Ready To Rock
You should do this the night before the test to make sure your brain is rested?
What is getting a good night's sleep (8–10 hours)?
Taking a deep breath in through your nose and slowly out through your mouth like you’re blowing out a candle.
What is a "Calm Down Breath" (or Belly Breathing)?
If you spend more than two minutes on one hard question, you should do this and come back to it later.
What is skip it (and flag/bookmark it)?
The strategy of crossing out answers that are definitely wrong to increase your chances of being right.
What is the process of elimination?
On the PSSA, if a question has a "Part A" and a "Part B," you should be extra careful because Part B usually asks you to do this.
What is find the evidence (or support) for your answer in Part A?
Eating this on the morning of the test helps your brain stay focused and energized.
What is a healthy breakfast?
Instead of saying "I can't do this," you should tell yourself "I am doing my best" or "I am a hard worker."
What is positive self-talk?
When you find a word you don't know, you look at the words around it to figure out the meaning.
What are context clues?
Even if the first answer looks good, you should always look at these before picking one.
What are all the choices?
Even if you are finished all of the test questions in the test section and you still have time left you should do this.
What is check my work?
These are the items you might need at your desk, like a sharpened #2 pencil or a highlighter.
What are my testing materials?
A grounding trick where you name 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique?
In a reading test, you should always go back into the story to find this to prove your answer.
What is text evidence?
You should read this part of the test before you read the long story so you know what to look for.
What are the questions?
You can use this digital tool at the top of your screen to cross out answer choices you know are wrong.
What is the Cross-off tool?
You should always listen to or read these carefully before you begin clicking or writing.
What are the directions?
If your body feels wiggly or tight, you can do this quietly in your chair to relax your muscles.
What is a "Chair Stretch" or "Desk Yoga"?
If you aren't sure of an answer, you should do this to the choices you know are wrong to help you guess better.
What is eliminate the "silly" or wrong answers?
Words like "Always," "Never," or "All" usually make an answer choice this.
What is "incorrect" or "wrong"? (Extreme words are usually traps!)
This is the tool that lets you go back and review a question you are unsure about.