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Practicing
for the

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ITBS

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Introduction
Welcome to Preparation for the ITBS!
This section is designed to help you and your teacher get ready for the Iowa
Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). You have been building your math skills, and soon
you will have a chance to put them to work.

This booklet will do two things:

First, we will teach you about the ITBS and give you helpful hints about
how the test works. You will take a practice test so you can become
more familiar with the test and know exactly what to expect from the
real thing. The practice ITBS in this booklet is a simulation of the
nationally administered test that you will take.

Second, you will spend time reviewing some of the math you have
already learned. The ITBS tests very specific skills. But dont worryyou
have already learned all the math you need to know. Were just going
to give you a chance to review and to learn exactly what kinds of math
questions the ITBS will ask.
Once you have learned all about the ITBS and worked through a number of
review problems, you will be ready to do your best. Be sure to ask your
teacher any questions you have about the test.

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The ITBS is an important test, but remember, it doesnt determine how

smart you are. Instead the ITBS just shows you and your teacher how much
math you have learned so far. You should do your best on the ITBS, like you
would on any test, but dont let it make you too nervous or anxious. As you
go through this booklet, work hard and pay close attention to what your
teacher tells you about the test, and you will be ready for success on the
ITBS.

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What do I need to know

about the ITBS?
The ITBS is a test that is different from the other tests you take in school. On
the ITBS, you dont get a better score if you finish quickly.

There are 90 questions (20 Concepts, 12 Estimation, 14 Problem Solving,

10 Data Interpretation, and 34 Computation) on the ITBS. You will have
80 minutes to finish the test20 minutes for Concepts, 10 minutes for
Estimation, 18 minutes for Problem Solving, 12 minutes for Data
Interpretation, and 20 minutes for Computation. But dont feel like you
have to hurry to finish the ITBS on time. Its better to do fewer questions
and get them right than to try to do too many questions and get most
of them wrong.

Dont rush through the test thinking that youll go back and fix your
mistakes later. Its always better to go slowly and to get the questions
right the first time. If you do have time left over, go back and check your
answers again.

Dont spend lots of time on any one question. If youve tried hard on a
question and youre still not sure you know the answer, dont worry.
Just take your best guess and move on to the next question. The ITBS
mixes easy questions with hard ones, so the next question may be
easier than the one you couldnt do.
Another important thing to remember is that on the
ITBS, there is no penalty for guessing.

You should always do your best to answer a

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question, or eliminate as many wrong answers

as you can. But if you havent narrowed the
answer down to one choice, you should still
guess. You can only gain points!

After all, this is a multiple choice

test. The answer is right in front of
you. You just need to be able to
pick it out!

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Bubbles
The ITBS is a computer-scored test. This means that instead of your teacher
correcting your test, a computer will score it. The computer looks at the
bubbles on your answer sheet, and it doesnt care what you wrote in the
test booklet. The only thing it sees is your pencil marks on the answer sheet.
Filling in the bubbles is easy. There are some rules you need to follow,
though, to be sure that the computer reads your answer correctly.

Fill in each bubble completely, and fill in only one bubble for each
question.

Correct:
Incorrect:
Incorrect:
Incorrect:

A
J

A
J

K
K

C
L
C
L

If you make a mistake and need to change your answer, be sure to

erase completely.

Correct:
Incorrect:
Incorrect:

A
J

C
L

Lastly, on the ITBS, the fourth answer choice on

Computations questions is N, meaning that the
correct answer is not given. After you have solved a
problem, if you do not see your answer among the
answer choices, try solving the problem again. If
you still do not see your answer among the
choices, mark the bubble for N.

Success on Standardized Tests for the ITBS Grade 3

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Also, you need to be careful about not writing on the answer sheets, except
to fill in your answers. However, there is plenty of extra space in the test
booklet that you can use. You can write all over the white space provided in
the test booklet, and you should. Dont try to do the math in your head.
Use the blank space under the questions to write out number sentences or
draw pictures that will help you solve the problem.

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How do I tackle an
ITBS question?
Read the problem.
Write out what you know in the white areas of the booklet. Use a
number sentence, a diagram, a picture, or whatever helps you
understand what the problem is asking and what operations are
involved.

Solve the problem and match your answer to one of the choices.
If you cant solve the problem because you dont know what number
sentence to write or what diagram to draw, then go to the answers. Try
to eliminate answers that dont make sense by putting them into the
question to see if they fit.

Juanita has 14 pencils and 3 pencil cases.

If she gets 8 more pencils, how many
pencils will she have altogether?
J

56

517

522

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M 525

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How do I make sure I

chose the right answer?
Ask yourself these questions:
Did I use the right pieces of information?
Sometimes you dont need to use all the facts and numbers in the
question.

Does my answer make sense?

See if your answer should be greater than or less than the numbers in
the problem.

Did I answer the question asked?

Reread the question to be sure you used the correct operation and
understood what the question asked.

Did I do the math correctly?

Check your math. Try reversing what you did, using a number sentence
from the same family of facts.
For example, if you said
14  8  22, check your addition by subtracting 22  8. Make sure you
carried and regrouped when needed and that you lined up the digits
properly when using decimals.

Did I fill in my answer correctly?

Look at page 6 to see how to do this.

$10.00

$40.00

$20.00

$50.00

Success on Standardized Tests for the ITBS Grade 3

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Lavan bought new shoes for $28.00 and a

new shirt for $18.00. About how much
money did Lavan spend?

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Process of Elimination
On a multiple-choice test like the ITBS, there are three ways to find the
correct answer for each question.
First, you can make a calculation and choose the answer choice that
matches your answer.

There are 13 people on the bus. If the

bus has seats for 52 people, how many
empty seats are there?
A

31

38

39

49

52
 13
39

Second, you can draw a diagram to help you figure out the question, or use
the picture given to find your answer.

Steps:

1. Eliminate all even numbers.

7
2. Eliminate any numbers in the
8
4
rectangle.
3. Eliminate any numbers in the
hexagon.
Which number is inside the triangle,
4. Make sure the remaining number
is NOT inside the rectangle or the
is odd and is in the triangle.
hexagon, and is odd?
5

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is in the triangle AND the rectangle.

Correct! Its an odd number and its only in the triangle.

M 8

is in the triangle AND the hexagon.

is even.

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Third, when you arent sure which answer is correct, you can use the process
of elimination to eliminate the answer choices you know are wrong.

3
Steps:
1. Eliminate shapes with
more than 1 square
corner.
2. Eliminate shapes with
no square corners.
3. Eliminate shapes with
less than 2 sides the
same length.
4. Make sure your
remaining answer
has 1 square corner
and 2 equal sides.

Which shape has only one square

corner and only two sides that
are the same length?

Correct! 1 square corner

and 2 sides of the same
length.

has 4 square corners.

no two sides are the same

length.

no square corners.

Whenever you can, you should try to solve math problems to find the right
answers. However, if you have trouble or if you arent sure how to answer
the question, the process of elimination can help you narrow down your
answer choices.

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Sometimes the process of elimination will narrow your choices down to just
one answer. Other times, though, it will narrow your choices down to two
or even three answers. In those cases, after you have eliminated the wrong
answers, you can take a good guess from the choices that are left.

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Vocabulary
Many of the questions on the ITBS will use math vocabulary. Here is a short
list of some of the terms you should review before the test.

Term

Example(s)

Definition

Family of facts
Number sentence
Even number
Odd number
Pattern
Line of symmetry
Most reasonable
estimate
Value
Corners
Sides
Triangle
Square
Rectangle
Hexagon
Pyramid

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Cube
Pentagon
Sphere
Cylinder
Cone
Edge
Angle
Faces
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Charts and Graphs

The ITBS will ask you some questions based on a chart or a graph. The most
important thing for you to do is to make sure you understand the
information in the chart or graph before trying to answer the question.
When you see a chart or graph, first take a minute to look at the information
it gives you. Pay special attention to the units in the question. Is the chart
or graph showing you ones, tens, hundreds, or thousands? If there are
symbols used in the chart or graph, does each symbol represent one person
or thing, or more than one person or thing?
Here is an example.
FAVORITE COLORS OF FOURTH GRADERS
COLOR
NUMBER OF STUDENTS
Green
Brown
Red
NOTE: Each

represents two students

How many fourth graders chose red as

their favorite color?
J

10

What does each

represent?

How many total are in the red

row? ________
Multiply the number of by the
quantity each represents.
5  2  10

Here is another question based on the same chart.

Which shows the total number of
students who picked green or brown?
A

42

84

32

53

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Preparing for the ITBS

A multiple-choice test can be the easiest kind of a test. Why? Because you
know that one of the choices is the right answer. All you have to do is
figure out which one it is.

On how many more days did it rain

than snow?
Weather Weve Had
Sleet
Sunshine

Weather

Cloudy
Rain

Make sure that

you understand
the scales on
each graph.

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Sometimes one of
the answers doesnt
make sense.
Eliminate that
choice right away.

Snow
0

Number of Days
A

Rain: 8 Snow: 7

Sean spent 10 minutes after school

talking with his teacher, 15 minutes on
the playground with his friends, and a
half hour getting home. If he got home
at 3:40 p.m., at what time did school
end?
J

2:45

3:00

30 min before 3:40 is 3:10

3:15

15 min before 3:10 is 2:55

3:40

Write it all out:

10 min before 2:55 is 2:45

So school ended at 2:45!

Check that
you found the
correct data in
the table.

If your answer is
not given, go
back.
Check
that you
understood the
question.
Check the
numbers you
copied.
Check your
calculations.

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13