PLEASE NOTE: STAAR Mastery will be available March 1 for specific Texas schools. The previews below are subject to change. If you'd like to have STAAR Mastery enabled in your account, please email partnerships@zinclearninglabs.com.

Zinc’s STAAR Mastery prepares your students for the STAAR test by equipping them with lifelong reading strategies and test-taking methods. Along the way, you can track every student and every skill with our handy reports. Your students will practice tools like strikeouts and maybe/no in a safe, encouraging environment. For writing, our AI STAAR writing coach provides one-on-one guidance with instant feedback.

Our four-week test prep program builds the reading foundation students need to succeed in school and in their future careers. Use Zinc’s STAAR Mastery to prepare your students, because better readers become better test takers!

Check out the full Scope and Sequence in this short slideshow!

STAAR Mastery is designed to fill a 45 to 60-minute period every day for four weeks. Each week provides a mix of direct instructions, guided digital experiences, and independent reading and writing practice (with guided AI feedback) on STAAR passages. You may choose between an English I or English II version of the program.

In week 1, students build their reading skills with a Mini Ignition, because raising reading levels is the key to confident test-taking! Students should aim to complete Mini Ignition in Week 1 but are encouraged to continue working on it until complete.

In weeks 2 to 4, students put their skills to practice. Students start the week with a Test Prep Close Reading Experience, which teaches and reinforces Zinc’s four-step methodology. Next, they use their new skills on practice STAAR passages across genres, including multiple-choice and written response questions. Each week includes guided writing practice with feedback from Zinc’s AI tool.

Students who finish a week’s assignments early can “Power-Up” their STAAR Mastery with optional vocabulary and reading practice. Power-Up Activities offer STAAR vocabulary sets, Close Reading Experiences, and Zinc Articles at English I & II difficulty levels.

STAAR Mastery activities are designed to be completed in order, but teachers can instruct students to complete specific activities. As soon as students have completed any required Zinc Level Placement, all STAAR Mastery sections are accessible.

When assigning STAAR Mastery, you will choose between an English I or English II workload. The passages have been hand-selected to provide the best practice for the appropriate test. Click the expandable headings below to see previews of the workloads for the two programs.

We recommend reinforcing Zinc's Reading and Test Prep strategies through direct instruction using our ready-made mini-lessons. Below, you'll find many Google Slides for STAAR Mastery Resources, including the Test Prep Mini Lessons, Ignition Skills Mini Lessons, and STAAR Skills Mini Lessons.

In addition to direct instruction, Mini Lessons are valuable tools for small groups. Because the lessons are delivered to you as Google Slides, you can update the texts and questions to present whatever content you desire.

The Printable STAAR Mastery Resource Library includes all texts from the STAAR Mastery unit and a second mini reteach quiz. These resources can be printed for planning or review with students. The Printable STAAR Mastery Resource Library can be accessed here.
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Suggestion: After the class completes the passage quiz in Zinc STAAR Mastery, pull a small group of students. Reread the text using Ignition reading skills and work through the passage quiz questions using the test-taking skills. Provide the second mini reteach quiz as an opportunity to show improvement.

*At this time, the second mini reteach quiz is only available to be printed and thus must be scored by the teacher.

PLEASE NOTE: STAAR Mastery will be available March 1. The option to assign the program will not be available until that time.

To assign STAAR Mastery, click on “Assign Activities” in the top menu of your Zinc Homepage. Select “STAAR Mastery,” and then click “Assign STAAR Mastery.”

Here, you will select the class you wish to complete STAAR Mastery from the dropdown menu. Once you’ve selected a class, you will select either the English I or the English II experience. You will then click “Choose Students” and select individual students or the entire class.

When your selection is made, click the big green “Assign” button. Now you and your students will see the assignment on your homepages!!

PLEASE NOTE: At this time, STAAR assignments and individual activities cannot be reset in Zinc. Encourage your students to take their time, as they cannot “redo” any activities inside STAAR Mastery.

Students will see the STAAR Mastery assignment on their homepage. To proceed, they must click “Go to STAAR Mastery Home.”

This takes the student to their STAAR Mastery map.

If a student hasn’t completed a recent Level Placement, the system will ask them to do so at the beginning of STAAR Mastery. Next, students can click the green button on the top-right to reach their next activity. You may ask students to complete specific activities, which they can do by using the dropdown menu or by clicking on a specific activity.

Activities include Passage Quizzes, writing practice with AI feedback, Mini Ignition, and Power-Up activities.

When completing multiple choice sections, students must first make a prediction. This is standard in Zinc activities, and it helps students practice critical thinking before the answer choices are shown.

Once a prediction is made and the answers are available, students may click the three horizontal lines icon, also known as a “hamburger” button that looks like this: ≡

In this menu, students may select the strikethrough or review options.

While in strikethrough mode, clicking on a multiple choice option known to be incorrect will cause it to be crossed out. Clicking an answer again in this mode will remove the strikethrough. Students can leave this mode by clicking the green "Exit Strikethrough Mode" button.

Selecting the review option will place a “flag” on the question. This way, students can continue to progress and then return to questions that they were not sure what to select.

When a student submits their completed practice test, they are asked if they’d like to review any questions. At this time, any questions flagged for review are immediately visible. Clicking on a question will take them directly to that question.

When a student has completed the test to their satisfaction, they should click the "Submit Test" button. They can then move on to their next activity.

The activities include both Short Constructed Response (SCR) and Extended Constructed Response (ECR). Students will type their response in the text box below the question. Their work is saved automatically as they go. When they student is ready for feedback, they click the “My Draft is Ready for Feedback” button below the text box.

Students learn to craft successful written responses, guided by individualized feedback from Zinc’s AI writing tool. After they click the “My Draft is Ready for Feedback” button, students will receive detailed, helpful feedback about their response. Every student receives tips about how they can improve.

After a round of feedback and revisions, students submit their finished written response. Teachers will see this revised draft along with a suggested score. When teachers review the written response, they have the option to accept the AI score or provide their own score.

Zinc is dedicated to reading growth for all students, and Ignition makes that happen. Ignition teaches students four essential reading skills using content at their determined reading level. The interactive journey includes video guides who coach the students along the way.

STAAR Mastery includes Mini Ignition. This curated experience gives students the strong foundation they need to engage with challenging texts. Better readers become better test takers, and Ignition makes better readers.
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Students access Mini Ignition by clicking the rocket ship on their STAAR Mastery map. We recommend students complete Mini Ignition during the first week of STAAR Mastery.
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Every student works at a different pace, and Zinc is a helpful tool in managing students who finish early. STAAR Mastery includes Power-Up activities that continue to challenge students when you don't want them working ahead.

Students have their pick of Vocabulary Games, Article Quizzes, and interactive Close Reading Experiences, and they even get to choose the topics. Just tell your students who move a little faster to do their Power-Up activities!

Teachers track student progress using STAAR Mastery reports. Reports show completion, scores, and even performance on standards. To access these reports, go to your Zinc homepage and click "View Report" on a class's STAAR Mastery assignment.

The report will open to an Overall Progress, providing a class overview at a glance. You can quickly switch between classes using the "Change class" dropdown menu.

From here, you can click "Assign" to quickly give the assignment to any students who still need it. You can also use the buttons to cancel the activity or print the report. To see further details about each week, the Mini Ignition Report, or the Standards report, click on those tabs.

On each week's tab, you'll see details for that week's activities. You'll see which student have completed each activity and and their scores.

The Mini Ignition Report shows how students are progressing in that section of the program. The Standards Report provides quick access to how students have scored on the standards for each activity.

Are you ready to equip your students for STAAR? Assign Zinc STAAR Mastery now! (This feature will go live for select schools soon!)