers through active reading and
thinking
 Understand and manipulate the test format
 Have stamina for the test
 *from the book, Test Talk

15. Stamina. . .
 No matter the age. . . sitting, reading, thinking,
rereading, answering questions, solving problems,
and writing for several hours, several days in a row,
is TOUGH.
 Building stamina begins by reading and writing
daily starting in kindergarten and continuing
throughout the grades.

16. Test-taking is a life skill, and. . .
Hope is not a strategy for
raising test scores.

17. Linking Problem Solving strategies
and Test-Taking Strategies
Teachers/students may look at ISTEP released
items, student images, Acuity, Reading and
Math assessments and annotate the
skill/strategy* the child will need to answer
the question.
*(formal language?, navigating format?, concept?, stamina?)

18. Read this sentence.
He put the apple on the ground when he
saw the worm in it.
Which of these new words best replaces the
underlined word to show that the boy is
frightened by the worm?
A. threw
B. lay
C. placed
D. set

19. Area of a rectangle = lw = length x width
Mr. Gardner is building a fence around his garden.
He has a total of 4 feet of fencing to make the
perimeter. How much fencing should he use along
the width and length to create the garden with the
largest possible area?
Show all work
Answer ___________________________
On the lines below use words, numbers, or symbols
to explain how you found your answer.
____________________________________________
________________________________________

20. Discussion Questions
 How could you use the following test items
to generate student conversation?
 What might cause a child difficulty with
these test items? Concept? Formal
language?
 Navigating the test item? Stamina?
 How can I weave test-taking genre into
effective instruction?

21. Resources:
 BETTER ANSWERS
 By Ardith Davis Cole
 Put Thinking to the Test
 By Lori L. Conrad, Missy Matthews, Cheryl Zimmerman, and Patrick A. Allen
 Beyond the Bubble
 Maryann Wickett & Eunice Hendrix-Martin
 What Every Elementary Teacher Needs to Know About
Reading Tests
 Charles Fuhrken
 TEST TALK
 By Amy H. Greene & Glennon Doyle Melton