Author: TCR Staff

Lesson Plans

Sponge Activities

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A sponge activity is something that teachers give students to work on as they come in the room or to keep the students busy while the teacher takes care of necessary business, like taking attendance, getting the lunch count, or collecting notes and homework. Sponge activities are also useful during transition periods while the teacher needs to reteach several students or to nudge someone into finishing. They are the activities or assignments that are made to “soak up” those wasted minutes when students may otherwise get out of control.

Sponge activities can be used to refocus students on something they have previously learned. For example, “Use your textbooks to write down the names of the three explorers that we talked about yesterday and when they explored.

Or they might be something like a puzzle, question, or a problem to solve that is used to challenge students and keep them busy while the teacher takes care of his/her required paper work. You might challenge your class to a question a day like, “Why is the sky blue?” It gives students a chance to make suppositions about something they will (or may) study later.

Good sponge activities give students an opportunity to review, talk, or write about something they have learned. Sponges are best if they can be posted for the students to read when they are ready to complete the activity.

Super Sponge Activities

  1. Play 5 x 5. This is easily accomplished by making a grid of 25 squares. Choose five categories. Place one at the top of each box. Then randomly choose five letters and place one on each box down the side. Have students call out words that fit each category. This is really handy when working with a theme that you wish to review.
  2. Charades is a fun sponge, especially to use as a review. Use spelling or vocabulary words, titles of books by authors the class has studied, or activities going on in school. Put these on slips of paper and place in a container. Let individuals or groups of students choose one and act it out.
  3. Read aloud to your class! Keep some funny, short stories or a book of limericks available for a quick read.
  4. Play “baseball.” Choose a skill that needs to be reviewed. Draw a baseball diamond on the board. Choose a scorekeeper. Divide the class into two teams. Determine which team is up first. Ask each player a review question. If the player answers correctly, have him or her run the bases by marking the diamond base on the board. A run is scored every time a player touches home base. If the team misses three questions, the other team is up.
  5. Try some rhythms. Clap or tap out a rhythm and then have students repeat it. Vary the patterns and the lengths, making them increasingly more challenging.
Teaching Tips

Standardized Test-Taking Tips & Strategies: Part VII – Year Round Prep & Last Minute Tips

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A student’s performance on a standardized test is influenced by many things: some obvious, some elusive, some over which educators have control, and others over which they do not. Until someone invents a magic wand, word, or potion that can be waved over, said to, or imbibed by students, educators will have to rely on more conventional methods to help their students succeed on standardized tests. Below are some general test-taking tips for year-round test preparation as well as last minute tips for test-taking students.

Reduce Stress and Build Confidence

As well as the physical and mental aspects of test-taking, there is also a crucial psychological component to testing well. It is important, therefore, to reduce students’ stress and increase confidence during the year so that when test-taking time rolls around, students will feel well-prepared and at ease.

  • In order to reduce stress, it first needs to be recognized. Discuss feelings and apprehensions about testing. Give students some tools for handling stress.
  • Begin talking about good habits at the beginning of the year. Talk about getting enough sleep, eating a good breakfast, and exercising before and after school. Consider sending home a letter encouraging parents to start these good routines with their children at home.
  • Explain the power of positive thought to your students. Tell them to use their imaginations to visualize themselves doing well. Let them know that they have practiced all year and are ready for what is to come.
  • Remember to let students stretch and walk around between tests. Try using “Simon Says” with younger students throughout the year to get them to breathe deeply, stretch, and relax so it won’t be a novel idea during test time.
  • Build confidence during the year when using the practice tests. Emphasize that these tests are for learning. If they could get all of the answers right the first time, they wouldn’t need any practice. Encourage students to state at least one thing they learned from doing the practice test.
  • Give credit for reasonable answers. Explain to students that the test makers write answers that seem almost true to really test the students’ understanding. Encourage students to explain why they chose the answers they gave and then reason with the whole class on how not to be duped the next time.
  • Promote a relaxed, positive, outlook on test-taking. Let your students know on the real day that they are fully prepared to do their best.

Last Minute Test-Taking Tips

A few things to be mindful of the night before and day of the test…

  1. Get a good night’s sleep the night before the test. Most people need about eight hours.
  2. Avoid caffeinated or sugary drinks before taking the test as they can make you jittery.
  3. Eat a balanced meal.
  4. Wear comfortable clothing.
  5. Read/listen to the directions carefully. If something is unclear, ask for clarification.
  6. Wear a watch and budget your time.
  7. Find out the rules of the test. Will you be penalized for answering something incorrectly? For leaving something blank? Will partial credit be given?
  8. If you get stuck on a question, mark it and move on. You can come back to it later.
  9. If the test permits, do a memory check. Jot down important formulas or information on a piece of scrap paper.
  10. Use mnemonic devices to jog your memory.

This concludes our series on standardized test-taking tips and strategies.

 

 

Teaching Tips

Standardized Test-Taking Tips & Strategies: Part IV – Secrets to Acing Tests

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When we teach our students test-taking strategies, we run the risk of inadvertently implying that it is possible to do well on a test by simply strategizing alone. This, of course, is not the case. No test-taking strategy can take the place of simply knowing the material, and it’s important that this be stated explicitly to students. Students who understand the material and who are confident usually don’t need strategies to help them do well on tests; and if they do, it is only on about 10% of the test items. Nevertheless, it is critical that teachers share the most important and foolproof test-taking strategies with their students.

The Secrets to Acing Tests!

  • Attend school regularly and be on time.
  • Come to school prepared, rested, and ready to learn.
  • Complete all of your classroom and homework assignments.
  • Ask for help if you don’t understand.
  • Spend time every day studying and reviewing material.
  • Create an organized and quiet place in which to study.
  • Know that procrastination is the enemy of achievement!

Stay tuned for more tips on successful standardized testing.

Teaching Tips

Standardized Test-Taking Tips & Strategies: Part III – Taking Standardized Math Tests

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While many of the same strategies that students use to navigate other portions of standardized tests apply to math tests, there are a few additional methods with which they should be familiar. Math, after all, is an animal all its own and routinely requires students to solve a plethora of problems by applying a variety of problem-solving strategies.

  • Know the Vocabulary! Make sure you are familiar with all of the related terms that may appear on the test—area, circumference, and quotient. It would be a shame to get a problem wrong simply because you didn’t understand what you were being asked to do!
  • Underline Key Words! Read the problem carefully then underline the key words that indicate what you are required to find. Are you looking for the sum? The difference? The perimeter?
  • Recognize and Eliminate the Unnecessary! Often math word problems will provide you with information that you don’t need in order to solve the problem. Seek the information you need and ignore the information you don’t.
  • Select a Strategy! Often there is more than one way to solve a problem. Chose the strategy that will work best for you. Will you draw a picture? Use a formula? Make a graph?
  • Use Estimation and Recognition! In many cases you will be able to recognize the correct answer immediately. In others, you may be able to simply make an estimate. Estimation and recognition are two strategies that can save you a lot of time on standardized tests.
  • Use Mental Math! Occasionally, you may encounter problems that you can solve in your head. Lucky you! This, too, can save you a lot of time.
  • Read All of the Options! Before you jump to any conclusions, make sure that you read all of the options. Think of the options as helping hands leading you to the correct answer.
  • Beware the Lure! You may frequently encounter traps or lures on multiple-choice math exams. Often one of the options, usually the first or second one will contain an answer that appears correct but is actually wrong. Have a look:

If you add $11.11 to $32.73 the sum will be
A. $ 43.84 greater than $ 32.73. < – lure
B. $ 43.84 less than $ 32.73 < – lure
C. $ 11.11 less than $32.73 < – incorrect
D. $ 43.84 < – correct

This is your average, run-of-the-mill addition problem; however, if you were not careful, you might be tricked into selecting either A or B because the first number that you see, $43.84, is actually the sum of $32.73 and $11.11. Of course, neither one of these is the correct answer.

  • Use All of the Time! It’s never a good idea to rush through any test, but math tests in particular require that you check and double-check your work. If you have time, go back over as many problems as you can to make sure that your answers are correct.

    • For more test-taking tips and standardized test practice for math, check out: