1. Gretchen Elliot, Meagan Ricks, and Kristen Pennycuff Trent
Using Larry Bell’s 12 Powerful Words to Motivate and Lead Students to Understand Test Taking Terms
Gretchen Elliot, Meagan Ricks, and Kristen Pennycuff Trent

2. Thinking About Verbs
Think about verbs that you have seen on TCAP or other tests
Can you brainstorm 12 powerful verbs that you have seen in test questions?
What do we mean by powerful words? These are the words that stump students when they take standardized tests. Students may feel intimidated or confused by these words causing them to answer a question incorrectly when they know the answer.
After brainstorming, ask groups to share. As they share, post powerful words on board.
Give each group a set of word cards and meanings, ask them to share matches with the class.
When a correct meaning is matched, post on board and ask participants to move cards around as needed.
Ask participants why these words are important and how these words affect what the question is asking.

3. Larry Bell’s 12 Powerful Words
Trace
List in steps
Analyze
Break apart
Infer
Read between the lines
Evaluate
Judge
Formulate
Create
Describe
Tell all about it
Support
Back up with details
Explain
Tell how
Summarize
Give me the short version
Compare
All the ways they are alike
Contrast
All the ways they are different
Predict
What will happen next
Help all students:
To better understand what each question means
To become familiar with words that
require higher order thinking skills
To relieve test anxiety
To achieve better on tests

4. Why is this important?
It’s hard to answer the question in any subject if you do not know what the question means or is asking.
Adults have trouble
Put yourself in students place
Double and triple threat
The goal
Universal words
Many adults have trouble with these words and definitions.
Even when adults do know the meaning, they have trouble putting them into words that are child friendly, especially for at risk kids.
Put yourself in the place of students: imagine yourself as an un-motivated, at-risk student. Pretend it’s TCAP day and you encounter these words for the first time this year. What would be your reaction? Skip them!
Double and triple trouble: As that same student, what do you when you encounter a TCAP question with two or three of those powerful words in the same question?
The goal has to be for every student in your class to be on friendly terms and thoroughly familiar with all 12 words.
These 12 words are universal: They’re found in standardized tests in practically every subject and every grade level.

5. What Can You Do? Use them daily
Otherwise some students rarely hear them
Ask students to explain what you mean when you use one of the 12 powerful words
Rephrase what students say using a power verb
Use them in normal, everyday conversation

6. What Can You Do? Have a Word of the Day
Select a word to focus on each day
Make sure it appears over and over
Ask students to constantly find ways to say and write the word all period or day
Have students start class by telling how the word is a part of their everyday lives

7. What Can You Do? Display the words on posters you or students create
Put the 12 Powerful Words on quizzes and tests
Use a child-friendly definition or synonym in parenthesis

8. What Can You Do?
Invite students to create a rap using the 12 Powerful Words and motions
Elementary:
Middle:
High School:

9. What Can You Do?
Create piggyback songs and rhymes for the 12 Powerful Words using motions
Use classic songs
Use nursery rhymes and songs from childhood
Get students involved in the creative process too

10. 12 Words “Adams Family” We trace and analyze Twelve Words (snap, snap)
Infer and evaluate,
We formulate, describe
We use the Twelve Words
Twelve Words (snap, snap)
Twelve Words, Twelve Words
Support it and explain it
Compare it and contrast it
Summarize and predict it
Submitted by Robyn Flowers - Bel Air Elem.

11. What Can You Do?
Invite students to write using all 12 Powerful Words on each page
A nonfiction story about their own lives
A fictitious story about their lives in the future
A summary of the day’s activities
Poetry
Connects school and home
Gets students emotionally involved as well as facilitates higher order thinking

12. What Can You Do? Start a Powerful Words Wall of Fame
Develop categories such as best rap, best country song, best poetry, best poster, etc… and tape writing and pictures of students

13. What Can You Do?
Create an interactive bulletin board

14. What Can You Do? Play games I Have… Who Has… Internet based games SWAT
SWAT

15. SWAT

16. Suggestions for Including Parents
Send home a word of the week
Ask parents to write lunch box notes with the words
Ask parents to encourage students to use the words at dinner when describing their day
Create games to send home for parents to play with the student
Hold a family song, rap, or poetry contest

17. How Will You Use the 12 Powerful Words?
Write on your index cards, then share with an elbow partner.

18. Resources
Bell, L. (2005). 12 Powerful Words that Increase Test Scores and Help Close the Achievement Gap. Multicultural America: Manassas, VA.
Powerful Words