When someone mentions test prep season, most people cringe. However in my classroom, test prep has become one of our favorite times of the year. Not because we have a state test looming over our head, that part seems unfair, but because we get to show what we know in fun ways. Over the last few years, I have gathered and created a vast collection of fun test review games for ELA.
1. Test Review Games for Partners
One of my favorite ways to have students review is through the use of games they work on with a partner. This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to get students motivated to review. I also love the fact that every child must work and is held accountable during the review.
These partner games are so versatile. They can be used in a whole group setting. You can paired up your students. Then, have them all working on the same task card or question that is projected on the board. They can also be used in centers where students work with questions from a worksheet or task cards. All you have to do is make sure students understand how to play. The most important rules are to take turns and be ready to “steal” someone’s turn. The ability to “steal” someone’s turn keeps everyone engaged at all times.
Head on over to “Test Prep Games Your Students Can Play Today” to read about the individual games and to grab your own FREE games.
2. Standard Focused Sports Themed Games
Setting up classroom transformations during test prep is a fun way to get students excited right from the start. I love how they can be as simple or elaborate as you feel like making them, and yet students get just as excited!
To make a sports themed review game, just bring (or make) a few props. Have students earn points by making shots or goals. There are so many themes you can implement. A few ideas are: basketball grammar, golf main idea and details, soccer text structure, and football context clues.
3. Four Corners
If you are using a A, B, C, D multiple choice resource to review, Four Corners is a fun way to get your students up and moving around the classroom.
First, Place a different letter at each corner of the classroom. Then:
Option 1: Display the question and answer choices for all of the students to see. Have students walk to letter they think corresponds to the correct answer.
Option 2: Have students complete a set of task cards or questions on a worksheet. To review the answers, call out each number of the question and have the students walk up to the letter they chose.
4. Kahoot!
If you have 1 to 1 devices in your classroom, the students are going to LOVE this option. Kahoot! is an online tool that helps you find or create a game from questions. It is easy to set up and students do not have to input a login to participate. They just need a short code. Students receive points for getting the correct answer and receive higher points the faster they answer.
This is definitely a competitive game and a fan favorite amongst upper elementary students.
5. Create Your Own Escape Room
You are probably thinking, where would I even start? Just remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated. When you think of an escape room, you probably think of intricate lockboxes or digital escape rooms. Nope. It doesn’t have to be that at all. To create your own escape room, you just need to follow a few steps.
- Come up with an escape “scenario.”
- Think of an ending phrase. Some examples are: Congratulations, You did it!, You’ve Escaped!
- Match each letter of the phrase to its number in the alphabet. Ex. You did it! would be 25, 15, 21, 4, 9, 4, 9, 20!
- Come up with 8 task cards that include 8 review questions since there are 8 letters in the phrase.
- Instead of letter options for the multiple choice questions, include letters.
Once you’ve made one escape room on your own, it becomes a breeze to make them in the future. Just follow the same steps.
6. Quiz, Quiz, Trade
We love to use Quiz, Quiz, Trade every Friday before our vocabulary quizzes. Each student gets an index card. They write their vocabulary word on one side and the definition on the other. Every students stands up and finds a partner. They show the word to their partner and the partner states the definition. They then reverse rolls. Once both have shared, they high five each other and move onto another partner.
This format can be altered to work for test prep season with terms students should be familiar with. For example: text structure (the way an author organizes a passage), context clues (words surrounding an unknown word that help you figure out its meaning), author’s purpose (the reason an author writes a passage, book, or text).
7. Tally it Up!
This is easy to implement and great for a competitive class. Post a question on the board. Have students write their answer choice on their own white board or even on their desk using a dry erase marker. If they get the question correct, have them make a tally mark on the corner of their desk or board. See who can get the most points at the end of the review.
If you’d like to make sure everyone is being honest, you can do one of two things. You walk around and quickly make the tallies on their desks using a different colored marker than them or assign a check in buddy. This person makes sure the partner places the tally or doesn’t place the tally accordingly.
Hopefully you have found at least a few fun test review games for ELA that you can implement in your classroom today.
