Giving your students quality math test practice is the way to go in 2nd grade. When my 2nd graders took their first unit math assessment of the year, they completely bombed it. I felt like a failure as a teacher.
But then I realized the real problem…
The test was formatted differently than what students had practiced in lessons. My students knew the content, but they were thrown off by the way the questions were asked.
That’s when I made a simple change. And it transformed my students’ math test scores!
So in this blog post, I thought it would be helpful to share how I give my students math test practice.
Learn my best strategies for math test practice in 2nd grade.
That way you can apply these simple, yet helpful ideas and see your students’ math assessment scores soar! With these math test practice ideas, students practice the formatting of the tests and the content. This ensures success!
Math Assessment Practice Test
The day before our unit’s math assessment, I dedicate our math block to math test prep. Together as a class, we take a math assessment practice test together. The test questions on the practice test mirror the ones on the actual unit math assessment. That means the questions have the same format, but there are different numbers involved.
So what does it mean when I say that we take the practice test together?
I project the math assessment practice test up on our whiteboard using our projector. Students have copies of these tests at their desks. I will read the question to students and then ask them how they would solve it. I might call on a student to share with the class or have them turn and talk and share with a neighbor. Then we solve it together.
Other times, I’ll read the question and have students solve it. Then I’ll call on a student to share how they solved it. I’ll show how they did it on the board and have the other students check their work.
Then we move on to the next question until we finish the practice test. Find the math practice tests I use here.
This is just part one of our math assessment review. This next part is more interactive for students. They love it!
Interactive Math Test Practice Strategies
So what else do we do for math test practice? I have my students do a math test practice scoot around the room activity. This is where I have practice test questions taped up around the room.
This scoot activity makes basic math test practice fun and interactive for 2nd grade students!
I give students a partner to work with. They take their recording sheet around to the different problems and solve them.
Here’s the cool part though. I’ve taped up an answer key behind the test question. That way, when students answer the question, they can flip up the top page to reveal the answer and how I solved it. This makes it so students can check their own work and get immediate feedback.
A good math assessment practice activity will allow students to check their work.
I love to have students work with a partner for this math test practice activity. First off, students can support each other. They can talk things through and help each other. Now I do train students on how this help should look like. It’s not just telling them the answer. Maybe it’s showing them the first step or asking what they think they should do.
I also show students what it means to be a good partner. Good partners take turns choosing which problem to go to. They also stay with their partner. They don’t move onto the next problem without them.
It’s helpful to make a rule that there can only be one pair of students at a problem at one time. If a pair is already there, you need to go to a different problem that is open.
I also like students to work with pairs because they can keep each other accountable. They will work together so that they can finish in a timely manner and be able to play one of our math fact finisher games. Learn all about these fast finisher games in this blog post here.
So how do I partner students up? It’s important to me that I choose partners. I choose students that I know will work well together. Also, I don’t put the student who struggles most with math with the student who is the fastest at math. You want to partner a low student with a medium student and high students with medium students.
I’ll have those partners work with each other for a month or so and then I’ll change things up.
As students are going around the room and practicing these test problems, I am also walking around. I monitor students and help out when students are confused.
Doing a practice test together as a class and then having students do this scoot activity is a great way to practice for a unit math assessment. But what are all the math assessments I give to my 2nd grade students?
Editable Math Assessments for 2nd Grade Teachers
Even though I had math assessments from our district’s curriculum, I know many teachers and homeschool parents may not have access to these. So I created Editable Math Assessments for you!
Easily give your students the math test practice they need with these editable 2nd grade math assessments.
I break these tests down into units. Here are those subjects:
I’ll link my blog posts on how to best teach these 2nd grade math subjects.
2-Digit Subtraction Strategies
Fluently Subtract 2-Digit Numbers
3-Digit Subtraction Strategies
These tests have 10-12 problems each. This makes these tests manageable and easy to give students in a single math block.
2nd grade students need space to write things down and show their work. So I made sure to give enough space for students to solve.
My practice tests and scoot activities match these tests perfectly. And everything is editable, so you can make changes and match them to your curriculum’s tests as needed. Find all these math assessment materials here.
As I have given math assessments to my 2nd graders over the years, I do have some other tips that have really helped out.
First off, I always read the test questions to all my students. I want students to show their math knowledge on these tests. I don’t want them to get a problem wrong because they struggle to read.
Also, I have students stay together when taking these math assessments. That means I’ll read the question and then let students solve that one question. When students finish that question., they can pull out a book from their desk to read quietly. Then when I see that all students are finished with that test question, I will call students’ attention back and then I will read the next test question and have them solve it.
This ensures that students show their best work on their math assessments.
I like to have students get math test practice with the ideas I’ve shared today because it helps them prepare the test’s content and format.
Get my Editable Math Assessments and give your students the best math test practice possible!
Find them here.
