Test Taking Strategies Cards and Worksheets

About this resource

EVERYTHING INSIDE — 30 pages

• What Makes Tests Hard?: 9 pictured worries to circle, plus a line for the student's own
• What My Body Does When I Worry: 9 pictured body signals to circle, plus a line for the student's own
• My Test Worry Meter: 4 levels (calm, a little worried, very worried, too worried), each with two lines to write on
• My Calm Steps: 4 big steps with a picture each (sit tall, slow breath, "I can try," start with a question I know), a circle to color for each, and a line for the student's own calm words
• Which Strategy Helps?: 6 reading and math test moments, 3 pictured choices each; the student circles one (2 pages)
• After the Test: two pages, one picture-first (draw and write a little) and one writing-first (6 questions, two lines each)
• My Test-Day Plan: what worries me, what my body tells me, and an idea for before, during and after the test, plus a favorite strategy card and a grown-up who can help
• My Strategy Check-In: 15 circles (5 days, 3 kinds of work) to color each time the student uses a strategy
• 8 strategy cards in full color, cut apart 4 across and 2 down so each cut is one straight line: read it twice, underline key words, cross out wrong answers, skip and come back, watch the clock, check my work, take a breath, do my best. Each has a picture, a word and a short line the student can read
• The same 8 cards in black-and-white ink-saver
• 8 blank cards: the student draws a picture and writes their own words on type-in lines
• A how-to page and an answer key for the 6 test moments, with a space for your school's own rule
• A Strategy Card Log (20 rows: date, quiz or test, card picked, used it Y/N, initials)
• A weekly roll-up (8 weeks) with a percent graph
• A filled example: an invented student, one week on the log, three weeks on the roll-up and the cards picked across all three
• A family page with 6 small cards to cut apart and a note home
• A hand-off page so a paraprofessional or another classroom uses the same cards the same way
• A phrase bank: 23 lines in 6 groups (spoken lines for the worksheets and cards, written starters for the log, the roll-up and the note home)
• A storage and binder label sheet: 12 labels and a spine strip
• Start Here, a contents page that maps every page, and a "what's next" back page

The Worksheets

Every student page has a "My name" line, one short instruction with a picture, big pictures and big rounded words, and room to circle, color or write. The test moments are ordinary ones: directions with a lot of words, a question that is not clear, a question to skip, two wrong answers to cross out, a finished page to check, a fast heartbeat. The student in the example is invented.

The Strategy Cards

8 pictured cards the student can pick from. Keep them in a pocket, on a ring or taped to the desk. Use a blank card for any idea that is not printed here.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF: type into the name lines, the writing lines, the log, the roll-up, the family page, the hand-off page and the blank cards, or print and use a pen. It works offline with no account or subscription. It is NOT an editable online slideshow or word-processor document.

Who This Is For

Teachers, counselors, special education teachers and paraprofessionals who want short, concrete worksheets and picture cards on test taking strategies for grades 3-8, and the families who get the home page.

More In The Collection

This set is in the Visual Supports Collection, alongside Stop-Think-Act Impulse Control Picture Cards and Log, Break Cards for Special Education and Sticker Chart. Free to try first: Visual Supports Starter Set FREE.

Pictures (color pages): Noto Emoji by Google, Apache License 2.0. Pictures (ink-saver pages): Fluent Emoji, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, MIT License.