ELA TAKS Warm-Ups (Grades 6-11)
ELA TAKS Warm-Ups (Grades 6-11)
ELA TAKS Warm-Ups (Grades 6-11)
Suggestions: From the stems below, create quick questions to tie content learning to the TAKS
Reading objectives. Warm-up lessons should be displayed on the whiteboard, presentation
station or overhead as students move into class and should last about 5 minutes. The stems are
taken directly from the TAKS release tests. You may want to offer answer choices or leave them
open ended. Your questions may come from a selection that the students have read the previous
day or earlier that day.
In paragraph _____ what does the narrator mean when he says he felt
___________________?
Paragraph _____ is important to the story because
The setting of _________________ is important because
Objective 4: Inference
The authors choice of words in paragraph _____ creates a mood of
From information about __________ provided in the story, the reader can conclude that
Which sentence in the story shows the reader that__________________?
The tone of paragraph _____ can be described best as
The reader can tell from this story that life____________ was.
Which of the following best describes the organization of paragraphs _____ and _____?
Which statement from ___________ represents an opinion?
In paragraphs _____ and _____ the author uses questions to
An important idea present in both selections is (Use with paired passages)
Short-Answer Response:
Using any text(s) you have been working with use (use paired passages and triplets) one question
stem per day to answer and discuss. Remember to have your students support their answers with
text evidence. In the instance of dual passages, student must give support from BOTH texts.
In _____, what does _____ learn from his/her experiences with _____?
Why do you think the author and _____ decided to _____?
How is the idea of _____ important in both _____ and _____?
What is the major conflict that _____ experiences in _____?
How does the authors attitude toward _____ change over the course of _____?
How is the concept of _____ important in BOTH _____ and _____?
In _____, what do(es) _____ learn from his/her/their experiences?
Based on your reading of _____, do you think _____ made the right decision for _____?
How is the _____ in _____ similar to ______ in _____?
In _____, which character do you think is ______?
In _____, how does the authors attitude toward _____ change from beginning to the end of
the selection?
Do _____ in _____ and ______ in _____ share a similar concern?
How does _____ change from the beginning to the end of _____?
In _____, who do you think is more successful, _____ or ______?
Which of the characters from _____ and _____ would you like to have as a friend?
What is one conflict that _____ faces in _____?
What are the memories of _____ important to ______?
How is the power of _____ an important theme in BOTH _____ and _____?
In _____, why does _____ keep _____ for _____?
Why is _____ a good title for this selection?
What is one characteristic shared by ______ in _____ and _____ in _____?
Viewing/Representing:
TAKS uses a variety of print ads, fliers, cartoons, and movie ads. Use any visual ad to answer
the following questions. Begin with the five critical questions for media:
Who created this message?
For what purpose and why>
What techniques were used to engage and hold the readers attention?
What point of view is represented? How do you know?
What was left out of the message?
Below are some sample ads and questions.