It’s almost that time of year. The one that students, teachers, and administrators dread. The couple of weeks when nothing else seems to matter, and everything gets put on hold. Educators, you know what I’m talking about. TESTING SEASON!

Standardized tests can make even the most calm, cool, and collected students and teachers feel on edge, nervous, and anxious. So, in the weeks leading up to the big test, I prioritize checking in with students, exploring their feelings and worries, and teaching them practical test-taking tips. I make sure to teach a test prep classroom lesson to all of my 3rd and 4th grade classes, and also use teacher referrals to form a small group for those students that need extra, individualized support. Providing these interventions and supports for students can really make all of the difference in their readiness, mindset, and performance on standardized tests!

In this post, I’ll share my best tips, favorite activities, and story books to support students with standardized tests.

Test-Taking Tips

Taking the time to review practical test-taking tips with students can boost their confidence, make them feel more in control of their testing experience, and improve their performance! Here are my best tips for you:

• Eat a healthy breakfast. Help children choose foods that fuel their bodies and brains to do their best work!
• Get a good night sleep. Having a consistent bed time every night brings structure and routine to a child’s day that helps them thrive. But on nights before a big test, getting to bed early, by 9:00 PM, is even more important! We want our kiddos to be as rested and energized as possible for the big test. Also, make sure the child wakes up in the morning with plenty of time to get ready for school, so they don’t feel rushed. Anything we can do to limit students’ stress on test days is critical!
• Study and prepare. I encourage students to do all that they can to give themselves the best chance at test success. This means attending school each day, listening to their teacher, completing their homework, asking for help, and trying their best.
• Trust your gut. Second-guessing yourself can often lead to over-thinking, and incorrect answers. Unless they are certain that their first choice is wrong, I teach students to trust their instinct. That little voice inside of their head is usually right!
• Challenge your negative thoughts. Teach students to avoid falling into a thinking trap: an overly negative, unrealistic way of seeing things. Show them how to change their anxious, worried thoughts into positive ones. For example, instead of thinking, “I’m horrible at math – I’m definitely going to fail this test!” Think, “This test may be challenging for me, but I’ve been practicing this all year and I am going to do my best!” Believing in yourself and your abilities goes a long way!
• Use your keywords and eliminate incorrect answers. On paper and pencil tests (or digital tests that allow it), I teach students to circle the key words in the question or passage to help them find the central point and main idea. Also, pay special attention to tricky words like “always”, “never”, “not”, and “sometimes.” On a multiple choice test, encourage students to read each answer choice and cross out any answers that they know are incorrect.
• Keep a steady pace. This means finding a happy medium between rushing and moving too slowly. Make sure students read each question and passage thoroughly and take their time to give a thoughtful answer. But, don’t spend too much time on any one question. Think of a test as a marathon, not a sprint.
• Focus on you. Students, test day is all about YOU! Teach kiddos not to worry about their peers’ answers to test questions, how quickly they are working, or what they are thinking or feeling. Now is the time to focus on their test, and only their test! Comparing our performance to others only distracts us from our test (and causes anxiety!)
• Check your work. Teach students to look for and fix silly mistakes, but don’t overthink or second guess their answers. Look back at questions they marked as challenging or confusing. You never know – something in the test might have helped them remember the correct answer!
• Use your test anxiety coping skills. Of course it is normal to feel nervous before a big test. But, it is important to control our feelings so that we can focus and do our best. Teach students to identify signs of test anxiety in their bodies, and when they experience them, to take a quick brain break. Students can take a deep breath in their nose and out their mouth, count to 10, then repeat as many times as they need. They can also practice a relaxation script before the test begins. For more support with test anxiety, please see this blog post.

To teach my kiddos these helpful strategies, I love using this test-taking tips lesson! It teaches students 16 test-taking tips through an engaging story, beautiful posters, discussion cards, and activities!

Test-Taking Tips Activities

Read on to learn about two of my favorite test-taking activities that are sure to be a hit with your students!

Test-Taking Tips BINGO Game

Who doesn’t love a fun game of BINGO? To make test prep fun and memorable for students (and educators!), I created this Test-Taking Tips BINGO game. It lets students review 24 test-taking skills, while having fun! I love playing this game in classroom lessons and with my test prep small groups.

Test-Taking Tips Color by Code Activity

Another fun test prep idea is this Test-Taking Tips Color by Code Activity. This activity combines a healthy coping skill for test anxiety (coloring!) with reviewing 24 test-taking tips. I love using this resource at the end of my classroom lessons and in my test prep small groups. I also love sending a copy of this activity home with all of my 3rd and 4th graders, and giving them a SMARTIES candy when they turn it back into me. Then, I make a big hallway display with all of their creations. This really boosts morale before the big test, and helps my students review test-taking tips at the same time!

Books That Teach Test-Taking Skills

If you know me, you know that I LOVE to use stories in my counseling practice. Stories engage students, help them feel not so alone in their feelings and experiences, and teach relatable, powerful lessons. Here are my favorite books that teach test-taking skills to elementary students:

1. “Testing Miss Malarkey” by Judy Finchler
2. “Henry and Mudge Take the Big Test” by Cynthia Rylant
3. “The Big Test” by Julie Danneberg
4. “Test Anxiety: Workbook & Activity Journal” by Errainna Winnett
5. “The Anti-Test Anxiety Society” by Julia Cook
6. “Big Test Jitters” by Julie Danneberg

(Amazon Affiliate Links)

Now, I’ll review my top 3 below for you!

“Testing Miss Malarkey” by Judy Finchler

The new school year brings testing to all schools, and Miss Malarkey’s class is no exception to the rule. All school staff, teachers, and even parents are helping to prepare for THE TEST. The whole school is focusing on this test. Even though the teachers, school staff, and other grown-ups tell the children not to worry, they’re acting pretty weird. The gym teacher teaches calming meditation and yoga instead of the usual games and sports in PE class. Parents are making their children do pop quizzes on the bedtime stories they read in the evenings. The cafeteria is even serving “brain food” for lunch. The students are perplexed! They start to think that maybe this upcoming test is more important than the grown-ups are saying. I love how this book pokes fun at standardized testing and has a humorous outlook on the whole process, but still addresses test anxiety as a very real thing for everyone involved!

“The Big Test” by Julie Danneberg

Mrs. Hartwell is getting her class ready to take the Big Test. Knowing they have studied and are prepared for the test, she asks her students to practice test-taking strategies like sitting quietly, filling in the bubbles, and following the directions. Mrs. Hartwell repeatedly tells them they must remember to show what they know….before the timer goes off! As her students grow increasingly anxious about the Big Test and frequently end up in the nurse’s office, Mrs. Hartwell begins to see that she needs to teach her students how to relax, too! Mrs. Hartwell knows just what to do: she throws a huge party to help her students feel better about the Big Test! This book sheds light on how teachers, in the interest of preparing students for a test, end up creating a lot of anxiety in students. It would be a great one to read just before a surprise test party or to build morale among students and teachers! 

“The Anti-Test Anxiety Society” by Julia Cook

Bertha Billingsworth (BB for short) is an energetic and positive girl…until there is a test to take. For her, the word test stands for Terrible Every Single Time because that’s how she sees them: TERRIBLE! BB’s teacher recognizes this and invites her to become a member of the Anti-Test Anxiety Society. She tells BB that TEST stands for Think Each Situation Through!

In the new club, BB learns the Dynamic Dozen: 12 excellent test-taking strategies such as visualization, doing the easy questions first, and exercising the morning of the test. BB also learns how to use her “GET TO” brain instead of her “HAVE TO” brain. This helps BB understand the difference between positive and negative self-talk, and how the way we think affects our feelings, choices, and performance. Now when BB takes a test, she is calm and focused, and thanks to her teacher, the Terrible now stands for TERRIFIC!

I love how this story explains test anxiety, offers practical tips, and helps students feel more comfortable with the big test! And be sure to check out my engaging companion lesson to this story!

I hope that this post offered helpful test-taking tips and resources to support your students. I wish you and your students the absolute best on the big test – and always!

You may also be interested in:

• Test-Taking Skills & Test Anxiety Resource
• Helping Elementary Students Cope with Test Anxiety
• Counselor Collab Membership