Tips for Studying for Tests and Quizzes

Grades 4-6 

Question:      When do you start preparing for tests and quizzes?

Answer:        The day you get the material!

Reading

• Participate in class discussions, make connections and ask questions.
• Keep up with your reading each night.
• As you read, mark your book (using the book marking guide given to you by your teacher) paying close attention to details.
• Summarize each chapter as soon as you finish reading it. Create a headline for the chapter. Work on retrieving information by creating and answering questions about the material you just read. This is a powerful way to put information into your long-term memory.
• Never wait until the night before a test or quiz to read the material for the first time.
• When it is time for the test or quiz, review your markings, headlines and questions. This will help you recall the main idea and key points of each chapter.
• Re-read the chapters that you don’t easily recall after reviewing your markings, headlines and questions.

Math

• Participate in class, make connections and ask questions.
• Complete your homework each night.
• Create you own review sheet of all formulas, terms and other important information. (You can add to this sheet each day so that you won’t have to create the review sheet at the end of the unit.)
• Use your review sheet and problems you have worked previously in class to create your own review test. Be sure to include problems you missed the first time you did them.
• Think of a practice test as “scrimmage”. You want your scrimmage game to be like the real game as much as possible. You always scrimmage in advance of the real game, and you should take the practice test two days in advance of the test.
• Take the practice test, check it and correct your mistakes. If you are still uncertain about a problem, check the PDS website to see if you teacher has posted a tutorial for this skill.

Vocabulary

• Participate in class, make connections and ask questions.
• Complete all assignments.
• Always create flash cards to study for VA.
• When creating your flash cards, write the word on one side. On the other side of the card write the definition and a sentence using the word in context. Writing a sentence that means something to you personally will help you store the words and definitions in your long-term memory.
• Don’t just memorize the definitions or parts of speech. Think about how the words are connected. (For example, think about what it means if a word is a verb and how that word is different from other VA words that might be adjectives or nouns.)
• Pay close attention to the format of the VA tests; they will be similar each time.
• Study a little each night. Trying to learn everything the night before the test will not allow the information to be stored in your long-term memory.

World Languages

• Participate in class, make connections and ask questions.
• Complete all assignments.
• Create flash cards with the vocabulary words on one side and the English word on the other side.
• You can learn a new language twice as fast by saying the vocabulary aloud.
• Practice the words by pronouncing the word in the language you are studying and then stating the meaning of the word in English.
• Next, flip the cards and say the word in English and then repeat the word in the language you are studying.

How To Study Any Subject With Flash Cards

• Create flash cards for the material you must learn. (You can make the flash cards by hand or digitally.)
• Learn 5 flash cards. Take a few minutes to really learn them.
• Add 5 more cards, and review all 10 flash cards.
• After you review 10 flash cards, add 5 more and review all 15 cards.
• After you learn 15 flash cards, ask someone to quiz you using your flash cards.
• If you miss something, say the correct answer aloud at least 3-4 times. This will help to erase the wrong answer from your memory bank.
• If you have more than 15 cards to study, repeat the process.

Map Tests

• Print 10 blank copies of the map and the list of terms you need to learn.
• Fill out the first map from memory to see how much you really know.
• Fill in any missing information to complete the map.
• Repeat the steps above until you can complete the map without having to add missing information.
• Once you feel you have learned all of the information, you should look at different map sources to make sure that you can locate places on any map.

Studying for “Big” Tests (Unit Tests) in Any Subject

• Participate in class, make connections and ask questions.
• Teachers will always let you know in advance about this type of test.
• Begin studying for the test several nights in advance.
• Teachers often provide a review sheet for this type of test. Make sure to complete the review sheet at least two nights before the test. This will allow you to ask questions at school the next day.
• If the teacher does not give you a review sheet, you should create one of your own. (There are also several online programs that can help you do this.)
• Spend the night before the test reviewing all the material, especially the material that was difficult or confusing for you.