Complete Review Practice for 4th Grade ELA State Tests
As state testing sneaks up on us, teachers start to wonder what else they can do to prepare their students. There are so many reading and language standards to cover before testing! 4th grade Florida teachers also have to make sure students are prepared for the writing test. With so much to cover, how do teachers know where to put more effort?Many teachers wait until a week or two before testing to start their test prep practice. Instead of waiting til the bitter end, start test review about 4 - 6 weeks earlier. With a comprehensive set of test prep activities, teachers could analyze student work and determine where they need more support.
Test review can be hard to find. In our district we would get packets that we could use, but they often were very time consuming or were meant to be used daily. It's not particularly easy to get data from that type of activity. We also had test prep on the computer, but you had to be able to get into the computer lab.To make it easier to review and analyze where students need more support, I created a set of test prep activities specifically for 4th grade reading and language standards. Each game has a different focus with specific categories. In addition, there is a practice test written in FSA ELA style. Altogether, this set of test review resources covers nearly all the standards for the grade level. Teachers could simply analyze the students' review sheets to see which standards need more practice.FSA was developed from the AIR test. It isn't exactly the same, but it's similar. Florida Standards are based on Common Core standards, so these review activities would work for any CCSS- based state standards.
Practice ELA Standardized Test
In order to help students prepare for testing, I created a
. As I am in Florida, I formatted my practice reading and grammar questions like the FSA test.
The fourth-grade test includes two literature passages and one informational text plus a link to a nonfiction auditory passage. Each set is paired to have similar themes or topics.
Comprehension and grammar questions are also included in testing format. I recommend using the practice test as a whole class activity, so that students have an idea of what to expect on testing day.
Test Prep Game Show & Practice Test
This interactive
has five categories. The questions are set up as question/answer - not the TV show-style questions. This is a general review that hits on many standards quickly. To help teachers prepare students for the multimedia questions, there are five questions that cover a different types of multimedia.
The Game Show categories are:
Vocab
Grammar
Spelling
Reading
Multimedia
All of the questions are also included in a printable pdf. Teachers could use the pages at the same time as the game to help keep students focused on the review. Another idea is to save the pages and hold a "practice test" another day. Finally, teachers could print the review pages for students that were absent during the review.
Please note: the Game Show will ONLY work in PowerPoint.
Grammar & Spelling Jenga
This
review has six color categories with 10 questions each. Instead of having teachers glue questions onto the block, I organized each category onto a printable page. The title tells both the category topic and the color (in case color printing is not available.) To move a block, students must answer a question in that color category. When I play-tested this game, we were able to play more than one game without running out of questions.
The six-play categories are:
Relative Pronouns & Adverbs
Progressive Verbs
Ordering Adjectives
Punctuation
Spelling
Prepositions
Again, I wrote the practice questions in a similar style to the actual test format.
There are colored Jenga games out there for sale, but I think it took me 30 minutes to use permanent markers and just color the ends of the blocks. I used black instead of orange because it was very difficult to tell orange and yellow apart.
Vocabulary Kerplunk
This game is set up similar to Jenga.
has three different colors of sticks that players pull out, so the game has three color categories. The resource includes two sets of game sheets with 30 questions (10 in each category.)
The three categories are:
Context Clues (homophones and relating words to their synonyms & antonyms)
Affixes
Figurative Language (Idioms, Adages & Proverbs, and Similes & Metaphors)
Kerplunk is available in stores. I found mine at Target.
Idioms Go Fish
is an easy-to-play game that helps students become familiar with common idioms. The game includes the following 11 idioms:
A Stone’s Throw
On the Fence
Out on a Limb
Catch One’s Eye
At the End of One’s Rope
Twist One’s Arm
Foaming at the Mouth
Sitting on Top of the World
Head in the Clouds
Skating on Thin Ice
Losing One’s Marbles
Players try to collect pairs of the idiom cards. It is a fairly simple game that can be played with 3 - 5 players.
Money-Saving Bundle
These five resources are also available in a money-saving bundle! If you have already purchased a resource in the bundle, TPT will refund the cost of the individual resource after buyers purchase a bundle. Simply submit a ticket to TPT.
If you have any questions, please ask. Also, I always appreciate feedback on the resources. I read every single feedback and use it to see what students enjoy and how to improve resources.