Heritage Hosts STAAR Carnival to Prep Students for Tests

DSC_0457The teachers at Heritage Middle School found a way to lighten the mood for the upcoming reading STAAR tests by creating a STAAR carnival designed to prepare the students for the test one final time in a fun and enjoyable environment.

The carnival took place on Friday, April 17 – the final school day before the STAAR test. The students played a multitude of games that were related to sixth grade reading TEKS.

The carnival spread across six classrooms and provided 20 different review games to play. Students were given a score sheet, and the students with the highest scores received special passes including listening to music while working, eating lunch with a teacher, or free drawing time.

Some of the games played included:

Cowboy Golf Trivia: students answered STAAR related questions and had the opportunity to receive points for each correct answer

Dictionary Relay: students were given a word to look up in the dictionary before their opponent found the word

Mood Word Pictionary: students drew a specific mood on the white board while their team tried to guess the mood

DSC_0474The Heritage teachers involved in the STAAR carnival included Mr. Albright, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Spray, and Mrs. Wilson. The eighth grade National Junior Honor Society led each game station.

“At the beginning of the week, we told the students that we were having a carnival but did not explain what that meant,” said Mrs. Wilson. “Throughout the week, their curiosity flourished. By Friday, the students were extremely excited to play the games. Even on the following Monday they were still talking about it. The games gave our student a much need confidence boost going in to STAAR week. We as a team are very proud with the way the students participated and thought the day went better than expected.”