History Practice Questions for ELA Common Core Testing

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - September 2nd, 2014

Many parents are looking for history practice questions for ELA Common Core Testing. Test preparation can be a stressful time for both students and parents. You want your child to do well on their upcoming ELA examination, but you don’t want to pressure them into testing anxiety. Thankfully, there’s no reason for test prep to be a trying experience. Here, we’ll review some easy and fun ways to help your child practice, as well as a link to one state’s (outdated) released tests. These questions, although not currently in use, are a great resource, letting you see how questions are structured.

Purchasing Pre-Made Study Guides

One option available to parents is purchasing ready-made study guides or test prep software. While these can be invaluable tools, be sure you’re purchasing from a reliable vendor. Ask other parents, your child’s teachers or look online for sites with a solid reputation of reliable service and quality products. In addition, make certain that you are purchasing the correct study guide. There are a lot of variables involved with the ELA Common Core tests, including subject matter, grade level and state acceptance. If your state, for example, has rejected the math portion of the test battery, there’s no need to spend money on study materials for that portion.

DIY Test Prep

If you want to supplement purchased study materials or simply want something less expensive, you can use your child’s textbooks as a starting point for creating your own practice questions. Using their current textbook and working only with subjects they have already covered, choose a broad range of text. Include pieces which require both a strong mastery of English and history or social studies, since many ELA questions depend on reading comprehension. Visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/Ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqhss8.pdf to view California’s released test questions.

You can also take advantage of the small quizzes included in most textbooks. These provide ready-made study materials; simply ask your child the questions and review any areas of difficulty, paying close attention to reading comprehension for the ELA Common Core.