Here are the tips that I used

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Here are the tips that I used
By teacher

Testing Help

Overall:

Test Prep Books:
1)E-Z Test Readiness
2) Core Skills: Test Preparation (Steck-Vaugh)
3) Scoring High
4) Test Ready
5) Teach and Test Language

Websites Good for Testing:
1) www.edhelper.com
2)
www.abcteach.com
Both are well worth the money.
Test prep materials are made into binders for each student. This makes it easier for me, if everything is in one place.
I also use these books for homework a month before testing. This gets the students use to the testing format.
Sample Test in Testing Format: I give my students practice test all throughout the

year. I use the sample test items found on my state’s Dept. Of Ed. Site. I also use the sample items from the other states. (Some might argue that different states have different benchmarks. Well I simply edit (skip number 3) etc.. I also cut apart the math questions, to use for different learning games.

Daily Morning Work: Evan Moor’s Daily Math, Language, and Paragraph Editing.

Centers: I do centers on Fridays. This gives my students a change in our regular routine. All of my centers are based on skills that are tested. I use the following for centers: Evan Moor’s Take It to Your Seat, The Mailbox Learning Center, The Mailbox Math Skills Workout (this one is really good), The Mailbox Power Practice Math, and The Mailbox Power Practice Language. I am a big fan of the Mailbox!

Reading
My school uses “Skill of the Week” for Reading. For example, Cause/Effect week, Fact and Opinion week, etc... The skill is used in other subjects as well. (We have a Skill of the Week bin next to the copy machine. All teachers (4th/5th grades only) copy their resources and place them in the Skill of the Week bin.

AR is a big deal at my school. We have classroom, as well as, school incentives in place to motivate students to read, read, read.

The Mailbox: Cornerstone of Comprehension Book. Grade 5 is one of my favorite resources. This book has a story for each week (18 weeks in all). The stories are high interest stories that the kids really enjoy. The story highlights between eight to ten vocabulary words each week. Each story also gives activities (black-lines included) for different reading skills. For example, story one includes activities on vocabulary, fact/opinion, sequence of events, character traits, and imagery.

The Month Before Testing: A month before testing I use jeopardy and other learning games to review for the test. This really pump-up the kids before testing.