After great thought and planning, I launched a new unit to support my senior reading classes as they prepare one more time for the spring English I and II STAAR exams. Though I have several students who passed their final English EOC(s) during the fall testing and others who completed the IGC project that affords graduation, my students have participated with stellar engagement–giving required test takers more support and confidence to do well. Their attention to collaboration, annotation, discussion, and correct answer selection have tremendously improved.
The process is as follows.
- Developing 3 stations, each student strategically grouped to work with partnered peers.
- Utilizing labeled packets with instructions, students at each station had at their disposal a list of complimentary literary elements, example annotations and/or graphic organizers, reading passages and questions, or a writing prompt and note taking sheets and lined paper.
- Using the aggressive monitoring approach, I completed three laps around the classroom. The first lap checked for annotations coupled with brief questions about student initial responses to texts or prompts, the second lap monitored for small group discussion or individual pre-writing, and the third lap allowed me to cover multiple choice answers or review essay outlines (hook, thesis statements, supporting points, and evidence).
Students in the TEKS writing station were given two days to complete their packet with drafting taking place the second day; the other stations completed one to two reading passages from the following packets: poetry, drama, short stories, poetry, autobiographies, and informational texts. In a three-week period, all students completed all packets and began a second round.
Fridays have included whole class discussion and completion of the editing/correction section of the English STAAR.
At the end of a long testing week–TELPAS and SAT–my students were still fully engaged in the process which prompted me to share photos with the school’s administrative team.
As their teacher, I could not have been more proud of my seniors. It’s moments like these that I feel so fortunate to be an educator. Granted, the TEKS station approach has not been an easy accomplishment because most of my seniors believe they are finished and ready to walk across the stage, but they know I believe in them and they have become accustomed to my work ethic–many times modeling it as well.
Avis 