Supplemental Resource
Power Packs
TEST PREP THROUGH ARTS INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND ROUTINES
In this packet, you will find three strategies and two routines that students can practice to build skills that will help them work with any new and unknown text. It is important for them to realize that what is important is not a “right answer”, but clear and insightful thinking, along with the use of evidence and observation to justify their thinking.
For each strategy or routine, there are three examples provided, which are ready to go for your students. As you’ll see, these strategies and routines can be used with any text. We encourage you to regularly use them in your classrooms. Regular use will provide your students a sense of confidence and preparedness as they work. Different grade levels will bring different insight to each passage.
More Details
Test prep isn’t fun for anyone… but by being here, you have realized that there are ways to get your students ready for the work ahead of them that encourage original, creative thinking and allows for independent thoughts. All this while also infusing the arts and expanding their ability to reason and use evidence.
These Power Packs help leverage creativity to connect deeply with the academic concepts students often struggle to master.
Things to remember:
• Anything can be considered text! This not only includes poetry, short stories and other literary passages, but also visual art and photographs.
• Be open to what your students are thinking. They will surprise you! Challenge them with art that doesn’t have real answers, or with literature pieces that are slightly above what you might typically give them. The tests will do this too, and your students will meet the challenge – especially if they have the tools.
• The grade levels specified here offer a range and are not prescriptive. You can use these with multiple grade levels for different purposes.