ENGAGE + EXPLORE
INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION
Help your students prepare for testing with this collection of interactive quizzes, word play, activities and discussion prompts.
Start HereReady, Set, Test!
Guiding Question
What healthy habits can help me perform better on tests?Lesson Objectives
- Understand the benefits of exercise, sleep, breakfast and deep-breathing in preparing to perform well on tests
- Practice physical exercises that energize the brain
- Practice deep breathing to prepare for taking tests or to overcome test anxiety
- Perform self-assessment of test readiness health skills
Benefits of Teaching this Lesson
Kids today are under pressure to perform well on standardized tests, and teachers are being held accountable for their students’ standardized test scores. In addition to academic preparation, a growing body of evidence suggests that healthy behaviors (like eating breakfast or getting a good night’s sleep) can enhance standardized test performance. This lesson explores four healthy habits that can enhance test performance. With practice, your students will learn which health skills will most benefit them academically.
National Health Education Standards
Common Core: English Language Arts (ELA) - Grade 4-5 Alignments
Background
Here’s a list of additional resources. You don’t have to review these before you teach a lesson. But these resources may give you additional background or give your students a chance to learn health concepts and practice health skills.
- American Psychological Association: Food for Thought: Glucose is Good for Learning and Memory
- The Cornerstone: Surviving Standardized Tests
- Edutopia: What Works in Education: A Fit Body Means a Fit Mind
- Mayo Clinic: Is it Possible to Overcome Test Anxiety?
- Scholastic: Take Out Your No. 2 Pencils: Taking the Stress Out of Standardized Tests
Research-Based Citations
- Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Aerobics – Evaluating the New “R” in Academic Performance, in http://www.jpeds.com/content/JPEDSRauner
- A Longitudinal Study of Students’ Perceptions of Using Deep Breathing Meditation to Reduce Testing Distresses, in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17
- Mindful Breathing in the Classroom to Increase Academic Scores, in http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/tips/vol1/iss1/2/?utm_source=ir.lib.uwo.ca%2Ftips%2Fvol1%2Fiss1%2F2&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
- School Breakfast Scorecard, in http://frac.org/reports-and-resources/publications-archives/#breakfast (Note: click on 2011-12 for access to the pdf of the latest issue)
Vocabulary
- CONCENTRATION - the ability to pay attention to a task, like taking a test Getting 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night can improve my concentration.
- GLYCOGEN - the main form of carbohydrate stored by the body and used by the brain and muscles for energy I had a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and raisins to get the glycogen my brain needs for energy.
- NUTRIENT-RICH - describes a food that has lots of important substances that give us energy as well as help us grow and be healthy The morning before a test, I will eat a nutrient-rich breakfast that includes whole grains, a protein and fruits or vegetables.
- TEST ANXIETY - when uncomfortable feelings prevent you from performing well on tests Paco practiced deep breathing to help him overcome test anxiety.
Place these words and definitions on the class “word wall,” on an easel or chart, or use some other visual cue.
