The Sparkly Notebook

Mastering the ELA Standards in Middle School

paired passages

Practice Test-Taking Strategies with Paired Passages

Read about high-interest topics while you practice test-taking strategies with paired passages.

I love when students love reading, but I’ve found that my students don’t love reading when they have to read about topics they struggle to connect with.

Shocker, right?!? (Yep. That was sarcasm!)

Although students may need to know that the Stamp Act took place, a non-fiction passage about the Stamp Act is not something they will probably get really excited to read.

When we are practicing test-taking strategies related to reading, I really like to find highly engaging passages for students to work with. Testing is not really exciting, but when we are practicing test-taking strategies with paired passages, there are no rules that say you have to pick passages that are just as dull as a typical standardized test passage.

I mean, why read about the Stamp Act when you can practice test-taking strategies with paired passages about social media, TikTok, video games, sports, and so much more?

What’s Included in a Paired Passage

Before we talk about test-taking strategies, let’s talk about what these paired passages look like.

Each paired passage set includes passages that are focused on a common topic, and each passage includes a set of reading comprehension questions to test a student’s knowledge.

You can also create your own questions to go along with a passage or ask students to use the paired passages to support their writing practice. 

I love paired passages so much; in fact, I’ve come up with a whole bunch of different ways to use them. You can read about the ways I like to reuse my paired passages in this post!

New ways to use paired passages (blog image)

Paired Passages also challenge students to think about the text in a different way. In this post, I’ve talked about how paired passages can prepare students for testing situations.

Test Prep with Paired Passages Blog Image

Practice Test-Taking Strategies with Paired Passages

There are a variety of test-taking strategies out there, and these paired passages allow you to put your students in a test-like situation so they can practice several of those strategies.

Maybe you are practicing taking timed tests. If you know that students are typically given 60 minutes on their reading tests, and the reading test includes six passages, then you can give your students 10 minutes to complete one of the passages. 

Maybe you are working on narrowing down answer choices. Use the questions that come with the paired passages to practice figuring out which answers can be thrown out and which ones need to be seriously considered.

Maybe you are teaching your students how to quickly annotate a passage to help them be more successful in a testing situation. Use one of these paired passages to demonstrate how you might do that.

For more test-taking tips, check out this blog post!

The paired passages we have in the store are very similar to the passages that students may encounter during testing situations, making them great for you to use as you practice test-taking strategies.

Take a closer look at all the different paired passage topics we have available here!

Testing doesn’t have to be scary, and you can do a lot to prepare your students when you practice test-taking strategies with paired passages! 

New Ways to Use Paired Passages

If you are looking for more ways to use paired passages with your students, try out some of these new ideas!

We have a bunch of paired passages in the store on a whole slew of high-interest topics, but once you have them, what else can you do with them? That is exactly what we’re talking about today.

We aren’t just going to talk about paired passages or their benefits. We’re providing 5 NEW ways to use them with your students!

What are paired passages?

Paired passages are a set of 2 writing passages that are similar in topic or theme.

These passages can be used by teachers for a variety of purposes.

I have always encouraged the use of paired passages for reading comprehension practice. In fact, each of the paired passages in my store includes reading comprehension activities.

In this paired passage set about playing team sports, students are asked to use the passages to…

  • Practice using context clues to define unknown words
  • Answer evidence-based questions
  • And write an argument based on the reading

These paired passages are specifically created to be no/low prep and easy for teachers to use.

Paired Passage Product Image

Paired Passages for Test Prep

Before we get into 5 new ways to use paired passages, let’s talk about one tried and true way I use paired passages with students.

Test Prep

We wrote all about using paired passages for test prep in this post.

Paired passages often mimic the style and feel of a reading test passage. That makes them great for practicing test-like situations. They are not, however, as boring as some other test prep options. As you get into test prep season, don’t forget to pull out some high-interest paired passages (like the ones below) to use as practice.

5 New Ways to Use Paired Passages

Each of the ideas on this list serves a different purpose. Choose the option that serves your students where they’re at. A few of the ideas will require a little bit of prep, so don’t wait until the last minute to decide which paired passage to try!

#1 | Sentence Slips

Cut up the paired passages into sentences or paragraphs, and challenge students with putting it back together. This activity gives students practice in thinking through how effective writing is organized. Note: This activity may require reformatting the passage or typing out the sentences line by line, but it won’t take too long.

Option: To make this activity a little harder, mix the sentences from both passages together. Students will have to sort them first, and then organize them.

#2 | Scavenger Hunt

Put together a list of ‘Examples to Find’ for your students. On your list, you’ll ask students to find specific examples in the paired passage texts. 

Here are some examples of what you might put on their list.

  • An example of a compound sentence.
  • 3 examples of adverbs being used
  • An example of a fact
  • An example of an opinion
  • 3 examples of figurative language
  • Identify at least 2 different stakeholders for this issue
  • The main idea of the passages

Your scavenger hunt list can be adapted to whatever your students have been working on recently, and you can use the same passages over and over again.

Pro Tip: If you want to save on printing, place the passages in sheet protectors and give students dry-erase markers to identify the items on the list.

#3 | Practice Citing

Challenge students to write an argument on this topic using these paired passages as two of their sources. If source information is not provided in the paired passage, make some up for the purpose of practicing this skill.

#4 | Facts First

Before presenting students with the paired passage activity, put the facts on index cards. Encourage students to sort the cards to try to figure out how the facts might be arranged into two passages. This activity encourages students to think about why choosing the RIGHT facts to support an argument is helpful. As they get older and write longer essays, being able to choose facts well will be very important.

Organizational Idea: Take the time to put the facts on cardstock and then laminate them. They will last for years.

#5 | Research Starters

Use the paragraphs of the paired passages to assign research topics to students. 

Cut out the paragraphs and hand them out. Encourage students to read the passage, and then research their particular part of the argument in more detail. 

When they are done, students will bring at least 3 facts back to the group that supports the point made in the paragraph they were assigned.

Paired passages are super powerful in the classroom, and hopefully, when you add in a few of these new ways for using paired passages, they’ll be even more beneficial.

If you are excited to try out some of these new ideas, simply grab one of the paired passage resources below, and get started!

High-Interest Paired Passages

Try out some of the ideas in this post on one of the high-interest, engaging paired passage sets below. 

Now, pick one and go!

Pin Image - New Ways to Use Paired Passages

Test Prep with Paired Passages

Use The SPARKLY Notebook’s paired passages to help prep middle school students for tests. These are great resources for all ELA teachers.

Many of us teachers have different opinions about tests.

I think we can all agree that assessment is important; we want to be able to help students recognize where they are AND show them the potential of where they can go. 

However, we also don’t want to focus TOO MUCH on assessment because there is so much more to education than tests, am I right? We would rather focus on ALL of the skills we know they are going to need for the future, not just assessments left and right. 

Use The SPARKLY Notebook's paired passages to help prep middle school students for tests. These are great resources for ELA teachers.

It often seems like it is one or the other, but maybe it doesn’t have to be.

When it comes to teaching ELA, I have found the use of paired passages to be extremely engaging for my students. I am able to use a variety of reading material about a variety of interesting topics. Through these passages, I am able to release a waterfall of discussion and insight from my students that isn’t always flowing in our novel units.

Additionally, these paired passages are also where we can prep our students for those future tests. With these passages, students are:

  • Utilizing higher-level thinking
  • Reading an assortment of writing from a variety of authors
  • Deconstructing questions and choosing best answers
  • Learning about modern issues and topics
  • Analyzing information for a specific purpose

And those are only a few of the benefits!

Oftentimes, my students enjoy the discussion that follows these passages because simply put, they are fun passages to read. I incorporate multiple-choice questions or short-answer questions in the mix as either pre-discussion topics or mini-assessment opportunities. 

One of my favorite paired-passage is my Is Grafitti Art or Vandalism? paired passage. This Differentiated GOOGLE CLASSROOM READY Paired Text Set is on a high-interest topic and thus, had my students interested from the start! It is Common-Core aligned AND my students LOVE it! So check it out for yourself!

Paired texts are definitely a win-win!

Not sure how to utilize them in your own classroom? Or not sure if you have the time to come up with your own paired passages?

I GOT YOU!

Check out my paired-passages products here!

Why create your own passages when I have already done the work for you?

If you want more information about test prep tips in general, check out this blog post! I talk about the use of paired passages as well as two other tips that have helped my students prepare both mentally and academically for future tests! Click here.

Enjoy!

Test Prep Tips

Test.

The one word that creates so much anxiety for so many of our students.

Although testing has been around for, well…a LONG time, we still haven’t come across the best ways to eliminate this test anxiety in our students. However, with preparation, we may be able to ease this anxiety to some extent. The more that our students are familiar with the PROCESS of testing, the less anxious they will be on test day!

So, how should we prepare our students for testing?

Three Ways to Prep Your Students for a Test

Step One: Students need to be familiar with the way test questions are phrased.

We like to simplify questions in the classroom. We are trained to phrase questions in a way that students will understand, but for some reason, tests do not take this same consideration. The questions sound complex and overwhelming for students, so the more students hear these types of questions, the more they will be able to break down specifically what the question is asking.

DO: Use one bellringer a week to ask a test-like question and offer the opportunity to break down the question as a class. Try one of my “Paired-Passages” resources online which focuses on question breakdown and test prep.

A paired passage activity to help you prep for tests in the ELA classroom.

Step Two: Teach your students to scan.

In a world full of information, we can’t read everything, can we? Rather, we scan an article or website searching for the exact information we need. Teaching our students to scan will help them answer test questions faster because they aren’t getting stuck reading every single word on the test. 

DO: Discuss keywords with your students. Practice scanning texts for keywords related to simple questions and work your way up to more complex questions. The more practice they have at scanning, the better they will be when a test rolls around.

Step Three: Teach test-taking skills.

In my experience, teaching students a code system can be very helpful. It works like this.

More often than not, a student is not going to answer each question right off the bat during a test. A typical student might be able to answer number 1 right away, but be unsure of number 2, and have NO IDEA on number 3. So, how should the student handle this situation?

Students should…

  • Answer the questions they ABSOLUTELY know and put smiley faces next to them.
  • Make the best guess on the answers they THINK they know and put stars next to them.
  • Answer the questions they DON’T know AT ALL and put a question mark next to them.

The idea here is that students will be able to answer each question the first go-around (to make sure the test is done on time), but then, if there is time left over, they are able to go back through and answer questions with stars next to them. If they make it through all of the starred questions, they can finally go back through and re-read some of the questions coded with a question mark. This strategy ensures that students are answering the questions they are more likely to get right first.

DO: Teach a coding system to your students. This type of skill can be so helpful in so many areas of life, not just test-taking.

Cool! Now what?

With these three steps, your students will be more prepared to take a test on any given day. These steps will not ease all anxiety that comes with testing, but they could definitely help! Better yet, these three steps at most take around 10 minutes a week to teach. If you could try something for 10 minutes each with a high possibility that it will help your students come test day, wouldn’t you want to try it?

Just remember, providing support for test prep is only half the battle. The other half is teaching your students to BELIEVE that they CAN do well on tests! Check out this post about the student’s mindset. Enjoy!

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