Passing the STAAR Reading, Writing and Math Test 2011-2012

How to Pass the STAAR Reading, Writing and Math Test 2011-2012

The STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) is replacing the TAKS in 2011- 2012. The STAAR assessment is a longer test and more difficult test than the TAKS. Students will need to prepare by doing more rigorous test prep, plus they must study the content specified academic vocabulary for reading, math, science, and language arts. The STAAR test relies less on multiple choice questions and more on students written responses. The STAAR is in part Texases answer to not adopting the CCSS ( Common Core State Standards) with the 47 other States,  but this will mean Texas students will be the first to experience these higher goals and mandates.

 "STAAR will represent a more unified, comprehensive assessment program that will incorporate more rigorous college and career readiness standards," a report from the Texas Education Agency states. 

     The CCSS goals are almost two years above today's national reading mean, so even gifted students will find the testing and assessments on the STAAR to be a challenge.

STAAR RELEASED TEST 2011-2012

Grades 3–8 Assessments

	Assessed Curriculum		Released Test Questions
Grade 3	Reading | Mathematics		Reading | Mathematics
Grade 4	Reading | Mathematics | Writing		Reading | Mathematics | Writing
Grade 5	Reading | Mathematics | Science		Reading | Mathematics | Science
Grade 6	Reading | Mathematics		Reading | Mathematics
Grade 7	Reading | Mathematics | Writing		Reading | Mathematics | Writing
Grade 8	Reading | Mathematics | Science  |Social Studies		Reading | Mathematics | Science  |Social Studies

Grades 3–5 Spanish Assessments

	Assessed Curriculum		Released Test Questions
Grade 3	Reading | Mathematics		Reading | Mathematics
Grade 4	Reading | Mathematics  | Writing		Reading | Mathematics | Writing
Grade 5	Reading | Mathematics  | Science		Reading | Mathematics | Science

EOC Assessments

	Assessed Curriculum		Released Test Questions
English Language Arts	English I | English II | English III		English I Reading | English I WritingEnglish II Reading | English II WritingEnglish III Reading | English III Writing
Mathematics	Algebra I | Geometry | Algebra II		Algebra I | Geometry | Algebra II
Science	Biology | Chemistry | Physics		Biology | Chemistry | Physics
Social Studies	World Geography | World History | U.S. History		World Geography | World History | U.S. History

Links to PDF Academic Word List

School Speak Word List
The Tennessee Academic Vocabulary ProjectAcademic Tier 3 Reading Glossary

PDF
Word Academic Tier 3 Mathematics Glossary

PDF
Word Academic Tier 3 Writing Glossary

PDF
WordAcademic Tier 3 English Language Arts Glossary

PDFAcademic Tier 3 History / Social Studies Glossary

PDF
Academic Tier 3 Science Glossary (Glossary at the end of the PDF doc,)

PDF

NWEA Academic Vocabulary
CST and CAHSEE Academic Vocabulary

Sylvan Learning Centers Reviews

Sylvan Learning Centers Reviews by Parents, Teachers and Students!

I do not have any negative or positive opinions concerning the Sylvan Learning Centers successes with students. I looked into applying as a teacher/tutor a few years ago, but was put off by the very low pay. I know being a teacher is not about getting paid, but the compensation was slightly above minimum wage. That was not what I expected with 9 years experience, a masters in special education, and a reading specialist. The intervention programs seem limited to the “Sylvan Program” and the role of the teachers seemed to be a secondary consideration.  

    The cost seems to keep many parents from participating, but I have not researched the total cost or the efficacy of the Sylvan Learning Centers methods. Please share your stories of success or difficulties you encountered using the Sylvan Learning Centers.

Free Reading and Math Tutoring

All parents have an opportunity to sign up for free academic tutoring if their child is enrolled in a Title I school that has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The list of teachers and tutors is provided by the district and is very easy to use and access. The programs are part of, supplemental educational services ( SES ) and are free tutoring services that must be offered to low-income children who attend a Title I schools.

FREE TUTORING CHOICES FOR PARENTS

ESEA Title I LEA Allocations—FY 2008 REVISED
Title I, the largest elementary and secondary education program, supplements State and local funding for low-achieving children, especially in high-poverty schools. The program finances the additional academic support and learning opportunities that are often required to help disadvantaged students progress along with their classmates.

These revisions in the FY 2008 Title I, Part A allocations are necessary because of substantial downward changes recently submitted to the Department by one State in its State per-pupil expenditure data, which are critical elements in the formulas for this program. Although the Department announced "final" allocations earlier this year, Government Accountability Office (GAO) principles require that the Department revise allocations if it determines that those allocations were erroneously determined.

The State Tables, by Program and by State have been updated to reflect these revisions in the FY 2008 Title I LEA Allocations.

These tables, which are organized by State, show each LEA's:
Revised Federal FY 2008 Title I allocation.
20-percent reservation for choice-related transportation and supplemental educational services.
maximum per-child expenditure for supplemental educational services.

Please note that the data on these tables are for information purposes only and do not constitute any binding agreement on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education.

To see the Federal Title I allocation for your school district, scroll down the following list to your State, select a file format and click on its icon. When the State file opens, scroll down the list of LEAs to find yours.

To read Portable Document Files (PDF) you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader; if you do not have Acrobat you can download a free copy from Adobe. EXCEL files are provided for those who have Microsoft EXCEL software.

State	File Format
Alabama	PDF [16KB]	EXCEL [36KB]
Alaska	PDF [11KB]	EXCEL[25KB]
Arizona	PDF [20KB]	EXCEL [48KB]
Arkansas	PDF [21KB]	EXCEL [51KB]
California	PDF [56KB]	EXCEL [143KB]
Colorado	PDF [18KB]	EXCEL [40KB]
Connecticut	PDF [16KB]	EXCEL [40KB]
Delaware	PDF [9KB]	EXCEL [20KB]
District of Columbia	PDF [9KB]	EXCEL [19KB]
Florida	PDF [12KB]	EXCEL [27KB]
Georgia	PDF [18KB]	EXCEL [43KB]
Hawaii	PDF [9KB]	EXCEL [19KB]
Idaho	PDF [15KB]	EXCEL [34KB]
Illinois	PDF [53KB]	EXCEL [139KB]
Indiana	PDF [24KB]	EXCEL [58KB]
Iowa	PDF [26KB]	EXCEL [70KB]
Kansas	PDF [24KB]	EXCEL [56KB]
Kentucky	PDF [18KB]	EXCEL[43KB]
Louisiana	PDF [12KB]	EXCEL [27KB]
Maine	PDF [22KB]	EXCEL [52KB]
Maryland	PDF [10KB]	EXCEL [22KB]
Massachusetts	PDF [23KB]	EXCEL [53KB]
Michigan	PDF [36KB]	EXCEL [91KB]
Minnesota	PDF [25KB]	EXCEL [59KB]
Mississippi	PDF [16KB]	EXCEL [38KB]
Missouri	PDF [35KB]	EXCEL [85KB]
Montana	PDF [27KB]	EXCEL [70KB]
Nebraska	PDF [29KB]	EXCEL [74KB]
Nevada	PDF [9KB]	EXCEL [21KB]
New Hampshire	PDF [17KB]	EXCEL [41KB]
New Jersey	PDF [36KB]	EXCEL [88KB]
New Mexico	PDF [13KB]	EXCEL [30KB]
New York	PDF [43KB]	EXCEL [114KB]
North Carolina	PDF [15KB]	EXCEL [33KB]
North Dakota	PDF [18KB]	EXCEL [46KB]
Ohio	PDF [40KB]	EXCEL [102KB]
Oklahoma	PDF [33KB]	EXCEL [80KB]
Oregon	PDF [19KB]	EXCEL [44KB]
Pennsylvania	PDF [33KB]	EXCEL [86KB]
Puerto Rico	PDF [9KB]	EXCEL [19KB]
Rhode Island	PDF [11KB]	EXCEL [23KB]
South Carolina	PDF [13KB]	EXCEL [30KB]
South Dakota	PDF [17KB]	EXCEL [39KB]
Tennessee	PDF [15KB]	EXCEL [37KB]
Texas	PDF [59KB]	EXCEL [163KB]
Utah	PDF [11KB]	EXCEL [23KB]
Vermont	PDF [20KB]	EXCEL [52KB]
Virginia	PDF [16KB]	EXCEL [37KB]
Washington	PDF [22KB]	EXCEL [52KB]
West Virginia	PDF [11KB]	EXCEL [26KB]
Wisconsin	PDF [29KB]	EXCEL [70KB]
Wyoming	PDF [11KB]	EXCEL [25KB]

Revised FY 2008 Title I Allocations: Actual amounts received by LEAs will be smaller than shown here due to State-level adjustments to Federal Title I allocations. States adjust allocations, for example, to reflect LEA boundary changes or the creation of new LEAs, including charter school LEAs, that are not accounted for in the statutory calculations. States also are permitted to reserve up to 1 percent of allocations for administration and generally must reserve 4 percent in fiscal year 2008 for school improvement activities. These adjustments will reduce the actual amounts available under all three columns of the table.

Choice-Related Transportation and Supplemental Educational Services:An LEA must use up to an amount equal to 20 percent of its Title I, Part A allocation (the "20-percent reservation") received from the State to cover choice-related transportation costs for students who exercise a choice option and to pay for supplemental educational services for students whose parents request such services. The 20-percent reservation may include Title I, Part A funds or funding from other Federal, State, local, and private sources. The amount shown in this column is the Department's estimate of the amount that affected LEAs—those with schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring—may have to spend to meet this requirement. Actual expenditures will depend on such factors as the number of students exercising a choice option or receiving supplemental educational services and the costs of satisfying these requests. An LEA has discretion to determine the allocation of these funds between choice-related transportation and supplemental educational services, except that it must spend at least one-quarter of the 20-percent reservation—or an amount equal to 5 percent of its Title I, Part A allocation—on each activity if there is demand for both from students and their parents.

Maximum Per-Child Expenditure for Supplemental Educational Services:An LEA that must arrange for supplemental educational services is required to pay, for each child receiving services, the lesser of the actual cost of the services or an amount equal to the LEA's Title I, Part A allocation received from the State divided by the number of poor students in the LEA, as determined by estimates produced by the US Bureau of the Census. Thus the amount shown in this column reflects the statutory "cap" on per-child expenditures for supplemental educational services.

Selena Gomez Music and Lyrics for Kids

Selena Gomez Music and Lyrics for Kids

Inspirational songs and music for kids

Learn English Singing Songs

Music, Lyrics, Poetry, and Prose are all intertwined with ease when taught, and inspired using motivational music. 

     My class uses music, lyrics, and singing daily to teach reading and auditory processing (listening) skills. Singing and Learning songs, builds fluency, articulation, voice, memory, expression, word attack, cadence, rhyme, rhythm, tone, pitch, vocabulary, decoding, phonics, and FUN! Students are motivated, empowered, freed from traditional reading lessons, and intrinsically motivated when learning to sing a song. Learning to read is a very unforgiving process for many kids, learning a song gives them a great accomplishment in a very short time. Songs enrich and bring to life a students world in a way that is powerful! My students sing up to 8 times per day during the first few months of school. All you have to do is give students the lyrics and start the song, all else is built into the process. NO FANCY LESSON NEEDED JUST GREAT MUSIC AND LYRICS!

The Top 80's Songs and Lyrics

The Best 80's Songs and Lyrics

Music, Lyrics, Poetry, and Prose are all intertwined with ease when taught, and inspired using motivational music.
My class uses music, lyrics, and singing daily to teach reading and auditory processing (listening) skills. Singing and Learning songs, builds fluency, articulation, voice, memory, expression, word attack, cadence, rhyme, rhythm, tone, pitch, vocabulary, decoding, phonics, and FUN! Students are motivated, empowered, freed from traditional reading lessons, and intrinsically motivated when learning to sing a song. Learning to read is a very unforgiving process for many kids, learning a song gives them a great accomplishment in a very short time. Songs enrich and bring to life a students world in a way that is powerful! My students sing up to 8 times per day during the first few months of school. All you have to do is give students the lyrics and start the song, all else is built into the process. NO FANCY LESSON NEEDED JUST GREAT MUSIC AND LYRICS!

Not the 80s but the Kids love it!

Motivating Boys to Read

Motivating boys to Read: Using role-playing games and role-play simulations to spark a love of reading in boys. Don't let learning to read and a love of reading, be a dream deferred!

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode? 

Don't let learning to read be a dream deferred!

Reading as a rhetorical exercise was a laborious and virtually impossible task for me as a boy growing up with severe dyslexia. I avoided reading and books like they were black death. My first literary inspiration was a very special game from my uncle Mike on my ninth birthday. My uncle bought me the CLASSIC RED boxed set of Dungeons and Dragons; that day was the first time, I can remember wanting more than anything to find a way to read these books. The illustrations were fascinating but I wanted to discover what was written on the page. 

Dungeon Master (DM): After passing through the craggy peaks, the road takes a sudden turn to the east and Castle Ravenloft towers before you. Crumbling towers of stone keep a silent watch over the approach. They look like abandoned guardhouses. Beyond these, a wide chasm gapes, disappearing into the deep fog below. A lowered drawbridge spans the chasm, leading to an arched entrance to the castle courtyard. The chains of the drawbridge creak in the wind, their rust-eaten iron straining with the weight. From atop the high strong walls, stone gargoyles stare at you from hollow sockets and grin hideously. A rotting wooden portcullis, green with growth, hangs in the entry tunnel. Beyond this, the main doors of Castle Ravenloft stand open, a rich warm light spilling into the courtyard.  Phillip (playing Gareth): I want to look at the gargoyles. I have a feeling they’re not just statues. Amy (playing Riva): The drawbridge looks precarious? I want to see how sturdy it is. Do I think we can cross it, or is it going to collapse under our weight? http://dnd.wizards.com

The next few years I proudly saved my birthday money and bought my first collection of Dungeons and Dragons books. I went from a nonreader that hated reading to a passionate reader over the next few years. 

      My family planted the seeds earlier with many wonderful hours playing backgammon, chess, board games and strategy games. I took my deep passion for games and used that as my muse, my fuel to push through the task of learning how to read my D&D books. Finding the catalyst for boys can start with old-fashioned war and strategy games, or give D&D a try.

D&D FREE FILE DOWNLOADS
Last Updated: 05/13/2015

PLAYER’S D&D BASIC RULES V.0.3

DUNGEON MASTER'S D&D BASIC RULES V.0.5

Today  I use many learning simulations and even role-playing games in my classroom to motivate and let kids get into the learning and experience it first hand. Role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons may be out of vogue or nerdy but my boys and girls beg to read my old collections of D&D books. Try taking your boys to a local game shop and see what sparks their interest.  They have 100s of RPG games with as many themes. Sean Taylor Dyslexic Reading Teacher

Dedicated to my Uncle Mike

Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997. It was derived from miniature war games with a variation of the Chainmail game serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is widely regarded as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry. Wiki Article

Wizards of the Coast! The home of D&D!

Great free role playing cards, games and rules for young boys and girls!

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/quickstartrules.pdf

http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/diplomacy_rulebook.pdf

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/UpdateCompiled.pdf

Download all the character cards (2.42 Mbs).
Download Ander, Halfling Rogue (729 Kbs pdf).
Download Brannus, Human Fighter (664 Kbs pdf).
Download Harbek, Dwarf Fighter (800 Kbs pdf).
Download Korzon, Human Cleric (856 Kbs pdf).
Download Lucan, Elf Wizard (730 Kbs pdf).
Download Thia, Elf Rogue (123 Kbs pdf).