Testing Tips
What should you do the night before the STAAR?
Sleep well
To determine the meanings of unfamiliar words in a selection
Context clues or a dictionary/thesaurus
If a question asks, "What is paragraph 5 mainly about?" What is it asking for?
Main idea
All FICTION requires this to be a story
Conflict
What 2 things can you do after the STAAR test?
READ or SLEEP!
If stressing during the test, you should
Take a mini-break for water or the restroom, breathe
Read questions carefully, read the answer choices carefully, cross out the 2 worse answers, take your time, do your best
Valuable test-taking strategies
DOUBLE POINTS
All the important events from the beginning, middle and end of a selection
Summary
A group of lines in a poem
Stanza
DOUBLE POINTS
What is a SCR? How much do you write? How do you start your first sentence? What else do you include?
Short Constructed Response
At least 2 sentences,
Use as many words from the question to start your first sentence, then answer it.
YOU MUST INCLUDE EVIDENCE/QUOTE
What should you do the morning of the STAAR test?
Eat a healthy breakfast
Define unknown words, highlight, re-read text multiple times, annotate
A reading strategy
This question: The reader can conclude that ...
Is asking the reader to what?
Make an inference
An article about the dangers of playing video games all day is what type of text?
Informational
How much time you will be given for the 8th grade STAAR Reading test?
The entire school day, if needed
Why is the STAAR test important for students?
It demonstrates your mastery of 8th grade skills.
Marking through 2 wrong answers
Process of elimination
One strategy for answering vocabulary context clue questions is
Read the text surrounding the word for hints about its meaning
Non-fiction written by the author about the author's life
Autobiography
What do you need to bring to class the day of the STAAR test?
A great attitude and a charged Chromebook
Leave these at home or be prepared to give them to your test administrator
Cell phones, smart watches, and electronic devices
To get an idea of what a passage is about before reading it, what should you check first?
Title, subtitles, photos, captions
The moral of a story, or the life lesson the author wants the reader to understand
Theme
Words that tell what the characters should be doing as they speak their lines
Stage directions
Double POINTS
What is an ECR? How much should you write? How do you start? What do you HAVE to include?
Extended Constructed Response
4 paragraphs (introduction, body 1, body 2, and conclusion)
Use as many words from the prompt to start your first sentence.
Include EVIDENCE/QUOTE