Ensuring your 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders are ready for the STAAR reading test can be overwhelming. Whether you are a new or veteran teacher a step-by-step guide on preparing your students for STAAR reading will make your life easier!
There are tons of STAAR reading resources out there. It is hard to determine which resources are right for your classroom.
That’s why I created a step-by-by guide on what you need to prepare your students for STAAR Reading Test.
If you would like this information in a shortened checklist, check out my STAAR Reading Checklist FREEBIE!
August – February
In the first half of the school year, introduce your students to all your grade level TEKS.
Reading
Without a doubt, I prefer introducing reading skills by genre.
To begin the year, I start with Fiction (with a focus on Traditional Literature). Then we move on to the Drama and Nonfiction genres. When we return from winter break, I base my lessons around Argumentative and Poetry. Last but not least, I introduce compare and contrast to help prepare students for those tough paired passages.
Grammar
To start off, introduce 2 to 3 Grammar Rules each week.
The students place the grammar rules in their Grammar Notebook, so they can reference them when working on Revise/Edit questions.
Additionally, students independently Grammar Practice on specific skills
Writing
Within each genre, teachers should present writing mini-lessons, so writing practice corresponds with the reading genre.
In addition, short and long response essay questions can be given throughout the year based on whatever the students are reading in class.
Check out this blog post for more on response questions: Introducing Constructed Response Questions
January – March
Reading
After returning from winter break, introduce STAAR reading strategies for STAAR reading passages. Each reading question stem has a different strategy. The more students practice these strategies the better prepared they will be for the test in April.
Then be sure to incorporate weekly Reading Passage practice for your students.
Also, it’s important to use a Daily Recursive Review over reading skills.
Grammar
In addition to reading strategies, students need to understand revise/edit strategies for STAAR stemmed questions.
Then they need to practice these skills weekly on Revise and Edit Practice Passages.
Finally, a quick daily review of grammar in Grammar Warm-Ups will help students stay sharp with a variety of grammar rules.
Writing
This is the time of year to have students to practice long and short response questions frequently.
3 Weeks Before STAAR Reading Test
It’s time to get down to business.
An amazing STAAR review is necessary for your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.
First, narrow down the most important skills that your class needs to review. Creating teams and a competition will help keep students motivated throughout the review sessions.
Begin with a whole group review of reading skills and revise/edit skills.
Then have students practice the skills in small groups. You can assign points to teams based on how well they worked together, their participation, and the answers that they got correct.
Next, give students some type of independent practice of skills. Not a passage everyday, but some short of quick check or exit ticket.
Be sure to include short/long response questions in both smal group and independent practice.
It is important for the teacher to pull students still struggling with specific skills while other students work in small groups or independently.
Additionally, send home a study guide, so students can review skills a home.
Finally, end your review with a Reading Challenge. This is a way to use all the skills that were reviewed in one final review.
All of this is included in STAAR PREP: Reading Test Review
For more information on an amazing STAAR review: 5 Ways to Keep Your Students Engaged in your STAAR Reading Review.
As you can see, there is a lot that goes into getting students prepared for their STAAR Reading Test.
However, if you want it broken down into easy to see steps, grab my STAAR Reading Checklist here:
This step-by-step guide on preparing your students for STAAR reading gives many help tips in helping your students.
