Middle School Assessment Tests and Caring Come Together in Great Read for Students Who Need to Ace Their Tests

The assessment tests are coming! Both students and teachers agree that these can definitely bring on the stress for students in middle school. Students at Lake View Middle School know that they must find a way to ace their tests. School should not be all about test scores, but these tests are a reality. Rob Buyea's The Perfect Score brings this reality to young readers in a humorous and compassionate story of students who find a way to get through these tests with each other. Randi, Gavin, Trevor, Scott, and Natalie are characters that readers will find to be just like them. All have different abilities and they know that they must do their bests on these dreaded assessment tests. Teachers know that they have to find a way to keep fun activities in the classroom in addition to "teaching to the test". This is a problem that all educators face. Mrs. Magenta is a math and science teacher who changes things up in her classroom by presenting her students with problem-solving puzzles and introduces art-related activities to the students in an after-school program. Mrs. Woods must find a way to encourage reluctant readers and writers. Everything comes together with a project to spruce up the library and students discover books that they have never heard of. Audio books are also a new discovery. Reading aloud also takes the spotlight to capture new interest in reading. Mrs. Magenta shakes things up with a project to visit a senior citizen center and students use their skills with words to engage in conversations with the "old people". A surprise ending with the test scores at the end of the year teaches a lesson that sometimes school is not all about the scores and parents also learn this lesson. Fans of Rob Buyea will find this to be a page-turner to find out what happens at the end of the year with the test scores.

The Perfect Score was published by Delacorte Press, a division of Penguin Random House and Penguin Random House Children's Books. It is recommended for ages 9-12 and has an ISBN of 978-1-101-93825-6. This will be a favorite to add to your classroom library.

Rob Buyea's The Perfect Score is a great addition to a classroom library for students in middle school. Rob Buyea uses his real-life experience as a teacher of third and fourth graders to write with humor and compassion about real-life experiences. Taking assessment tests is a huge topic in schools today and his The Perfect Score is a great read to use in the classroom during the year as students prepare for these tests.

*Read The Perfect Score aloud with your students with a few chapters being read each day for a period of time. Students in the story discover the value of reading aloud and your students will also enjoy having the opportunity to read aloud.

*Brainstorm to get students' ideas about why they feel stress about the assessment tests that they must take at the end of each school year. What are their strengths and weaknesses?

*Teachers also dislike only "teaching to the tests". Brainstorm with students about keeping the fun activities going while preparing to take the tests.

*Prepare puzzles and problem-solving activities for your students to practice reasoning and problem-solving skills that are part of the assessment tests. The character Mrs. Magenta uses these activities for her students in The Perfect Score.

*Prepare creative art activities for your students. Students at Lake View Middle School are given drawing projects for some chosen books. Drawing about a favorite book is a great activity to enhance interest in reading. Drawing also improves writing skills when students write about their drawings.

*Organize an activity to improve your students' ability to use words in conversations. Students in the story visited a senior center to engage in conversations with the residents. The use of words is a big part of the assessment tests.

*Brainstorm with students their feelings about the surprise ending with the test scores in the story. Were they surprised at what happened and what was the lesson that was learned?