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You can take
a very active role in preparing your kids for the kinds of questions that
appear on standardized tests. Here's a simple activity that you can do
together to help them improve their reading and writing skills.
Yes, believe
it or not, watching television with your kids is a great way to start
preparing them for a standardized test. And chances are your children won't
mind the extra effort of watching a little TV!
Since these
tests ask a broad range of questions -- from direct to introspective -- it
helps to start familiarizing your child with different types of questions
early on. And this activity has the added benefit of strengthening your
child's memory, attention span, and thinking skills.
Step 1: Start by watching a television
program with your child that is about a half-hour long.
Step 2: During the commercial breaks, ask
your child some basic, or "literal," questions about the program:
"How many kids went to the movies? What color shirt was Joey wearing
when Debbie came over?" These questions will sharpen your kids' level
of attentiveness and make them more aware of what they're watching.
Step 3: Once in a while, ask a few
interpretive questions during the commercials: "How do you think
Debbie felt when she found out that Joey cheated on the test?" Make your
child think a little bit about different situations and how they affect
characters on the show. This "higher level" of questioning is
great practice for the questions that your child will encounter on the
test.
Step 4: At the end of the program, have
your child summarize the events of the last half-hour and come up with a
title for that episode. Also, ask your child a question that requires some
critical thinking: "How do you feel about cheating? Do you think
Joey's teacher should have handled the situation differently?"
Step 5: As you repeat this activity, try to
include more and more higher-level, interpretive, and critical-thinking
questions. Start to have your child write his or her responses down on
paper, instead of telling them to you. You may also increase the program
length to an hour.
Activities
written by Howard I. Berrent, Ph.D. with Caren Churchbuilder of Steck-Vaughn/Berrent Publications.
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