Do plenty of activities where children have to bubble in answers so they re comfortable with the process. Do not accept answers written in the blanks or papers with stray marks, so all these details do not stress them out on the test. Frequently do activities where you refuse to help, so children are forced to read for themselves or figure out answers for themselves. I often hear about children crying during testing, but I ve never had one do it. This may have something to do with it.
Testing is stressful enough without a teacher who s been helpful all year suddenly refusing to help.
I try to keep anything in the testing situation from being something they ve never seen before. It covers test-taking skills in the areas of reading, math, and language. We found it familiarized the students with the type of questions on TerraNova and helped eliminate test anxiety. Throughout the year, continually review the concepts on which the students will be tested on TerraNova. Keep parents informed of concepts taught.