NAVIGATING TO SUCCESS
Top tips for sailing through the tests
S TUDENTS can prepare for New York’s annual math and English tests by practicing the following essential skills and strategies. These tips, endorsed by local tutors, are important for kids in every grade, whether they are taking the Grades 3-8 Common Core tests or the high school Regents exams. These help them to build an academic toolbox they can take to college and beyond.
THE BIG PICTURE Work the time limits
This year’s untimed tests for Grades 3 to 8 mean that kids can continue working for the entire school day if they wish, while high school Regents tests have firm three-hour limits.
Either way, consider the test structure ahead of time and formulate a plan for the big day. One student may skip tough questions and come back to work on them after completing easier ones; another may want to work straight through. Either approach is valid.
“The most important thing is to take one question a time,” said Shira Shvartsman, coowner of the Brooklyn-based tutoring firm Think & Co. “Don’t keep looking at the clock.”
Defeat anxiety
High-stakes testing is tough on kids. Know the signs of stress and game out some techniques to fight it, like pausing for a sip of water, doing some deep breathing, or performing shoulder stretches.
“Those 20 seconds will help you get through the whole three hours,” Shvartsman said. “Center and calm yourself so you can come back to the work.”
Keep the pencil moving
Annotation is the secret weapon of many top students. In math, try underlining or circling operation words that clarify the question, or crossing out unneeded information in a word problem. “Kids who work better visually can even draw a picture of the problem,” said tutor Alice Makogon.
While reading an ELA text selection, mark key conclusions, main supporting facts, and tone words that indicate a writer’s or character’s point of view. The physical act of annotating while reading long passages or complex questions helps kids stay alert and keeps them from “zoning out.”
MATH Stick to routines
Not even the most gifted math student should rely on mental math on test day. First, evaluate the question and understand exactly what it is asking.
“We have students write out a little chart of ‘givens’ so they know the facts they have to work with,” Shvartsman said. Then, write the necessary equation in the test booklet. Check the question’s wording against the equation, and finally, solve the problem.
If the result doesn’t match any of the answer choices, revisit the problem and all calculations. Having each step of the problem fully written out makes it easier to identify a calculation error or a mistake in the original assumptions.
Audition your answers
For some math multiple-choice questions, “Just look at the choices,” Makogon said. “Plug them in until something works.”
For example: What is the value of the expression 3,972 ÷ 12? A. 372 B. 336 C. 331 D. 306
To skip the laborious long division, just multiply the most likely answer choices by 12. Evaluate them first: Here, the final digit of the answer must be either 6 or 1 to get the 2 at the end of 3,972. That eliminates 372, so choose any of the other answers and do some fast figuring. Trying 336 x 12 results in 4,032 — just a bit too large. That leaves 331, the next lowest answer choice, as the most likely and, since 331 x 12 = 3,972, the correct answer.
Think with precision
On the test, students will have to explain some of their answers. Add some questions to their daily homework routine, like: “Why did you use this operation?” or “How did you know this was right?” to get kids in the habit of defending their mathematical logic.
As the exam approaches, practice writing out these explanations. “And kids need to really read the words at face value,” Shvartsman said. “Sometimes the question is the complete opposite of what it seems — it surprises them by asking, say, how many apples are not eaten.”
Know the math tool rules
Calculators are forbidden on the exams for grades 3, 4, and 5, so kids should bone up on their basic operations. Careless calculation errors can sink scores drastically. In grades 6, 7, and 8, calculators are banned on one day of testing but required on the other two.
That means middle schoolers must be able to do operations by hand but must also be comfortable using their calculator. To practice, try solving a few tough problems by hand, then checking that work with the same calculator to be used on the test. In high school, each Regents math test requires the use of a graphing calculator.
ENGLISH First, read the questions
Review the questions that follow each selection before reading the text, Shvartsman advised. “As you see the things you know you’ll be asked about, mark them. When you get to the question, you’ve already set yourself up to find the answer.”
Even the youngest test-takers can handle this technique, Makogon said.
“Experiment with it ahead of time to be sure it’s a good strategy for your child, but most students find it helps to know what they need to focus on as they read.”
Anticipate and eliminate
On multiple-choice questions, think first before glancing at the answer choices.
“If you can answer the question on your own, you won’t be confused,” Makogon said. “You can focus on which one is the best match.”
For example: A 6th grader who knows the meaning of either “impossible” or “improbable” can guess that the phrase relates to something not very likely to happen. With a glance at the answer choices, “usually certain” and “extremely slow” can be eliminated. Of the two answers remaining, choice B, “highly unlikely,” comes closest to the student’s initial guess.
Don’t go to extremes
Watch out for absolutes in multiple-choice ELA questions. Words like “never” and “always” can make an answer choice too extreme to be correct.
For example:
What does Dr. Elizabeth Dowdell suggest when she says “people expect to be able to access anyone or to be accessed by anyone at any time”?
A. Teens need to stay available by phone at all times.
B. Many teens want to own a phone that receives texts.
C. Constant phone use is a behavior of teens that cannot be changed.
D. Teens are so used to having phones that nonstop texting has become a habit.
In choice A, “at all times” makes the response a too-broad blanket statement, and therefore probably wrong. In choice C, words like “constant” and “cannot be changed” set up another extreme concept. Eliminating those two possibilities leaves just two choices, making it easier to home in on the right one, choice D.
Always outline
On the exam’s essay questions, never rush into writing. A few moments of planning can make responses more coherent and complete.
Outlines help young writers keep their ideas flowing in a logical order, and with scoring rubrics that require a certain number of facts and text details in each essay, a writing plan keeps them from forgetting key elements and losing precious points.
LAST-MINUTE PREP Prepare your materials
Make up a special test-day backpack or pack a zippered plastic bag with essentials like spare sharpened pencils, a calculator with extra batteries (and for some grades a ruler, compass, and protractor), tissues, a bottle of water, and a light sweater.
Keep the cell phone home for the day. An accidental ring could cause scores to be thrown out.
Prepare yourself
Plenty of sleep during test week should be a given, but it’s just as important to pack away the study materials and avoid screen time before bed.
“Put on some classical music, or the ‘Young Mozart’ tunes set to hip-hop beats,” Shvartsman said.
Eat a healthy breakfast, including protein and whole grains, on test day, and boost a sleepy brain with a brisk walk around the block or some fun riddles before heading to school.