STAAR Test Prep Week: 15 Activities Students Actually Enjoy

We’ve all been there. It’s two weeks before STAAR. Your students have been reviewing for what feels like a century. You can see it in their faces — the glazed eyes, the heavy sighs when you pull out another practice test, the whispered “not again” when you say the word “review.”

Here’s the reality: the last two weeks before STAAR are not the time to teach new content. That ship has sailed. What your students need now is reinforcement, confidence, and stamina — and they need it delivered in a way that doesn’t make them dread coming to school.

These 15 activities are classroom-tested, STAAR-aligned, and actually fun. Some take 10 minutes. Others can fill an entire class period. All of them review content without feeling like a worksheet factory.

Low-Prep Activities (15 Minutes or Less to Set Up)

1. STAAR Scoot

What it is: Place one STAAR-style question at each desk or station. Students rotate from desk to desk, answering each question on a numbered answer sheet. When the timer rings, they scoot to the next station.

Why it works: Movement breaks the monotony. Students work through 15–25 questions without it feeling like a 25-question test. The pacing is externally controlled, so slower students don’t get stuck and faster students don’t rush ahead.

Setup time: 10 minutes — print questions, cut them, tape one to each desk.

Differentiation tip: Color-code the question cards by difficulty. Place easier questions (green) at the first stations and harder ones (red) at the end. All students cycle through all questions, but the progression from easy to hard builds confidence.

2. Trashketball

What it is: Divide the class into teams. Display a STAAR review question. Teams solve independently, then send a representative to show their answer. If correct, that team’s representative gets to shoot a wadded-up paper ball into the trash can (or recycling bin) from a marked line for bonus points.

Why it works: The competitive element and physical shooting component transform dry review into something students ask to do again. Even students who typically disengage from review will participate because they want to shoot the “basket.”

Setup time: 5 minutes — pull up questions on a slideshow, grab a trash can, mark a shooting line with tape.

Differentiation tip: Offer a closer shooting line worth 1 point and a farther line worth 2 points. This gives struggling students a win while challenging confident students to take a risk.

3. Quiz-Quiz-Trade

What it is: Give each student a card with a STAAR question on the front and the answer on the back. Students pair up, quiz each other using their cards, explain the answer if their partner gets it wrong, then trade cards and find a new partner.

Why it works: It’s peer-to-peer, it’s active, and students practice both answering and explaining — which deepens understanding far more than answering alone. The card trading means students see many different questions in a single session.

Setup time: 10 minutes — print questions on cardstock, write answers on the back, cut them out. (Pro tip: laminate the cards and reuse them every year.)

Differentiation tip: Pre-assign partnerships so struggling students are paired with patient, supportive peers rather than left to randomly find partners.

4. Four Corners

What it is: Label each corner of the room A, B, C, D. Display a multiple-choice STAAR question. Students read the question, decide their answer, and physically walk to the corner representing their choice. Once everyone is in a corner, reveal the answer and have a student from the correct corner explain why.

Why it works: Movement. Commitment. Accountability. Students can’t hide — they have to publicly choose an answer, which forces engagement. The discussion after the reveal is where the real learning happens.

Setup time: 2 minutes — tape letters to the walls, load questions onto a slideshow.

Differentiation tip: Allow students to bring a “lifeline” — a reference sheet or notes — for the first few rounds, then remove lifelines for the final rounds.

5. Mystery Problem Reveal

What it is: Cover a fun image (a meme, a silly photo of you, a picture of a class reward) with numbered sticky notes or digital tiles. Each tile corresponds to a review question. When students answer correctly, remove a tile to slowly reveal the image. The goal: uncover the whole picture.

Why it works: Curiosity is a powerful motivator. Students will eagerly solve problems just to find out what’s hidden beneath. The collective progress toward revealing the image creates a sense of teamwork.

Setup time: 15 minutes to create the grid (digital tools like Google Slides make this easier).

Medium-Prep Activities (30 Minutes to Set Up)

6. STAAR Escape Room

What it is: Create a series of 4–5 STAAR-aligned challenges. Each correctly solved challenge reveals a code (number, word, or color). When students solve all challenges, they combine the codes to “unlock” a final puzzle and “escape.” The challenges can be printed worksheets, digital problems, or physical tasks.

Why it works: The narrative frame (escaping) transforms review problems into a mission. Students work collaboratively, discuss strategies, and persist through difficulty because they want to escape. The time pressure adds excitement without creating anxiety.

Setup time: 30 minutes to create challenges and code locks. (Or purchase a pre-made STAAR Escape Room from our resources page and cut your prep to 5 minutes.)

Differentiation tip: Assign roles within each group: reader, recorder, checker, timekeeper. This ensures every student has a responsibility and prevents one strong student from doing all the work.

7. STAAR Jeopardy

What it is: Create a Jeopardy-style game board with categories aligned to STAAR reporting categories. Teams select categories and point values, answer the question, and earn (or lose) points. Daily Double questions can be worth double points or require an “all-in” wager.

Why it works: Jeopardy is universally known. The category structure naturally organizes review by topic, and the point system creates strategy and competition. Students cheer, groan, and engage in ways that worksheets never produce.

Setup time: 30 minutes to create the game board. (Google Slides or PowerPoint templates make this much faster — search for “Jeopardy template for teachers.”)

Differentiation tip: Assign lower point values to foundational questions and higher points to complex ones. This way, struggling students can target easier questions to build confidence while advanced students are incentivized to take on challenges.

8. Gallery Walk Review

What it is: Post large chart paper around the room, each with a different STAAR topic or question type at the top (e.g., “Main Idea,” “Fractions,” “Cause and Effect,” “Measurement”). Groups rotate to each poster with a different colored marker. At each station, they write key vocabulary, strategies, example problems with solutions, or tips. After rotating through all stations, do a class walk-through to discuss and correct any errors.

Why it works: Students become the teachers. Writing strategies in their own words forces deeper processing than passively reading a review sheet. The collaborative format means struggling students learn from peers, and strong students solidify their understanding by teaching.

Setup time: 15 minutes to hang chart paper and write topic headers.

Differentiation tip: Give struggling groups a “cheat sheet” of key points for each topic they can reference as they write. Advanced groups get no supports and are challenged to add examples and non-examples.

9. Speed Dating Review

What it is: Arrange desks in two facing rows. Give each student in Row A a STAAR question card. Row B students rotate every 2–3 minutes. At each “date,” the Row A student presents their question and helps the Row B student if they struggle. After Row B has rotated through all partners, switch roles.

Why it works: The rapid rotation keeps energy high. Students practice both answering and explaining. The intimate one-on-one format feels less intimidating than whole-class review, and students who are usually quiet become active participants.

Setup time: 10 minutes to set up desks and distribute question cards.

10. The STAAR Boot Camp Day

What it is: Transform your classroom (or your entire grade level) into a themed boot camp for a full day of review. Students rotate through “training stations,” each focused on a different skill or reporting category. Stations can include independent practice, partner work, technology-based review, hands-on activities, and teacher-led small groups. Students earn “dog tags” (paper cutouts or stickers) for completing each station.

Why it works: The theme transforms a long review day into an event. Students dress in camo or team colors, earn physical rewards for progress, and experience variety throughout the day instead of sitting through hours of identical practice.

Setup time: 30+ minutes to set up stations. Consider partnering with your grade-level team to divide and conquer — each teacher prepares 2–3 stations and students rotate between classrooms.

Pro tip: Our STAAR Boot Camp resources include ready-made station activities, rotation schedules, and printable dog tags — everything you need to run a boot camp day with minimal prep.

Technology-Based Activities

11. Kahoot or Blooket Review Battles

What it is: Use Kahoot, Blooket, or Gimkit to create STAAR-style review games that students play on individual devices. Questions appear on the projector; students answer on their screens. Leaderboards and game mechanics keep energy high.

Why it works: Students will voluntarily review STAAR content for 30+ minutes straight if it’s wrapped in a game. The instant feedback after each question creates built-in formative assessment. You can see exactly which questions the class struggles with and address them in real time.

Setup time: 15–20 minutes to create a game (or search the platform’s library for pre-made STAAR review games — hundreds already exist).

Differentiation tip: Blooket’s game modes allow different play styles. “Tower Defense” mode is collaborative; “Battle Royale” is competitive. Choose the mode that matches your class culture.

12. QR Code Scavenger Hunt

What it is: Post QR codes around the classroom (or around the school, with admin permission). Each QR code links to a STAAR review question (use Google Forms for easy setup). Students scan, solve, and record their answers on a tracking sheet. The sequence of correct answers spells out a word or reveals a prize code.

Why it works: Movement plus technology plus a puzzle element equals engagement. Students love the scavenger hunt format, and you can spread 20+ review questions across a large space so students are up and moving instead of sitting at desks.

Setup time: 20 minutes to create questions in Google Forms, generate QR codes (free QR code generators are everywhere), and post them.

Whole-Class and Collaborative Activities

13. STAAR Relay Race

What it is: Divide the class into teams of 4–5. Each team gets a set of 5 STAAR problems. Student 1 solves Problem 1, brings it to you for checking. If correct, Student 2 starts Problem 2. If incorrect, Student 1 goes back to fix it. First team to correctly solve all 5 problems wins. The catch: teammates can coach each other, but only the designated solver can write the answer.

Why it works: The relay format creates urgency and teamwork. Students naturally coach each other, which means peer teaching is happening organically. The requirement to show correct work (not just an answer) reinforces process over guessing.

Setup time: 10 minutes to prepare problem sets (5 problems per team, all teams get the same problems in different orders to prevent copying).

14. “Would You Rather” STAAR Edition

What it is: Create “Would You Rather” scenarios using STAAR content. “Would you rather solve 3 multiplication problems or 2 multi-step word problems?” Students choose, solve their chosen problems, then discuss which option was actually easier and why. For RLA: “Would you rather identify the theme or summarize the plot?” Students complete their chosen task with a short passage.

Why it works: Choice is motivating. When students choose their challenge, they feel ownership. The discussion afterward (“I chose multiplication because I’m better at it, but the word problems were actually easier this time”) builds metacognitive awareness about their own strengths and weaknesses.

Setup time: 15 minutes to create choice pairs.

15. The Class vs. Teacher Challenge

What it is: You (the teacher) “compete” against the entire class. Display a STAAR question. Give students 60 seconds to solve it. Then solve it yourself on the board (intentionally making “mistakes” that students must catch). If the class catches your mistake before you “realize” it, they earn a point. If you stump them, you earn a point.

Why it works: Students LOVE catching the teacher making mistakes. They scrutinize every step of your work with laser focus — which is exactly the error-analysis skill they need on the STAAR. And when you “accidentally” make a common mistake (like forgetting to regroup or misreading a graph), you’re explicitly teaching them what NOT to do on test day.

Setup time: 5 minutes — just pull up questions and pre-plan your “mistakes.”

Differentiation tip: Make your early “mistakes” obvious (wrong operation, misread number) and your later ones subtle (computational error in the last step, choosing a distractor answer). This scaffolds the error-detection skill.

Putting It All Together: A Sample STAAR Prep Week Schedule

Here’s how you might structure a full week of review using these activities:

Monday — “Warm-Up Day”

Morning: STAAR Scoot (Activity 1) to reactivate knowledge
Afternoon: Gallery Walk Review (Activity 8) to identify class-wide strengths and gaps

Tuesday — “Game Day”

Morning: STAAR Jeopardy (Activity 7) for the first subject
Afternoon: Kahoot/Blooket Battle (Activity 11) for the second subject

Wednesday — “Boot Camp Day”

Full-day STAAR Boot Camp (Activity 10) with rotating stations including Escape Rooms (Activity 6), Speed Dating (Activity 9), and teacher-led small groups

Thursday — “Challenge Day”

Morning: STAAR Relay Race (Activity 13) followed by Class vs. Teacher (Activity 15)
Afternoon: QR Code Scavenger Hunt (Activity 12) as a wrap-up

Friday — “Confidence Day”

Morning: Low-stakes practice test under real conditions (build stamina)
Afternoon: Would You Rather STAAR Edition (Activity 14) and a class celebration of effort

Tips for Making Any Review Activity More Effective

Regardless of which activities you choose, keep these principles in mind:

Always debrief. The activity is the engagement hook, but the learning happens in the discussion. After every game or activity, take 3–5 minutes to review the most-missed questions and address misconceptions.
Use data from the activity. If 80% of your students miss the elapsed time question during Scoot, that tells you where to spend your small-group time tomorrow. Every review activity is also a formative assessment.
Vary the format daily. Don’t do Kahoot five days in a row. Mix low-tech and high-tech, competitive and collaborative, individual and team-based. Variety prevents fatigue.
Maintain test-like conditions at least once. Fun review is critical, but students also need at least one practice session that mimics real test conditions — quiet room, timed, no collaboration. This builds stamina and reduces test-day anxiety.
Celebrate effort, not just correctness. Especially in the final week, your goal is confidence. Acknowledge students who show growth, persist through hard problems, and support their teammates — not just students who get the right answer.

The Bottom Line

STAAR prep doesn’t have to be soul-crushing. The best review weeks are the ones where students walk in excited to see what’s happening today, engage deeply with the content, and walk out feeling more confident than when they arrived.

These 15 activities give you the tools to make that happen. Pick the ones that fit your students, your classroom setup, and your energy level. Mix and match. Modify them. Make them your own.

And when your students sit down for the STAAR, they’ll be ready — not because they were drilled into submission, but because they reviewed the content in ways that actually stuck.

Want ready-to-print STAAR review activities, escape rooms, and boot camp station materials? Browse our STAAR prep resources designed for Texas classrooms. Everything is TEKS-aligned, STAAR 2.0 formatted, and built to save you time. Subscribe to our newsletter for more activity ideas delivered weekly.