Anxiety Activities for Teens: Test Anxiety
This session includes anxiety activities for teens, helping older students understand test anxiety and why nerves before an exam can crowd out what they know. They explore a guiding question, watch a short video, and compare two study approaches in a discussion. A quick game invites them to size up test-day situations and weigh possible responses. Students also build a set of calming techniques they can use before and during a test.
Extension activity
- Skill
- Self-Regulation
- Goal
- Managing Stress
- Grade level
- Middle & High School
Get everything you need to teach the skill
These materials are part of a no-prep session designed by our clinical team, with all the structure, scaffolding, and support you need to teach included.
Engaging materials
Video lessonTest Anxiety
In this video lesson, students learn how to manage test anxiety by using effective study strategies, balancing their schedule, getting enough sleep, and practicing calming techniques like visualization.
- Extension activity
Interactive Worksheet: Test Anxiety
In this interactive flashcard activity, students review the symptoms of test anxiety along with study, sleep, scheduling, and calming strategies that help them feel more prepared for tests.
Plus everything you need to teach them
Warm-up
- Video: 4-7-8 Breathing2:13
- Video: Obstacles into Opportunities Visualization1:19
- Video: Yoga Pose Library
Session Opener
Guiding Question: What is test anxiety?
Practice
- Discussion Question
- Role-Play Activity
- Mini Game
How to use it with your students
- 1Watch Play the video lesson so students see the skill in action.
- 2Practice Try the skill together with a discussion prompt, role-play, or mini game.
- 3Extend Use the extension activity to help students carry the skill further.
What's Covered
In this lesson, students learned what test anxiety is and how worry can affect their focus and performance before and during a test. They practiced strategies to ease that stress, like studying one concept at a time and spreading their preparation over several days. They also worked on calming techniques such as deep breathing to help steady their bodies when nerves build up.
Key Terms
- Test Anxiety
- Worry about a test that gets strong enough to hurt how you actually perform. You might notice racing thoughts, a pounding heart, or your mind going blank during the test.
- Academic Stress
- Academic stress is the pressure or worry related to school, such as tests, grades, or homework. It can come from your own goals and expectations or from outside expectations from teachers, parents, or coaches.
Sample IEP Goal This Session Supports
-
Managing Stress
Learner will recognize signs of stress in their own body or thinking (e.g., tight chest, racing thoughts, feeling overwhelmed) and apply a self-selected strategy (e.g., deep breathing, positive self-talk, taking a break) to manage the feeling in 4 out of 5 opportunities independently/given X prompt(s).
Send this tip home to support generalization
At home or in the classroom, when a test is coming up, try helping a student break their studying into smaller chunks across a few days instead of one long session. Spacing it out often makes the work feel more manageable.
Ready to teach Test Anxiety?
Get the video, activity and discussion materials with zero prep.
Get These Materials Free
More Self-Regulation Activities
Frequently asked questions
Is this intervention free?
Yes, this ready-to-teach session on Test Anxiety is free. You can access this intervention free for 14 days through the Everyday Speech Session Library. Every user gets three free sessions, but you can get more or extend your access by sharing the Session Library with friends and colleagues.
What ages is this for?
These materials are designed for middle and high school students.
What's included?
You'll get access to your choice of warm-up videos, a session opener, a core material on Test Anxiety, three practice prompts, and an extension activity, Interactive Worksheet: Test Anxiety.
What skill does this intervention teach?
This ready-to-teach session is on self-regulation - more specifically, managing stress.
Get access to the full curriculum
A no-prep social skills curriculum with a full scope and sequence that builds student skills over time. MTSS-aligned across every tier, with 400+ whole class lessons and 800+ ready-to-teach sessions.
Start a 30-Day Free Trial
