End of the Year Testing

My first graders had testing the first week of May. I had to cover up or take down many things in my room. I couldn’t have a calendar, number line, alphabet, or really anything that might help them with the test. I covered everything with colored bulletin board paper. Here's my word wall and calendar all covered up.

The students had to sit in rows and far enough away from each other. This was very hard for them since they are used to sitting in groups or tables together. I also turned around some of my busy and fidgety students’ desks because I knew they would be in their playing around.

Our instructional coach helped the primary teacher through the testing process, as this was our first time testing little ones. She sent us cute gifts for each day.

We only had two days of actually testing. The rest of the week was for make-up testing. Each day though the test was around an hour and a half. That’s a super long time for a first grader to sit and take a test!! I change what we are doing in the classroom every 15/20 minutes. My class needs movement and novelty.

Each morning the students got a breakfast snack of dry cereal and a granola bar provided by the school. My class also had a testing buddy who gave us a treat bag after we finished the test.

Overall it went well but I hope we don’t have to continue testing at this young age. It was too long for them to sit and some students’ were unnecessarily stressed about the test.

Do you have to do standardized testing in primary (K-2) in your district? 

Tips for testing: 

-always have a snack

-take as many breaks as allowed

-speak calmly 

-act confident in your students

-be your students cheerleader

-have a long recess after testing

-follow all testing rules