Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

It is not regular practice to combine math review classes with upbeat music, stand-up/sit-down activities, and conversations with fellow students — but across Spring Branch ISD (SBISD), it is happening this spring.

Earlier this semester, more than 70 SBISD math teachers, from elementary through high school, attended a daylong professional development seminar to receive and try out fun, active, loud, kinesthetic, and proven strategies to help students prepare for the spring state-level math assessments.

Led by Kim O’Neal, a consultant with Lead4ward, the teachers collaborated across the room with peers from various grade levels to experience firsthand the Rockin’ Review resources. O’Neal was especially impressed with the innovative responses and ideas SBISD teachers shared throughout the day.

“We want teachers to think outside the box when it comes to math review,” said O’Neal. “We want to inspire our students to be independent thinkers, so we need to change things up a bit. Review should not be only packets of practice problems. We want students engaged — where kids are doing the thinking and talking.”

Review Activities Catered to Grade Levels

During the professional development day in the Spring Woods Middle School (SWMS) multipurpose room, O’Neal used fifth-grade math units to demonstrate a variety of engaging activities. Each participant received 10 days’ worth of sequenced review ideas catered to the level and type of math they teach.

Lead4ward has also evaluated past State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) math problems and provided teachers with vocabulary and types of questions most likely to appear on the 2025 assessments this spring.

Additionally, from their research and proprietary resources, Lead4ward shared examples of frequently missed questions from previous STAAR exams, allowing teachers to place extra emphasis on these areas during review time prior to testing dates.

“The Lead4ward Rockin’ Review professional development helps teachers review the TEKS [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills] essential for success in current grade levels,” said Stacey Weirich, SBISD director of mathematics. “Educators receive new strategies to get students thinking.”

The Rockin’ Begins

This month, teachers have begun to use the Rockin’ Review tactics to refresh and reinforce learning from throughout the school year.

 

 

At Northbrook Middle School (NBMS), teacher Jerson Andrade has especially enjoyed using the math vocabulary review games Word Whack and Catch & Release with his seventh-grade academic math classes. It is critical for students to carefully read math problems, understand what they are being asked to solve, and know which corresponding formulas to use — developing a step-by-step process for solving problems.

During a recent visit to Andrade’s classroom, students played these “games” to review the similarities and differences between calculating area, circumference, and volume — concepts covered earlier in the year. In pairs or small groups, students analyzed several math problems, discussed which math terms to pay attention to, and outlined the necessary steps to solve them.

Engagement Games

“They are playing ‘games,’” said Andrade of his actively engaged students. “But they are also learning.”

For each problem presented on the classroom’s active board, students collaborated to quickly point to (whack!) one of eight corresponding vocabulary words placed at their tables. Andrade then checked for consensus around the room and explained why that key word was crucial to solving the problem.

Students also played Catch & Release, tossing a paper ball among their table groups while lively music played. When the music stopped, the student holding the ball became the spokesperson for the table, sharing how the group collectively solved the problem using vocabulary clues from the text.

Another strategy Andrade picked up from the Rockin’ Review training was to ask students to develop a possible question that could be asked about the problem — putting themselves in the role of the teacher.

“The vocabulary is major,” Andrade said. “Once they get the vocabulary, they really get it much better.”

Rock STAARS at Sherwood Elementary

Vocabulary review is also key in Danielle Rose’s third-grade dual-language classroom at Sherwood Elementary (SWE).

“We have been doing warm-ups with past STAAR questions, looking at the vocabulary and thinking, ‘Here are the words — what do I know about the question?’” Rose said. “I’ve seen the lightbulbs come on for them when trying to decide which operation to use to solve the problem.”

She told her students they would be doing Rockin’ Review activities so they could “rock the STAAR exam.” Her students loved the idea and said, “So we will be ‘Rock STAARS’!”

 

 

On the first day of review, Rose’s students played the Tic-Tac-Tally game in teams of two or three, matching words and math diagrams from x’s and o’s cards to vocabulary terms on the game’s grid mat.

Before playing, Rose asked students what it means to be a good partner. Several shared that being kind and helping each other was important.

Cheers erupted when a team won a round of Tic-Tac-Tally. Several rounds followed so all teams had a chance to review and win.

Afterward, the class gathered on the colorful rug in front of the active board, where Rose reviewed the cards that had stumped students during gameplay. Volunteers explained the vocabulary terms in their own words, helping their peers better understand.

Thumbs Up

Students gave a big thumbs up to Rockin’ Review’s Tic-Tac-Tally game as a tool to prepare for the math STAAR. Additional review games will continue for the 10 days leading up to the assessment.

Rose is confident her students will do very well.

“The way you did the review today makes me so excited for you to get to show everyone how smart you are — what good problem-solvers you are — how you can think through a complex problem and reason it out,” Rose told her students. “You are so much smarter than I was when I was in third grade!”