Making Test Prep More Interactive

Our state tests are 5 days away - and needless to say we are under pressure to get the students ready to pass those tests.  4th grade is the first year the students are asked to complete written responses, so that is an additional challenge to prepare them for.   I am linking up with I'm Lovin' Lit for Thursday Throw Down to share how I made our preparation a bit more interactive.



I started by giving them a copy of the rubric that came in the test prep materials for a constructed response.

We read it together and made sure they understood what it meant.  Then I put the students into groups and gave them sample pieces of student work that were included in the test prep material as well.

The original items had scores at the bottom along with rationale.  I cut those off before I handed them out.  Then I asked the students to work together to grade each of these items.

They voted as a group to rank each one, and wrote their scores and rationale on the paper.

We then discussed the rankings as a group, and I showed them the original scores.  They were much harsher than our state graders!  After this process, they wrote their own responses, and worked together to improve them.  I really think this will help them as they take their tests next week.

Thursday Throw down - Interactive Long Division

I am linking up with I'm Lovin Lit for Thursday Throw down with a few things that I did to help make long division easier for some of my kiddos.  

We started using manipulatives to help them fully grasp the concept of how bigger numbers are divided into smaller groups.  I gave the students base ten blocks and a few easier division problems to start with such as 36/3 and 48/4.  They drew boxes to represent the divisor and then divided the blocks into each box.

Later we moved on to more complex problems that required them to regroup the tens into units, but of course I forgot to take pics of that :/ !  But, hopefully you get the idea.

And. I know that the standard algorithm for division is not introduced until 6th grade in the Common Core, but I have a lot of parents who teach it to their kiddos anyway, so it is easier to show them in class as well.  There are so many steps involved that a few kiddos lose track, so... I finally came up with this graphic organizer template that really helped out A LOT!!! Some of my kiddos who were struggling and struggling were really getting it and actually saying, "Hey this is easy!  And kind of fun!"

I simply free hand wrote the boxes along with little codes (D,M,S, B) for the steps required to get that box's digit.  Then I laminated them quickly during recess and we were ready to go!  The kids used dry erase markers and we solved a few problems.  And, I am happy to say it was so much LESS painful!

You can actually see hints of smiles on kid's faces who had been near tears before recess!

I just made these  Division Games that I can't wait to use after the break!

Divisible Me A Division Game

Don't Duck Division Long Division Style

Don't Duck Division - Basic Facts

And If you have made it this far, I am giving away one of the above products of your choice to the first three comments! Just leave your email and the item you would like :)