ELA Common Core Social Studies Practice Questions

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - October 4th, 2014

When preparing for an upcoming standardized test, most parents are curious as to the best way to help their child practice. The ELA Common Core tests are no different. For many parents, they’re actually a bit more confusing than other, more traditional standardized tests. This is because while the tests have sections on subjects other than English, including social studies, a large focus across all tested subjects remains on language comprehension.

How to Choose Practice Questions

Choosing practice questions for the ELA Common Core for your child doesn’t require spending a lot of money on pre-written study guides. In fact, one of the best resources for social studies practice questions is your child’s current textbook.

Reading through the book, select pages, paragraphs and statements that reflect a broad range of tones, voices and intentions. For example, you might choose a section of text which details the steps by which interest rates are raised and lowered. Instead of focusing on your child being able to repeat the entire process back to you, focus on their ability to identify the steps. This key aspect of reading comprehension is just as important, in this context, as the actual facts, dates or other specifics.

Be sure to spread your chosen social studies practice questions over several main ideas or themes. This helps your child practice in two separate ways. It helps to avoid the boredom that can come from reviewing the same idea repeatedly, and it helps to ensure that a broad range of language-based concepts are covered. For more detailed ideas on which concepts to cover, you can visit http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/english/samplers/ela.html and click on your students’ grade level (3 through 8 offered).

Administering Practice Questions

Essentially, any manner of ELA Common Core practice is fine, as long as your child’s testing performance and confidence is enhanced. However, experts recommend avoiding placing pressure on your child. This can create testing anxiety, which often leads to inaccurately low scores due to testing day tension.