BREATHE Through the Test: The Anchor Chart Every Student Needs Before State Testing

Download the free BREATHE anchor chart here:

My first year of teaching, I had a student turn in their state test in 20 minutes. Twenty minutes. I didn’t know what to do — I had never thought a student would ever have the AUDACITY. We talked about checking your work… but clearlyI didn’t hit things home. It was clear we needed to cover how to slow down, check their work, go back through their answers. If I knew then what I know now, that student would have heard me say: you have so much time, use it, check your work four times, and then check it again.

That’s exactly why I love the BREATHE acronym — it gives students a concrete, step-by-step process to follow from the moment the test hits their desk to the moment they turn it in.

The BREATHE Anchor Chart

B — Take a deep breath

R — Read carefully

E — Explain the question: “What is this asking me to do?”

A — Answer

T — Take another look

H — Hunt for mistakes

E — Examine again (yes, again!)

The chart comes in both a full-size version to hang in your classroom and a mini version students can keep in their binder or folder and reference all year long — including on test day.

Teach It Before You Need It

The worst time to introduce BREATHE is the morning of a big test. Students need to be familiar with it long before testing season rolls around. Introduce it at the beginning of the year, reference it during every quiz and assessment, and make it part of your classroom culture. By the time state testing comes around, it won’t feel like a new strategy — it’ll just feel like what we do.

Break Down Each Step

Some of these steps seem obvious to us as adults, but for students — especially younger ones — they need to be explicitly taught. Here’s how I love to dig into each one:

Take a deep breath — Test anxiety is real, even for our youngest students. Starting with a breath is not just a nice idea, it’s actually grounding. Practice this together before any assessment so it becomes a habit and not something students skip over.

Read carefully — This sounds simple, but so many wrong answers come from students not reading the full question. Teach students to read each question twice before even looking at the answer choices.

Explain the question — This is my favorite step. Before students answer anything, they have to ask themselves: “What is this question actually asking me to do?” This one step alone eliminates so many careless mistakes.

Answer — Now they answer — but only after they’ve done the work above.

Take another look — Go back and re-read the question. Does the answer they chose actually make sense?

Hunt for mistakes — Actively look for errors. Did they misread a word? Did they skip part of the question? This is where students catch the mistakes they’d otherwise turn in.

Examine again — Yes, again! If students have time left, they should be going back through every single answer. Most students think they’re done way before they actually are.

Make It a Classroom Habit All Year Long

The best thing you can do is use BREATHE for every assessment — not just state testing. Pop quizzes, end of unit tests, reading assessments — every time students have a pencil in their hand and a test in front of them, BREATHE should be part of the routine. Point to the chart, remind them of the steps, and watch them slow down and be more intentional.

The full-size chart lives on your wall all year, and the mini chart lives in your students’ folders so they always have it within reach.

Grab the free BREATHE anchor chart here:

If you love ready-to-use anchor charts for test prep, classroom routines, and every subject in between, the Anchor Chart Club has thousands of printable charts ready to go for every grade level. [Click here to join!]