Surviving Bubble Sheets In First Grade!

Hi everyone, it's Becky, and yes you read that title correctly. When I first found out that our district was starting a new test where our first graders would be filling out bubble sheets, I immediately had visions of me pulling out my hair in frustration while my kids sat crying in their seats. Since no one wanted that to happen, I decided that I needed a plan. My original idea had been to wait until we had a day where everyone was at school and give it then. However, after realizing the sheer magnitude of the test (There were 4 stories in the ELA portion with 30 questions total, and 30 questions in the math section.), I realized that this was going to take us all week, so it needed to be broken up.

Before going any further, I should also state that the purpose of these tests is to measure academic growth in our students, as well as to identify any gaps in our curriculum when looking at the overall data. Students will be taking these tests three times per year.

DAY 1: ELA 
(Answering the Questions)

I decided to break up the test by answering the questions one day, and then transferring those answers to a bubble sheet on a second day. If you know first graders, multitasking is not their strong suit, and at the beginning of the year, I am happy if they focus on just taking a test, the whole test, and noting but the test! Answering a test and doing a bubble sheet at the same time was not something I was going to even attempt at this point in the year!

So on the first day we took the ELA assessment. To get my students ready for the test, and get their brains ready to work, we started each day with a GoNoodle session.  Once they got their wiggles out, they were ready to begin. Since my first graders could not read the test, I read the story aloud, and also the questions/answer choices.  The students did fine with listening to the story and circling their answers in their test booklet. I did this for two stories, and then I found that I was loosing them. So we took a bathroom and GoNoodle break!

Thank Goodness for GoNoodle!

We then finished our last two stories. Total time for Day 1: 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

Day 2: Transferring the ELA answers to the bubble sheet

I have to say that I did feel a little better when I saw that our bubbles on the bubble sheets were larger than bubble sheets I have seen for older grades, but I was still worried about them transferring it from booklet to sheet. And with 24 kids, there's not an easy way to check each answer they're filling in. 

Big First Grade Bubbles

I knew they needed a visual of each step of the process, so I made them little covers, allowing them to only see the number we were on. They could then slide down the cover as we continued down the sheet. Since this is not a state assessment, I could also scan and project the questions and bubble sheet onto my board. (Luckily our administration told us to do whatever we needed to do to make it easier on our kiddos!) I then made a larger scale cover of my own, and modeled what they should be doing at their seats. This was a lifesaver! 

What I modeled on the board

What it looked like at their desk

We went through one question at a time. The bubble sheet had rows of ten, so when we finished a row, we counted that we had all ten bubbles before moving onto the next row. I continuously moved around the room, checking that my students were on the same number, and glancing at their test booklet to make sure they were bubbling in the same letter that they had circled.
Total Time for Day 2: 45 minutes (GoNoodle break before we started, and after bubbling question 15)

Day 3: Math
(Answering the Questions)

Day 3 was similar to day 1, except the questions were math related. The questions were very difficult for my first graders and I saw there a few different kinds of test takers in my room. There were those that tried to figure out the answers and stressed when they didn't know them. There were those that were sure they were picking the right answer (even without trying to solve any problems!), and then there were those who just went along picking an answer they thought might work (they shrugged their shoulders a lot!).
Total Time for Day 3: 1 hour (GoNoodle break before we started and after 30 minutes)

Day 4: Transferring The Math Answers to The Bubble Sheet

Day 4 was the smoothest yet since the students now had experience from bubbling the ELA questions on Day 2. I followed the same procedure and projected the questions and bubble sheet for a visual. We were able to zoom through this part at a pretty rapid pace! There was a huge sense of relief from everyone in the room when all test booklets and answer sheets were handed in that day. 
Total Time for Day 4: 30 minutes (GoNoodle break before and after)

Final Thoughts

While these tests took a lot of teaching time, I am glad I broke it up into four days. I hope that my students will be a little faster when they take it in the winter because they will be more familiar with the format. I am also extremely thankful for GoNoodle! Their brain breaks got us through this test! Thank you GoNoodle!