Beyond Test Prep: Building Confidence for Assessment Season
- Jackie Glassman
- Feb 19
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Instructional strategies that build confidence, skills, and familiarity.
Testing schedules vary across schools and districts, timelines are tight, and many students, teachers, and administrators feel the pressure. Most educators have benchmark data, pacing guides, and district tools in place. What they need during assessment season are engaging, ready-to-use resources that help students feel prepared and confident.
BrainPOP supports assessment readiness by going beyond repeated practice items. Our approach helps students build the skills, confidence, and mindset they need to walk into test day ready to think critically and apply their learning.
Test-Taking Topics that Build Confidence
Some of the most effective assessment prep does not look like test prep at all. Skills such as understanding test formats, managing time, and staying focused apply across subjects and assessments—helping students feel more in control and approach testing with greater confidence. BrainPOP’s test-taking topics are designed to build these skills, giving students practical tools they can use before and during assessments.
Before students even begin studying, BrainPOP’s Test Preparation topic helps them understand how to prepare effectively. Students learn how to plan ahead, organize notes, pace their studying, and take care of themselves physically and mentally. By emphasizing preparation over cramming, it helps students approach tests with a calmer, more confident mindset.
This topic focuses on what students can do during a test. Students learn practical strategies like reading directions carefully, answering easier questions first, using process of elimination, and reviewing work at the end. These strategies give students a clear plan to rely on when they feel stuck—andturns “I don’t know what to do” into “I have a plan,” to foster persistence and a sense of agency.
Related topics like Note-Taking Skills can also support students during review by helping them organize information and focus on what matters most.
Flexible ways to use these topics:
Show a movie during morning meeting or advisory before a testing block
Use as a bell-ringer during review week
Run a short small-group lesson for students who struggle with test anxiety
Road to Readiness: Multi-Day Review Plans
For teachers looking for more structured support, BrainPOP’s Road to Readiness plans offer full instructional sequences that review key skills through meaningful, engaging learning rather than rote practice.
Built by BrainPOP’s curriculum and instruction team, these plans are standards-aligned, turnkey, and designed for critical thinking and evidence-based writing. They’re ideal for instructional coaches to share with teachers or for teachers to grab and go during crunch time.
ELA Grades 3-8 Road to Readiness: Review and Refresh Calendar (5 Days)
This five-day sequence includes daily activities that focus on a core ELA skill:
Main idea
Making logical inferences
Point of view
Context clues
Synthesis and verification
Rather than simply revisiting content, the sequence engages students in the kinds of thinking that assessments require. Students create multiple-choice questions with intentional distractors, hunt for evidence, flip perspectives, and write “bridge sentences” to connect ideas across texts.
Grade 8 Science Road to Readiness: Review and Refresh Calendar (3 Days)
Through studying the evolution of horse limbs, this three-day sequence builds students up to construct the types of Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) responses they’ll need on test day. Along the way, they’ll analyze fossil records, use data manipulatives to gather evidence, and more.
BrainPOP Science: Rigor That Mirrors Middle School State Assessments
State science assessments aren’t about memorizing facts. They require students to apply knowledge, analyze data, and construct evidence-based explanations.
BrainPOP Science investigations are designed around the same multidimensional learning framework (NGSS) that state tests assess on their 8th-grade tests. Students engage with real-world phenomena, gather evidence, and explain their reasoning—all of which aligns with the cognitive work they’ll be asked to do on test day.
Importantly, the rigor and question types students encounter in investigations closely mirror those found on state assessments. Using investigations close to testing helps students feel familiar with expectations and confident in their ability to respond.
As one middle school science teacher, Kristen Samples, shared:
“There are so many investigations that connect with the students and what we’re doing. Some of the questions were the exact state test questions that students have had—and some were leveled to encourage students, almost saying, ‘Keep going, you got this.’ Kids need those questions every now and then, too.”
Ways to use investigations during assessment season:
Run an investigation 1–2 weeks before testing as a low-pressure “practice run”
Use investigations to review core concepts like energy transfer, ecosystems, or forces
Build fluency with data analysis, graphing, and evidence-based writing, all of which are tested skills
Ready Means Confident, Not Perfect
Assessment season doesn’t have to mean stress and burnout. When students understand what to expect, have strategies to manage challenges, and feel supported, they are ready not only to answer questions but also to think, reason, and problem-solve.
BrainPOP is here to help you get them there with ready-to-use topics and plans.
Jackie Glassman is a curriculum designer, editor, and content strategist who builds meaningful learning experiences that meet K-8 students where they are. She blends rigor, empathy, and creativity to develop standards-aligned, culturally responsive curriculum rooted in how students truly learn. Jackie is also a dedicated yogi—and her favorite character will always be Moby, of course.