Drumcondra and Micra T time is fast approaching and with it comes a lot of unnecessary stress for some children. When children are stressed they are not going to perform well, therefore now is the time to start to get them ready. While I completely disagree that children should be taught to the test, I think it is vital that children get an idea of the type of questions that will come up so they don’t panic and stress when they see something they have never seen before.
Literacy
Use books like Reading Zone and Cloze Procedures so that children get used to answering tricky comprehension questions, reading the text for clues and filling in the blanks.
Numeracy
Use mental maths books like New Wave Mental Maths, Mad 4 Maths (mainly word problems), Brain Teasers, Sum Detective, Maths Challenge etc. These questions will get children ready to tackle the Drumcondra/Micra T’s.
Explain to children that tests are a way for you to know how they are getting on and what you need to do to help the class.
Practice
Give the children maths and cloze procedure ‘tests’ where they are required to work independently without assistance from their peers or from you. This will help you to see which children are struggling and help the children to work independently and learn the skills to work out questions they are unsure of. Children should also be encouraged to check back over their work.
Once you have corrected the ‘tests’ you can then go back through the questions that a lot of children had difficulty with and work them out as a class.
