Testing Miss Malarkey

I thought "Testing Miss Malarky" was pretty darn funny. The artwork was bright and funny, and the text was great.

The story is about the stress of Testing Season. And what's funny is that it's not really the kids that feel under pressure so much as the adults in their lives. The story is told from the point of a boy who is oblivious as to what is going on in the background. One example that made me chuckle is when he is listening in on a PTA meeting where frantic parents are asking questions about how the test will effect the future. 'Will it hinder my child's chances of getting into an Ivy League school?' 'Will it effect Real Estate prices?" (Well, yes ultimately to both surprisingly.)

Talking Points:::
Colorful, fun artwork.
Because show more testing doesn't really start --in our area at least-- until 3rd grade my son didn't get it. Older kids will though, and it will be something for them to share with the adults they like. **3.5 Stars** Above Average

Pam T~
mom and reviewer for BooksForBooks-reviews show less

I thought this was a really good book. The main idea of the story is to express the feelings and stress that is placed on the schools and communities during annual testing. However, I really like this book due to the point of view that the story is told through. Rather than the teacher, Miss Malarkey, expressing the stress placed on her, it is told through first person of a student in Miss Malarkey’s classroom. For instance, the student tells the reader that Miss Malarkey says the test isn’t that important, yet he notices Miss Malarkey biting her nails, Principle Wiggins yelling over the phone about the test, and even his own mother prepping him for the test. I like this, because student’s can relate to the story since it is in show more the point of view they witness during the annual testing. Second, I like this book due to the dialogue. Rather than just telling the story, the reader can engage in the story and the feelings of the characters by reading the dialogue speech bubbles that are added to the illustrations. For example, during the story when the student attends the PTA meeting with his mom, the reader can read the speech bubbles of the parents who are freaking out about the test. By including these, it makes the reader feel as if they are there at the PTA meeting with the student and the stressed out parents. show less

I really liked this book because it reminded me of my experience with standardized testing as a student. It will be interesting to read this again after I've gone through a couple of gut wrenching testing cycles as a teacher. The illustrations are great in this book and they really make the layout of the book interesting. I think that this book would be entertaining for students, teachers, and parents alike because all three groups are affected by standardized testing.

This is a children's picture book that is about standardized testing in the classroom. This is a story about Miss Malarkey and her class a few weeks before THE TEST. The student's think she is acting strange because of it. The teacher is trying to prepare them by playing learning games and giving them reassurance that it wasn't going to affect their grade. The other staff in the school and parents were acting weird as well. They all thought THE TEST was very important, but it turned out to not be as scary or as big of a deal as they all thought. This book's main purpose is to take a lighthearted look at the event of standardized testing in elementary classrooms. The author highlights all the crazy things that could happen and probably show more have happened to many students. It tries to prepare students for what may happen during their own testing experience and make is not so scary and intimidating. A teacher could read this book to her class once they enter the testing season in their class to help inform students and to help alleviate some fears. They could have their students write down what they think testing is like or things they think could happen before they read the book and then talk about them after reading. show less

This is a great look at what life is like for students and educators during state testing and testing in general. It is always the adults who are stressed the most and some students are too. i think that this book is a great way to talk about preparing for tests to students. It is a fun look and more over the top look at testing, that really makes students laugh. It focuses on students in general and not so much Title I or Special Education students who would be more stressed about these exams. But again it is a great discussion book.

Summary: Testing Miss. Malarkey is about an elementary school preparing for the state standardized test. As the narrator, a young boy, travels trough the book, he sees the principal freaking out on the telephone over pencils, the cafeteria serving brain food, the art teacher teaching how to fill in bubbles for scantrons, and the P.E teacher teaching them yoga to help calm their minds. As the day of the test gets closer, the adults around him start to go berserk. Recess is taken away and replaced with phonics, and bedtime stories now come with questions about main idea and character development. The story ends happily when the school succeeds on the test and the students and teachers celebrate.
Teaching Implications: I use this book to show more read to my students to help reduce their stress surrounding the state tests. The atmosphere in the school as the test gets closer is usually more and more desperate as the students and staff anxiously prepare. This book puts the test in a little more perspective and shows the reader the absurdity of the attitudes and events surrounding the tests. show less

This a good book for the older grades to read before standardized testing. it is about students getting ready to take a big test and the stress the teacher, principal and parents. The book is showing everyone getting stressed about the test and concentrating only on it. The students take the test and do fine and then things go back to normal. This could be used for many things. One, it could be a way to show them not to stress about the big tests. Another is a writing activity. They could use this to write about how they feel about tests or anything for that matter. It also is a good model for detail and dialogue when writing.