4 Fun Ways to Test Prep and Review for 4th Grade Math

Preparing for End of Year exams can be very stressful for students and teachers too.  The goal is to cover all the topics before the exam while making sure the students feel confident and not overwhelmed.  From the student’s perspective, you want to make the review engaging.  Using the same materials over and over again is tedious for students and can be very stressful if they’re not strong in taking tests.  Trying different types of review will make test prep fun for them and you’ll gain valuable knowledge on what information they are confident with and what needs to be reviewed. Here are 4 Fun Ways to Test Prep for 4^th Grade Math.

1. Play an Interactive Game

Students love playing games.  They are a fun way to review and students can also learn to collaborate and play well with other students. Digital games are particularly fun because they’re interactive.  One example is this PowerPoint game that is played similar to Jeopardy.  Students form teams, nominate a team captain, then work through all 50 questions to review 4^th grade math.  Each question has the common core alignment so teachers can take note of which questions might cause students to struggle.

The questions for this game are also editable which means you can use it for additional activities.  After playing the game once, many teachers assign questions to different teams, then create a totally new set of questions for a totally new game.  Students enjoy writing the questions and it’s a great way to extend the review to multiple days.

2. Use Printable Task Cards for Early Finishers, Scoot, or Around the Room

Printable task cards are a great way to review for the end of year math exam.  They’re interactive and students can either work individually or with a partner.  Some teachers print these at the beginning of the year then use them for early finishers throughout the school year.

Scoot and Around the Room are fun because students get to move a little.  With scoot, you would put 1 or 2 task cards on each desk then students scoot from desk to desk to answer the questions.  Around the room is similar except you place the task cards all over your classroom.  Walls, the floor, the door, windows, all make great places to tape the task cards.  Then students have to find the card, like a scavenger hunt, before they can answer the questions.

I usually laminate the cards so they last a little longer.  Students record their answers on recording sheets and it’s super easy to grade with the answer key.  You can even have students grade their own recording sheets then go back and try the questions they missed again.

3. Digital Task Cards on Boom Learning

I love digital task cards because they’re interactive, self-paced, and can even track student data.  These are probably the easiest for teachers to use because everything is digital which means no printing, laminating, cutting or storing the task cards.  With certain memberships on Boom Learning you can also track student data.  This makes it super easy to see which questions are most missed by your students so you can review and reteach before the big test.

If you are new to digital task cards or want more information about how to use Boom cards in your classroom, check out this article on 6 Reasons to Use Boom Cards in Your Classroom. You can also learn how to make your own Boom cards to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers and the Boom Learning website.

4. Printable Worksheets Similar to a Practice Test

These are always valuable because they are most similar to the test that your students will most likely take for their end of year exam.  It gives them practice with multiple choice questions, covers all the topics for 4^th grade math, and also has the common core alignment for each question.  I have found that this review can be intimidating for students sometimes so it might be best to break this up with a page or two per day rather than the entire set of worksheets.

If you are a 5th grade math teacher, this would also be a great pre-test for your students at the beginning of the school ear to see how much information they retained over the summer break.

I hope you find all of these suggestions helpful for your math test prep in your 4^th grade class.  If you are interested in using all four types of review, try the Math Test prep Bundle for 4^th Grade Math Review.  It has a couple weeks’ worth of review materials with completely different questions to keep your students engaged in the test prep season.