Motivating students for state testing or for assessments throughout the year can be tough. There are so many things that teachers can do to help ease stress for students during this time. Whether you choose to inspire students with motivational quotes or special treats, it is bound to make an impact. Test motivation for students doesn’t have to be hard work or cost a lot of money. Sometimes, the old adage is correct… it’s the thought that counts!
So check out these seven fun ideas to make test motivation for students a breezze!
Test Motivation Posters for Students
During state testing, we were always required to take down all educational content from the walls in our classrooms. However, they were not too strict in that we could not have test motivation posters. Some schools, however, do not have this privledge. If your school is one which allows posters on the wall as long as they are not educational this is highly recommended!
Classrooms are BORING without learning materials! Jazz up your classroom with some cute motivational posters for students. You can find lots of these posters on sites like TPT, or you can make your own. Check out these black and white with a touch of gold motivational posters:
Genius Juice/Genius Water
Ok, so this was the cutest thing I’ve probably ever done to motivate students for testing. One year, I decided to stay away from candy and came up with this. Water is always beneficial and, while juice does contain sugar “Genius Juice” just sounded too cute to pass up.
This was such a quick and easy way to get students motivated for testing. Simply print them out, punch a hole in the top, and tie them to a bottle of water or juice. You could also be fancy and print these onto label paper and stick them on as well. My students loved this! Students bragged about how they were geniuses because they had genius juice to give them brainpower. At the time, I taught only 6th grade so this would be great for elementary AND middle school students. Print them out for yourself HERE.
Quick and Easy Games for Test Motivation
Many schools have adopted the responsive classroom method. Whether or not you follow this philosophy at your school, you probably have a few spare minutes before class. Some students struggle with test anxiety, some students are unmotivated and all students can use a little time to loosen up before a test. The best way to do this is with a quick game. Depending on the age of your students, there is a wide array of quick games to play. You can find countless games that take up less than ten minutes. I highly encourage you to try one out next test time.
One of the easiest games that works for any students that can read is a partner matching game. Look up some jokes about school, your subject area or anything you’d like. They need to be Q&A jokes for this particular activity. Write all the questions on one index card and the answers on another. Make enough so that each student gets a card. When students come in to the classroom, give them each a card and have them find their match in the classroom. Give students a few minutes to go around the room to listen to other jokes to.
You can extend this by having students tell the jokes to the class after finding their match. You could also take a minute to vote on the funniest, corniest, lamest, etc. Students will get a kick out of this game and it only takes up a few minutes of time. You can even use this at the beginning of the school year as an ice breaker activity.
Motivating Treat Messages
Another way to give a little nudge of inspiration is to leave a treat on the students’ desks with a little message attached. There are plenty of different ideas online that match witty messages to different snacks or treats. I especially like this idea from the polka-dotted teacher.
Pep Talks & Down Time
Sometimes we can get caught up in all this testing and forget that sometimes the students just need a reminder that the test isn’t everything. In the days leading up to the test, it isimportant to remind them of all the things they are good at. Maybe taking time to individually recognize each student’s talents or even the class as a whole. Remind them that the best they can do is all they can do and the best they can do is enough! I used to be so wrapped up in the whole testing thing that I taught literally up until the day of the test… every last second I had I was trying to cram information into my kids heads. Boy do I feel bad looking back now.
Lets face it, the day before the test they aren’t going to have any epiphany moment and learn all the mysteries of the last five chapters. The day before the test is best spent having fun, letting loose and relaxing (as long as your school allows it). Give your students some time to play a game, have a a class party to celebrate their hard work or if you must do work, play a review game that the kids will actually enjoy.
