2. Strategies for Taking Standardized Tests

3. BENCHMARK The dates for the Benchmark this year are April 12 th -16 th. Mark your calendars. The 5 th grade will test Monday- Friday (12 th -16 th ). The 6 th grade will test Monday- Thursday 12 th -15 th ).

4. BENCHMARK The dates for the Benchmark this year are April 12 th -16 th. Mark your calendars. The 5 th grade will test Monday- Friday (12 th -16 th ). The 6 th grade will test Monday- Thursday 12 th -15 th ).

5. BENCHMARK 5 th Grade Monday April 12 th 2 hrs 15 mins 4 Reading m/c and o/r; 1 Writing m/c Tuesday, April 13 th 1 hr 45 mins 2 Math m/c and o/r; 1 Writing o/r Wednesday, April 14 th 2 hrs 2 Math m/c and o/r; 1 Writing o/r Thursday, April 15 th 2 hrs 15 mins 3 Science m/c and o/r Friday, April 16 th 3 hrs 1 Reading m/c; 1 Writing m/c; 1 Math m/c; 1 Science m/c

6. BENCHMARK 6 th Grade Monday April 12 th 2 hrs 15 mins 4 Reading m/c and o/r; 1 Writing m/c Tuesday, April 13 th 1 hr 45 mins 2 Math m/c and o/r; 1 Writing o/r Wednesday, April 14 th 2 hrs 2 Math m/c and o/r; 1 Writing o/r Thursday, April 15 th 2 hrs 15 mins 1 Reading m/c; 1 Writing m/c; 1 Math m/c; Friday, April 16 th 6th Grade students will not test except for make-ups

7. ‘Twas the Night Before Testing Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep. He/she needs to go to bed on time. Talk to your child about any concerns that he/she might have about the test.

8. The Morning of Testing Be sure your child eats a good breakfast. Allow time so you don’t have to be in a rush. Strive for a STRESS FREE MORNING. Kids who feel good about themselves will do better on the test.

9. The Morning of Testing It is very important for your child to be on time for school every day during testing week. If a student comes in after a testing session has started, he/she will have to remain in the hall until that session is over.

10. Make up sessions If a student misses a session, they will do make ups in the afternoon. Special activities are planned for students in the afternoon. Students who have to do make up sessions will miss those activities. Please try to have your in school every day that week.

11. Test Taking Strategies The next few slides are just a few test taking strategies you might want to go over with your child.

12. Multiple Choice Questions allRead the question and all answer choices before marking anything. Try to answer every question.

13. Be Slick and Predict! Predict what the answer is BEFORE you read the choices. “I think the answer is …”

14. Plug it in, Plug it in! Once you have chosen your answer, plug it in and make sure that it makes sense! (this works really well with vocabulary questions).

15. Pace Yourself Don’t spend too much time on any one question. Do your best and then move on. Answer the easiest questions first. If you skip a question, be sure to mark it so you can go back to it.

16. The Process of Elimination If you can eliminate two wrong answers, your chance of choosing the right answer is greater.

17. Skip, Return, Check Work until time is up. Double check to make sure you have answered all questions.

18. It’s About Time Pace yourself. Don’t spend too much time on one problem. Don’t spend too much time rewriting or obsessing about neatness.

19. PARENTS You are a key factor in your child’s success in school and in helping us during testing week. Thank you for supporting your child. We appreciate you!