Test Prep Made Easier: Smart Strategies for Busy Teachers

Test prep doesn’t have to mean weeks of stress or endless review packets. Intentional yearlong preparation can strengthen your daily instruction, build student confidence, and eliminate headaches.

Effective test prep focuses on targeted skills, real test formats, and consistent practice across subjects. With the right tools, you can prepare students without sacrificing engagement or instructional time. We’ve got you covered with some test prep tips and Newsela resources to streamline your planning and close learning gaps.

Jump to:

• Use analytics to target specific skills
• Personalize practice with differentiated textsA
• Align quizzes with test question types
• Focus on nonfiction reading comprehension
• Build writing and constructed-response skills
• Prep quiet activities ahead of testing day
• Take mental health breaks

What are effective test prep strategies teachers can use in the classroom?

The most impactful test prep strategies are often small, intentional shifts in how you teach daily that help students practice the skills, formats, and thinking they’ll encounter on assessments. These tips focus on data, differentiation, and student-centered routines to build confidence and readiness baked into the teaching and learning you’re already doing:

[Use analytics to target specific skills](id-data)

Key takeaways:

• Focus test prep on skill gaps instead of reteaching everything.
• Use data to plan efficient, targeted mini-lessons.
• Track progress over time to adjust instruction.

Review quiz data to identify which standards or question types students need the most practice with, and create targeted mini-lessons to cover them.

Teachers, admins, and students can also use the data and reporting insights available within Newsela’s subject products to monitor growth, drive instruction, and guide test prep. Try these reports:

• Admin Usage Report: See how teachers and students are using Newsela with drill-down pages for insights into overall user activity, content views, activity submissions, and more.
• Admin NWEA MAP Growth Data: When synced, students can automatically see content at the Lexile level closest to their MAP Growth scores on both assignments and independently selected texts. 
• Teacher Class Overview Report: Get a rapid snapshot of how students are reading on Newsela and view the average grade and Lexile levels per class, the total texts viewed, average minutes read, and texts read by grade level.
• Teacher Reading Activity Report: Summarize reading activity in the platform across texts using metrics like articles viewed, quizzes taken, and average quiz and write prompt scores.
• Teacher ELA Reading Skills Report: Summarize student quiz performance across eight reading skills with a summary of ELA skills growth at the student level; performance data on specific skills at the school level; and insight into quizzes taken at, above, or below grade level.
• Teacher Power Words ELA Report: Support student vocabulary acquisition and view Power Words averages and progress, including average word level, number of words practiced, and progress toward yearly word goals.
• Student My Progress Report: Check individual progress to review reading skills and activity metrics for increased ownership of learning.

[Personalize practice with differentiated texts](id-luna)

Key takeaways:

• Maintain academic rigor while improving accessibility.
• Support diverse learners with leveled reading texts.
• Save prep time by using Luna AI-powered differentiation.

Assign the same article at multiple reading levels so all students can access the same topic while practicing comprehension skills.

Text differentiation is even easier across Newsela with Luna, your AI-powered assistant. Follow these easy steps to differentiate text from anywhere:

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1. Look for Luna on your Newsela dashboard: Find the Luna Text Leveler box on your Newsela home page to adapt any text—not just Newsela content—for optimal grade-appropriate comprehension.
2. Paste your text and select a grade level: Pull your text from anywhere and paste it into Luna’s Text Leveler. Then select the grade levels for the new text and click “Generate Level.”
3. Use your differentiated texts in class: You can view the source text and the leveled versions side by side and edit the converted text if necessary. Copy it or print it to share with students.

[Align quizzes with test question types](id-quiz)

Key takeaways:

• Reinforce test-style questions through regular reading practice.
• Reduce test anxiety with consistent exposure to question formats.
• Use quiz data to guide reteaching and intervention.

Assign quizzes with every article. Most mirror common state test formats with question types like multiple choice, and topics like main idea and inference. Follow these steps to find and assign a quiz on almost any Newsela article:

1. Choose an article: Use the search bar or find a text set or collection and click into a Newsela article.
2. Find the quiz: In the assignment builder, look under the Reading Comprehension activities to see if the article has a quiz. If so, it should be checked on by default.
3. View the quiz: Click “View” on the quiz activity to see the questions and associated standards. You can also add or edit quiz questions for free on Formative!
4. Assign your article: The quiz will be attached to the article when you assign it to students. No extra prep work required!
5. Review results: Check out your dashboards and reports to get individual students' and classwide data on quiz results.

[Focus on nonfiction reading comprehension](id-nonfiction)

Key takeaways:

• Strengthen nonfiction comprehension skills across subjects.
• Build close-reading habits using informational texts.
• Reinforce standards-aligned reading skills across the curriculum.

Focus on the emphasis of informational texts on state tests and encourage students to annotate or highlight as they read to reinforce close reading habits. You can include nonfiction reading in any subject with collections like:

Newsela ELA

These Newsela ELA resources can help get your students ready for their standardized tests:

• ELA Standards and Skills: Support students with specific reading skills and standards with a Reading Skills Check and targeted fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by grade level and skill.
• ELA Videos: Skills & Concepts: Use multimodal learning to reinforce concepts like story elements, grammar, writing, and literary techniques.
• “Teach This Poem” Poetry Lessons from Poets.org: The collection helps develop students’ poetry, reflection, and analysis skills.
• Close Reading for Meaning™ Lessons from Lavinia Group: These curated texts and aligned lesson plans support students in Grades 3 and 5 in practicing close reading to help them tackle grade-level texts they’ll find on standardized tests.
• Investigating Unknown Words: Explore new vocabulary through informational texts on topics like fashion, video games, drawing, and drama.
• Main Idea and Details in Historical Texts: Help students practice reading nonfiction texts on historical topics to build key skills such as identifying the main idea and using text features.
• Analyzing Text Structures: Students can study and recognize different organizational structures authors use to convey meaning in nonfiction texts.
• Identifying Multiple Main Ideas: Explore historical texts with multiple main ideas and practice identifying them.
• Analyzing Poetry and Nonfiction: Focus on pairing literary and informational texts to build context.

Newsela Social Studies

Our Social Studies Skills unit helps students refresh and review key skills that can help them on standardized tests—even if there isn’t a history or social studies section on their exams. 

• Designate Time Periods: Review the historical thinking skills of reading and developing timelines to designate, organize, and compare time periods and eras in history, and practice sequencing skills.
• Interpret Models: Review how to read and interpret data presented in different models, such as charts, diagrams, and graphs, to boost math and reasoning skills.
• Evaluate and Corroborate Primary Sources: Review the critical thinking skills of evaluating primary sources and corroborating evidence to support developing strong expository and argumentative writing.
• Construct Arguments: Use texts to practice constructing strong arguments by ranking the strength of evidence and honoring counterclaims to boost writing skills.

Newsela STEM

Use science and math resources to build key critical thinking and analysis skills that help students tackle all subjects on standardized tests.

• Science Diagrams: Explore diagrams across focus areas such as Earth and space science, biology, geography, and engineering to teach students to analyze information from visuals.
• Exploring Data with Tuva: Discover interactive datasets that bring science concepts to life and help students interpret charts, graphs, and data.
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information: Read about work that scientists are doing in areas like Earth and space science, environmental science, and biology, and build evaluation and interpretation skills.
• Science Word of the Day: Boost vocabulary skills by reviewing science key terms across Earth and space science, life science, physical science, and engineering.

[Build writing and constructed-response skills](id-writing)

Key takeaways:

• Practice constructed responses without isolated test drills.
• Build writing clarity, structure, and text-based evidence.
• Strengthen cross-curricular writing skills for assessments.

Use Newsela’s writing prompts to encourage students to write short responses the mirror open-ended test questions and support cross-curricular writing practice.

You can also use text sets and the Newsela Writing platform to teach students valuable writing skills that they’ll need to answer questions on state and standardized tests. Try these Newsela ELA resources to get started:

• Essay Writing with Newsela Writing: Find resources and writing prompts for informational, opinion/argumentative, and literary essays on topics like the Dust Bowl, celebrity media coverage, and poetry analysis.
• Writing Projects and Lessons: Find ready-to-implement lessons and projects for argumentative and opinion writing, informative and explanatory writing, and narrative and creative writing.
• Informational Writing: Focus on different types of text structure and how they help authors convey information effectively.
• Responding to Reading: Practice reading critically and writing a response to what they’ve read, just like students would do on a state test.
• Summary vs. Analysis: Invite students to learn the difference between writing a summary and an analysis by reading texts and writing a movie review.
• Overcoming Writer’s Block: Teach students what writer’s block is and give them strategies to overcome it if it strikes during testing.

[Prep quiet activities ahead of testing day](id-activities)

Key takeaways:

• Minimize testing disruptions with clear expectations.
• Keep early finishers engaged with independent activities.
• Reduce day-of testing stress through advanced planning.

Even with time limits on certain test sections, some students will finish faster than others. Prepare quiet “finished early” activities for students in advance so they know exactly what they can and can’t do while testing is still in progress. 

Drawing and independent reading are typically two engaging activities that students can do without disrupting their classmates who are still testing. We’ve curated a collection of high-interest articles in Newsela ELA to hold students’ attention, like:

• Eight things you didn’t know about “Super Mario Bros.”
• The hottest sound right now? K-pop
• How did a sweet, mischievous eld named Labubu get so popular?
• Student Fiction: The “Imaginary” Friend
• Student Poem: “The Last Bell”
• Student Fiction: Nightmare Hollow

[Take mental health breaks](id-mh)

Key takeaways:

• Support student mental health during testing season.
• Improve focus and stamina with intentional brain breaks.
• Normalize wellness routines alongside academic preparation.

Test prep and testing season can feel overwhelming for students and teachers. Remember to take mental health breaks and promote healthy habits outside the classroom to stay focused, refreshed, and ready to take on exams. Try some of these ideas or get other suggestions from the Newsela ELA Taking a Break text set:

• Stand up and stretch for three-to-five minutes after finishing a test prep exercise.
• Take a (quiet) group bathroom break to leave the classroom and walk through the halls for a scenery change.
• Munch on healthy snacks and drink plenty of water to stay full and focused.
• Allow students to listen to soft, quiet music as a class or individually with headphones in between test prep exercises or testing blocks.
• Practice meditation to create a calm classroom environment.
• Discuss ways students can practice self-care outside the classroom, like with journaling.
• Encourage students to take naps at home before and during testing season to boost learning and relaxation.
• Work with your school or district to bring therapy animals to campus before or during testing season. 

Simplify test prep with Newsela

Test prep is most effective when it fits naturally into your everyday teaching. Newsela helps simplify the process by bringing skills practice, data, differentiation, and assessment-aligned content together in one place, so preparation feels manageable instead of overwhelming.

If you’re looking for even more support, try one of our two flexible resources to help you prepare with confidence:

• Newsela Test Prep Workshops: Get ready-to-use test-prep strategies for your classroom and boost student confidence with bite-sized, live, interactive workshops.
• Newsela Test Prep Toolkit: Grab tips, resources, and ready-to-use lessons to build skills and improve test-taking while teaching your regular curriculum.

Ready to put these tools and strategies into practice? Sign up for Newsela Lite to start your free 45-day trial of our in-product tools and resources that make test prep simpler, more targeted, and more effective.