Using Zinc for Test Prep

STAAR Mastery is now available for all Texas schools that use Zinc. If you'd like to have STAAR Mastery enabled for your students, please email partnerships@zinclearninglabs.com.

SAT Mastery is available as a pilot program for those districts or schools that request it. 

For more information about the STAAR Mastery program, click here. For more information about SAT Mastery, click here. 

Reading Growth — The Key to Test Success

At Zinc, we know that the key to achieving strong scores on standardized assessments is raising student reading levels. Zinc's suite of programs and "a la carte" activities support year-long reading growth for middle and high school students at all levels.

Using Zinc with a Test Prep Unit

Many teachers and schools have dedicated curricular time for test prep. Our Test Prep Implementation Guide outlines suggestions for using Zinc as part of a month-long test prep unit.

Read more about each of our suggested test prep activities below:

Ignition

We recommend Ignition, Zinc's two-week instructional skills program, as a foundational first step for reading growth. Ignition is automatically available for all students on their homepage through Zinc Journeys. Beginning Zinc Journeys provides students with a short reading survey and a quick assessment before they dive into Ignition. 

Ignition is choice-based and auto-differentiated to each student's level, allowing teachers to deliver effective reading instruction to every student in a class. It's also a great way to build stamina as students interact with increasingly challenging short texts as they progress through each skill.

Students should complete Ignition 1 in the fall. Ignition 2 becomes available on January 1 for a follow-up on crucial skills. Ignition 3 becomes available on May 1 for students who would benefit from a summer activity. 

Test Prep Mini Lessons

In addition to content (reading comprehension and analytical skills), students need an effective method for moving through a test. Zinc teaches students to approach multiple-choice reading questions by using four steps:

1. Read + Predict

2. Maybe or No

3. Every Word Matters

4. Skip + Come Back

We've created 10-minute mini-lessons you can use to introduce these four steps and other test-taking tips to your classes. Feel free to adapt these lessons by including actual test questions from the assessment you're preparing for. Use the links below to download the customizable slides:

• English mini-lessons

  • Read + Predict

  • Maybe or No

  • Every Word Matters

  • Skip + Come Back

• Spanish mini-lessons

  • Lee Y Predice

  • Quizás O No

  • Cada Palabra Es Importante

  • Saltar Y Regresar

Test Prep Close Reading Experiences

Our Test Prep Close Reading Experiences provide guided practice on using Zinc's four-step method to answer multiple-choice reading questions.

Each experience presents a sample passage and prompts students to use Zinc-ing and Tracking to read and understand it well before moving on to the question. Students are then guided to predict the right answer, rule out wrong answers by giving each answer choice a "maybe" or "no," and then carefully evaluate their "maybes" to arrive at the correct response.

We suggest starting with our introductory "4 Steps to Test Success" experiences:

Start Here: 4 Steps to Test Success - Middle School (level 2)

Start Here: 4 Steps to Test Success - High School (level 4)

For more test prep Close Reading Experiences, navigate to the Close Reading Experiences page, then use the "Test Prep" filter or type directly into the search bar. (Here's a link with those search terms!)

Test Prep Vocabulary

Help students build confidence by expanding their vocabulary knowledge and teaching key test-taking terms. Zinc Vocabulary offers SAT/ACT Power Words, key terms for the MAP, SBAC, and STAAR assessments, and more. You can also build your own custom test-prep sets using Zinc's vocabulary bank.

From the Vocabulary page, use the search bar to discover pre-made test-prep themed sets, or create your own!

*Zinc Tip: Assign vocabulary with spaced repetition to ensure long-term retention.

Using Zinc for Year-Round Reading Growth

In addition to the test-prep-themed activities we've suggested here, consider using Zinc Journeys year-round to help your students continue to grow as readers.

Zinc Journeys contains a full year of reading growth for students. This program is available for all students from their Zinc homepage. They begin with a short survey, a quick Level Placement assessment, the two-week Ignition program, and then they reach Missions. Missions offer themed, choice-based activities, where students will practice the skills they learned in Ignition and strengthen their reading confidence.

You can also assign Zinc Articles and Close Reading Experiences as "a la carte" activities throughout the year. Search for topics that support your current curricular unit or areas of student interest. Consider assigning the same article or CRE to everyone in a class, or assign 3-4 different articles (you can assign articles at different levels to meet the needs of a range of learners) and encourage students to share what they've learned in a class-wide discussion.