Test Hacker: Prep Your Students for Multiple Choice Questions!

 

The Problem.

In my first year of teaching, one of the biggest stressors for me was the end-of-year state assessment. It was self-inflicted stress; my district never caused the pressure. I just really wanted my kids to do well. 

We did a few practice tests, and I realized something. My kids were uncomfortable. Bad. They struggled with what to do when they didn't know an answer. 

I said what most teachers say: "It's okay. Just take your best guess. Do the process of elimination!"

Crickets followed. Blank stares ensued.

Students were still stressed and refused to guess and move on. There were even tears.

I went into research mode. I decided to test their elimination skills. I wanted to make a question they would be uncomfortable with--something we didn't learn. I drew the craziest shape I could on the board. Then, I made a multiple-choice question. It looked like this:

As you can see, the shape was entirely made up. However, the only answer it could have been was c.  I handed this out to my students and told them to do the process of elimination. 

Guess what? Over half of the fifth-grade class got this question wrong. 

My students revealed to me they were scared to circle "floogenoogen" because they had never heard of that word before. 

This was a turning point for my test prep. It showed that even though my 5th-grade students had background knowledge about what a circle, square, and rectangle looked like...they weren't able to get this question correct. Just telling students to "do the process of elimination" wasn't working. They needed training in how to apply their knowledge with logic/reasoning. 

Enter Whole Brain Teaching by Chris Biffle.

In this book, Biffle talks about starting test prep as early as the beginning of the year. No, that does not mean cramming and teaching to the test only. He is talking about prepping for how to take a test. My favorite trick of his is called doofus, trickster, and smarty.

The Solution: Doofus, Trickster, and Smarty.

Start off by teaching students there are 3 types of multiple-choice answers that test-makers use:

1.     The Doofus: The answer that is so wrong it's almost funny.
2.     The Trickster: The answer is almost correct, but it has a trick in it.
3.     The Smarty: The winner winner chicken dinner!

Here is an example:

Explanation: Justin Bieber and Thomas Jefferson are the Doofus answers to this question. They are males, and one was even a president! Students then use background knowledge to know that Ariana Grande is a younger artist. She would have been too young in 1999. Therefore, she is the Trickster. Even if students do not know who Britney Spears is...she has to be our Smarty! 

This will sound completely wrong. Your kids will be in shock when you tell them this.

Stop looking for the right answer. 

*Insert student gasps and crazy looks here.*

Tell them to find the wrong answers first. Find the doofus(es) and trickster(s) and eliminate those. It takes the pressure off, and they will wind up at the smarty! It's the process of elimination but in terms the kids can understand.

Your Solution: Test Hacker (my product) is on TPT!

If you want to teach your students how to approach unfamiliar questions, I have done the work for you! 

I ended up taking ACT Prep advice and merging it with Whole Brain Teaching test tricks. I wound up with Test Hacker. I've been using this with success for 5 years!

Test Hacker has everything you need to teach a 2-day introduction to multiple-choice test prep. It is designed to give your students questions they are uncomfortable with. Students must rely on background knowledge and the 7 "Test Hacks" to find the smarty! 

This lesson includes 

• Teacher presentation
• Student reference sheets 
• Whole-class practice activity
• Escape room activity
• Test Hacker student certificates. 

Activities are a mix of silly and serious questions to help teach testing strategies (examples below).

Happy "Hacking"!