You want to make STAAR Reading review fun, but you’re tired of spending every dollar you earn on your classroom. Games and classroom transformations cost money. But, you probably already have stacks of something you can use for 6 engaging reading review activities sitting in your closet: task cards. That’s right, task cards are an amazing tool for reading test prep.
Why I Love Using Task Cards for Reading Test Prep
Task cards are an amazing reading test prep tool for a few reasons. One, they allow you to customize review activities and games to target specific standards. Two, task cards provide short chunks of practice, making them a great option for any amount of time. And three, most of us already have plenty of sets lying around.
So, let’s dig into how we can use task cards to make STAAR Reading review fun.
My Favorite Ways to Use Task Cards for STAAR Reading Review:
Create a STAAR Reading Review Board Game
You can use any board game you have at home or stored away for indoor recess. Connect 4™, Jenga™ and Candy Land™ are excellent choices for this.
Game play will stay the same. The only thing that changes is that the students must complete a task card (correctly) before they can play their turn.
Add differentiation by assigning students to use a specific set of task cards. This way you can provide varying levels of difficulty and/or even practice with different targeted skills. While one student needs to complete context clues task cards, another can complete inferring task cards, and so on.
Make a Reading Review Game Show
Create your own Jeopardy™ style reading test prep game show with task cards from different sets. You can choose any categories your students need to practice. Some category choices could be inferring, figurative language, main idea, context clues, etc.
Grab my free game show cards to help build your own game below.
STAAR Reading Review Scoot Activity
We all get tired of sitting still. And kids can get particularly antsy during testing season. Alleviate their restlessness by reviewing with a scoot.
Tape a set (or cards from multiple sets for mixed review) on the walls around the room. Supply the kids with a recording sheet and let them “scoot” around the room, stopping to complete the task cards.
Quiz, Quiz, Trade
Give the kids even more interaction and movement by using task cards in a quiz, quiz, trade activity. Pass out one task card to each student. Then play music or start a stopwatch and let them walk around the room for about 15 seconds or so. When the music stops or the timer goes off, they need to find a partner. The partners will take turns “quizzing” each other and then trade cards. Repeat until either all students have gone through the entire set or you’ve run out of time.
STAAR Reading Review Warm-Ups
Start each class period with a task card projected on the board. You can use this as morning work on which students are required to work independently or allow them to discuss and answer with their table group. Either way, one set of task cards will give you 24 – 30 days’ worth of review warm-ups.
Turn Your STAAR Reading Review into a Digital Game
Take advantage of any task card sets that came with a digital version. Boom Cards™ and Google Slides™ can make regular task cards feel like a fun, new game. Extra credit for any that come with oral admin like the one shown here.
Download This Free Printout to Share These Task Card Reading Test Prep Ideas with Your Team
Now, put your wallet back in your purse and go grab those task cards out of your closet.
In need of some quality task cards?
Here are a few of my favorite sets in case your cabinets are lacking in the task card department:
Click here for more quality task cards for reading test prep.
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