It’s official. Test review season is upon us! Here are some ideas to help make your standardized testing prep a little less painful and more effective:

• Play TONS of review games. Change up the teams frequently for the best results. Click here for a list of BOMBtastic review games!
• Come up with a theme and a mascot to cheer you on. Use the theme in review games, certificates of achievements, rewards, etc.
• Laminate station rotation tracking charts and have kids use overhead markers to track their progress through the stations.
• Use your old benchmark tests as review questions for your review games.
• Start a review system early on in the year, so your kids will not have to go as long between learning new content and the standardized test.
• “Test prep does not always have to take place at a desk with a number 2 pencil in hand.  Instead, try having students answer questions in one of the following ways:
• Label each wall in your classroom either A, B, C, or D. When reviewing answers, have students move to the wall labeled with the multiple-choice answer they chose.
• Give students different colored pieces of paper or Popsicle sticks.  Each color can correlate to a multiple-choice answer (red is A, blue is B, etc.).  Have students hold up the color based on which answer they chose.
• Turn your classroom into a museum by creating a gallery walk. Hang test prep questions around the classroom, students can move silently, in partners, or to music to the different “exhibits” around the room. They can then answer the questions on a worksheet or in a notebook that they carry around the room with them.” (Bottom four bullet points from Ashley, Teach For America)

Need more ideas? Check out my golfing review game or no prep Jeopardy.