Rock the STAAR: ELA Interim Week

4th Grade ELA | Canva + Classkick | Four 60-minute synchronous lessons

The problem

Interim week can be difficult to keep students engaged because they’re no longer learning brand-new skills—they’re reviewing concepts they’ve already been taught throughout the year. I needed a way to revisit several TEKS while keeping students actively participating instead of simply completing review worksheets. My goal was to build confidence before the STAAR assessment by helping students recognize patterns across skills and apply them in meaningful ways.

My approach

I designed a four-day “Rock the STAAR” review experience that focused on one high-priority reading or language skill each day. Instead of relying on lecture, I paired short teacher-led mini lessons with interactive practice, partner discussions, independent application, and daily exit tickets. Students worked with authentic reading passages, sorting activities, matching exercises, and graphic organizers so they were actively using the skills rather than just recalling definitions. The comic-book theme helped create excitement during what is often a stressful review week while keeping the structure consistent each day.

Design choices

• Organized the review into four focused lessons instead of trying to cover every skill at once.
• Used colorful, consistent slide templates to reduce cognitive load and help students focus on the content.
• Included authentic nonfiction passages and real-world examples so students practiced applying skills in context.
• Balanced whole-group instruction with independent work and collaborative activities to keep engagement high.
• Embedded daily exit tickets to quickly check understanding and address misconceptions before moving to the next lesson.
• Reviewed a variety of STAAR-aligned skills, including text features, prefixes and suffixes, figurative language, and informational text structures.

Tools

Canva (slide design), Nearpod (student practice and submissions), Epic! Books (nonfiction reading), and teacher-created review activities and exit tickets.