Countdown to Assessment Strategies
1. Goal Setting
Goal setting is so important. We all need to know what we are working toward. Think of goal setting as a final destination and the plan to get there as the roadmap. Students saying that their goal is to simply get a 100 is not specific enough to produce the desired outcome. Help students construct goals like "My goal is to read for comprehension and reread to look for evidence." Goals need to be specific and achievable. Students need to be coached to establish a personal action plan for achieving their goals. When students take ownership of the goals, outcomes are achieved.
Goals need to be monitored daily. It's important to refer back to your goal at the beginning of each day as a motivational tool. Think of it as "keeping your eye on the prize." Another important element of goal setting is celebration. Every step towards the desired outcome needs to be celebrated. Not all celebrations need to be big, but they can't be forgotten. Everyone needs to be affirmed and effort should be acknowledged in order to stay motivated.
2. Review Critical Content & Academic Vocabulary
Review is a crucial part of refreshing instruction and moving material to permanent memory. Plan to spend 10-20 minutes of each content block reviewing critical content and academic vocabulary. It's important to make the review engaging and fun! Games like Jeopardy, Kahoot, or Around the World are great tools to review academic vocabulary and engage in a little friendly competition.
3. Provide Varied Independent Practice
Practice makes permanent! Students need 20-25 perfect practice sessions with a skill or strategy to become proficient. They need to practice the skill or strategy in various situations across the curriculum.
Be sure that the practice activities are matched to the level of thinking demanded by the test. Have students engage in varied practice while working on projects like a living museum, podcast, literature circles, or real-world problem-solving.