How to Plan a MEAP Rally/Assembly

Michigan students from grades three to nine are charged with the task of tackling the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test each year. This examination is intended to demonstrate the students' mastery of grade-level content. To ensure that your students are adequately excited about the prospect of taking this test and possibly increase the motivation to give the test their all, hold a rally in the days leading up to the test. Not only does this event get students excited about the test. It also shows them that these tests are important to you.

• 1

  Schedule your rally for a day close to test time. If you schedule your rally for a date too far from the actual test date, you will likely limit the effectiveness of the activity as students will not remember the rally as freshly come test day.

• 2

  Select a central slogan to repeat at your rally. Pick a motivating and simple slogan such as, "We Believe in You" or "You Can Do It" and place this slogan on an array of rally items including posters and banners and perhaps even T-shirts and printed pencils.

• 3

  Allow student leaders to select some rally activities. The responsible students in your school are likely the best source of information on what their peers will enjoy. Additionally, by allowing these students to have input on the planning process you increase their investment in the rally as a whole and transform it from a rally that is planned by teachers to a rally that is completely about students.

• 4

  Engage students in helping to decorate for the rally. Select a group of students to stay after school the day before the rally and hang up banners, posters and streamers to turn your rally setting into an engaging space fit for motivation building.

• 5

  Plan activities that encourage student involvement. Instead of asking students to just sit at your rally, encourage them to get on their feet. Plan relay games for your students to participate in or craft other activities, such as having students search under their seats for hidden M's, E's, A's and P's for prizes.

• 6

  Ask teachers to perform zany stunts to excite pupils. By allowing students who have worked hard to prepare for this test to pie their teachers, duct taping teachers to the wall if students reach a set goal or having teachers dress up as animals, you can capture student attention and get them laughing to burn off some pre-test steam.

• 7

  Announce test incentives. Some schools opt to offer students prizes for high performance on these assessments. If you are offering such incentives to your pupils, announce them at this rally and inform students of what they must do to earn these prizes.