Test Prep activities and video lessons from Flocabulary

Why is vocabulary important for test prep?

When it comes to test prep, there are many areas where students need support. It can be overwhelming to think about the various skills that are required to do well on standardized tests, and how we get our students to be proficient in them. There’s the need for reading comprehension, critical thinking, and problem-solving – not to mention grade-level writing skills. If you zoom out, however, vocabulary acquisition is at the core of all good test prep and is imperative to ensure our students are successful. Overall, vocabulary development is integral to academic achievement in both standardized testing and broader educational pursuits for all learners. 

So how do we ensure vocabulary skills are learned consistently, alongside everything else that’s needed in the classroom every day? Teaching vocabulary effectively amidst the many other demands of curriculum standards requires careful planning and integration into daily instruction. The good news is this doesn’t mean teachers need to work harder, just smarter. Effective vocabulary instruction allows students to make meaningful connections to words and definitions so they can be committed to long-term memory. When vocabulary is taught in an engaging way, students are more likely to garner deeper understanding and be able to utilize those words in any context – academic or otherwise. How can this be done? That’s where Flocabulary comes into “play”!

If you’re interested in exploring more in-depth test prep ideas for the K-12 classroom, we recommend downloading our free resource, the Test Prep Toolkit!

Flocabulary for test prep

“Vocabulary” is in our name for a reason! Flocabulary was originally designed to help students learn challenging SAT vocabulary in order to do well on tests, and that bold initiative has never faded. Our content and curriculum have grown, and at the center of everything we design is the goal of vocabulary acquisition for all learners.

Flocabulary integrates vocabulary across all subject areas and grade levels, focusing on high-utility Tier II and content-specific Tier III words. With Flocab it’s all about contextual learning by providing both auditory and visual cues as students learn through music-based videos. There are additional interactive activities beyond the videos for scaffolded instruction, and through repetition and review questions, students walk away from lessons having authentically engaged with key vocabulary terms within academic content. There are options for time-saving differentiation of lessons, along with authentic assessments and comprehensive data within the platform. All of this comes together in a fun and engaging way – bringing joy to the classroom every day and making sure students are ready to ace their tests!

Here’s an example of the type of engaging videos you can find on Flocabulary!

New to Flocabulary? Teachers can sign up for a trial to access our lesson videos and assessment activities. Administrators can get in touch with us to learn more about unlocking the full power of Flocabulary through Flocabulary Plus.

Test Prep Activities & Lesson Plans from Flocabulary

1. Vocab Cards and Vocab Game

With such a strong tie between vocabulary knowledge and student comprehension ability, dealing with vocabulary explicitly is a great place to begin when working. Across the lesson sequence, which includes various types of questions and formative assessments, key vocabulary terms appear multiple times in multiple contexts. Using Vocab Cards, students can review key terms from the video and apply their knowledge by writing a sentence using those terms or drawing a picture representing each vocabulary word. From there, students can test their vocabulary knowledge by “building a beat” in our Vocab Game. This explicit review and application of vocabulary terms is an important building block in developing the comprehension skills needed to excel on standardized tests.

2. Discuss Mode

Turn on Discuss Mode to have the video pause in meaningful moments with a discussion prompt for the class. Watch a video together to have classroom discussions as a whole class or in small groups. For individual student assignments, use Discuss Mode prompts as short writing assignments to write in response to a video.

3. Read & Respond

Read & Respond was developed to emulate high-stakes tests, and can serve as a useful tool to build “reading stamina” in your students for test prep. Find a lesson to use Read & Respond, assign it to your students, and have them practice reading shorter texts in preparation for lengthier ones on upcoming standardized tests. Once students answer the question, it’ll reveal the correct answer to students.

Here is an example of this activity on a Word Up lesson. Word Up is a research-based, standards-aligned resource for teaching Tier 2 words that is proven to raise scores on state tests for reading. Include Word Up into your test prep lessons!

4. Break It Down

Break It Down, Flocabulary’s most recent addition to the lesson sequence, takes the comprehension and analysis skills at work in Read & Respond to a new level by treating the video students watched as a text to be analyzed. Students are first provided multiple choice questions aimed at analysis of the video. They are then asked to support their answer with evidence found in the video. Using our evidence selection tool students search the video and literally select a clip that supports their response. From there, they have a chance to synthesize their analysis through an open-ended question. This methodical process helps students build habits of finding evidence and explaining how that evidence supports their analysis of a text. Repeated analysis of this sort in your test review activities will ensure students are prepared to tackle similar analyses on upcoming tests.

5. Printable activities

Flocabulary has printable activities available in every unit that you can use for a review session. From quick skill review worksheets to more interactive and creative activities, these are a great way to circle back and review topics across subjects in anticipation of test prep. Skills students are expected to master with these printable worksheets can help to:

• Analyze
• Identify
• Summarize
• Interpret
• Evaluate

If you’re searching for brain break activities to give students a refresher, you can use our Social and emotional learning collection and Week in Rap lessons. Explore more brain break ideas for test prep in the classroom!

6. Watch these test prep classics

Of course, we would be remiss not to include some Flocab test prep classics, “Test-Taking Vocabulary” and “Test-Taking Strategies.” These printable test preparation activities are a great way to support the skills taught in the videos.

Start using Flocabulary for test prep

The skills required for success on standardized tests are central to the way we develop lessons at Flocabulary. Because of this, test prep can become a year-round activity with Flocabulary. Why wait until the test is two months out when relevant vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking skills can be infused into your teaching every week?

Across our core subject lessons, Week in Rap, Word Up, and our SEL content, Flocabulary is custom-built to help students develop comprehension skills within the context of standards-aligned content.

New to Flocabulary? Teachers can sign up for a trial to access our lesson videos and assessment activities. Administrators can get in touch with us to learn more about unlocking the full power of Flocabulary through Flocabulary Plus.