[yoda]

This year I thought about giving my students a goodie bag before testing because they have been working really hard. I know many of them are not looking forward to the test, can't blame them. Anyway, does anyone have any ideas or cute little slogans to go with the items?

Thanks. Our tests aren't until the first week of May.

[hescollin]

A peppermint each day and a bottle of water. Refill it after the first day. Use magic marker to label on the lid.

Testing Star, attach the mint to a yellow star.

[BirdSong]

It sounds a little bizarre, but I stole this idea from a colleague of mine a few years ago. Each morning before testing, I give each students a small dixie cup of brain juice. We all recite a special "SMART PLEDGE" and drink all together. The pledge goes something like:

Today I will take a test
And I will not be afraid
I will certainly do my best
Because I am very smart today

The brain juice is a little Mellow Yellow (the caffeine stimulates the brain) and some green food coloring to make it look different. Kids try to guess what it is and some even suggest Mellow Yellow. Very quickly someone in class will announce that it cannot be Mellow Yellow because it is green. They beg me to tell them where I get it from, and I just say that I bought it at a special teacher store.

I did have a child that could not have caffeine, so hers was water with food coloring to match the rest.

I truly believe in Henry Ford's quote "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." If children believe they will succeed, they will. The brain juice helps boost their confidence.

I also allow them to chew peppermint gum during the test. Studies show this helps calm their nerves.

[Risa]

Do your best work NOW...AND LATER you’ll be very proud of your accomplishments!

Here are some SMARTIES to energize your brain cells and help you to do your best!

No time for SNICKERS yet! You’re almost finished with testing!

[KcK]

I do a test taking survival kit I dont have access to the file right now,,, but here is the gist:

1 Peppermint for every test.... to boost your brain power!
1 Eraser... to get rid of those brain freezes (what I call mistakes in my room)
2 Pencils... to record all the knowledge you have learned
1 stick of gum for each test... to remind you to stick with it!
1 highlighter... for highlighting of course!
1 Hershey's Hug.. for all your hard work!

I also put the word out to the staff and ask for volunteers to adopt my kids the week of testing. Each day every student gets a little note from their person encouraging them. Some years I have a different person write to each child each day and some years I have the same person do it, but it is a secret santa kind of thing... then after testing the kids find out who adopted them. That is easier and more fun for the kids although they do like getting a different person each day too.

[AnonOne]

Wow! What great ideas! Thank you for starting this thread. I haven't tried any cute slogans, but I can share what I've done.

On the first day of testing, I printed personalized cards for each student, in which they were asked to write something positive about themselves, along with a sentence stating why they would do well on the test. Students wrote everthing from, "I am a super model," to "I like seafood," but at least it sparked positive thinking.

Also, I brought in juice, crackers, and a mint for my students each day.

This year, I may try some of the ideas posted here.

[Hylin]

Our school is prepping to take the Stanford-10 [only 10 more days!!!]. We're having a door decorating contest to get the kids invested [winning classroom gets a book for every child]. On our door we did "Room 103 is the place to be to get geared up again for the Stanford-10" and then the kids made little "gears" outta paper plates that are all linked together all over the door. I put a little picture of them in the center and then they wrote something they're doing to prep to test.

I definitely agree with Bird Song. Start boosting them up for the test instead of dreading it. I keep telling my first graders to think way back to August and we made a list of ALLLLL the things we've learned since then. After that they decided that they know a lot more than they did so they're definitely going to rock this test.

I love the idea about brain juice and will definitely incorporate that.

Testing is fun because the kids get to show you how much they've grown. Boost them up instead of dreading it!

[teacher333]

We have a raffle for each day of our four days of testing - it will be a personal question about me such as the names of my pets, where did I grow up, my favorite color. Before we get down to testing, I show them the multiple choice question, they write their name next to their answer choice, and as soon as testing is done we reveal the answer and the winners! I will have some sort of small snack for them, like Cheese-Its or Wheat Thins, but the winner of the raffle gets to choose something from either my witch's cauldron or the prize box. They look forward to it, and they are 5th graders!

[yoda]

Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions!

[yoda]

Thanks again to all who posted ideas and suggestions. I used the brain juice idea with vault or volt, a new drink by Coke and the cute little candy sayings. I added fruit roll-ups because I couldn't find Now or Laters. I also gave each of them a pencil with a funky eraser top. All were happy.

Don't get "rolled up" in the test! Use a Post-It Note and move on to another question. Remember to cleanly erase any stray marks on the test.