Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop

by Glennon Doyle Melton, Amy H. Greene

Under No Child Left Behind, nearly every teacher faces a high-stakes balancing act; managing the often incompatible responsibilities of teaching students meaningfully or preparing them for standardized tests. Through their experiences teaching at a school that struggled to meet state test standards driven by NCLB, authors Amy Greene and Glennon Melton discovered a way to raise scores without compromising their strong beliefs about good teaching and learning. Their concise and easy-to-use bookTest Integrating Test Preparation Into Reading Workshop includes lesson plans and practice passages, as well as sample questions and suggested language to use during lessons. This compelling book shows that teachers don't have to choose between best practice teaching and test preparation; effective test-taking strategies can be integrated into authentic reading instruction. The authors demonstrate how to improve performance on tests without resorting to teaching to the test,- mnemonic devices, or other gimmicks. Instead, they focus on encouraging student readers to explore tests as a specific genre containing unique language, format, and cues. Throughout the book, classroom vignettes show how seamlessly one can weave the test genre into reading workshop and connect those specialized skills to more general reading strategies. It is an invaluable resource for any teacher who struggles with how to prepare kids for tests without sacrificing real teaching and learning.

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

Glennon Doyle is the CEO and Founder of Treat Media, an award-winning media company that makes art for humans who want to stay human. She is an author, podcaster, producer, and philanthropist. Her books include the #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed, which has sold more than three million copies; the #1 New York Times bestseller Love Warrior, an Oprah’s Book Club selection; the New York Times bestseller Carry On, Warrior; and Get Untamed: The Journal. Glennon, named one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Podcasting,” is co-host of the chart-topping podcast We Can Do Hard Things, which has received over a half billion plays. She is an executive producer of the Sundance award-winning film Come See Me in the Good Light. Glennon was Founder and President of Together Rising, a nonprofit organization which distributed more than $55 million to women, families and children in crisis. Her most recent book, We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions, created with Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle and Treat Media, is being hailed as “the guidebook for being alive.”