Sample

Boot Camp for STAAR End of Course: Better STAAR scores

in one day!

How Boot Camps work:

MasteryPrep’s STAAR Boot Camps are half-day events designed to increase the number of your students scoring Meet and Master on the STAAR assessment.

Each Boot Camp focuses on a single subject and provides students the review and motivation they need to put their best foot forward on test day. You’ve worked all year to build student competence on the TEKS standards. The Boot Camps help your students connect what they’ve learned in school to how those skills will be assessed on the new STAAR test.

Each Boot Camp is led by a MasteryPrep-certified instructor who will arm your students with the tips, strategies, and reasoning skills they need to succeed on test day.

In just three hours, students will:

• Review the most heavily tested standards

• Learn test-taking and guessing strategies

• Avoid trap answers and acclimate to the new technologyenabled test items

• Discuss how to overcome test anxiety and properly prep for testing

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Solving Linear Equations Preview

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

Enter your answer in the box.

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

A coach is ordering lunch for his team. He can choose any combination of sandwiches and cheeseburgers for the lunch offering, and he does not want to spend more than $40. If sandwiches cost $5 each and cheeseburgers cost $4 each, which inequality represents all possible combinations of x sandwiches and y cheeseburgers?

The value of y varies directly with x. If x = 5, then y = 40. What is the value of x when y = 280?

Boot Camp for STAAR Algebra I | Solving Linear Equations

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Solving Linear Equations | Boot Camp for STAAR Algebra I

Desmos: The Algebra I MVP

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion.

Solving Equations With Desmos

Whenever you need to solve an equation with one variable, you can use Desmos. Here’s how:

1. Set the left side of the equation equal to y

2. Set the right side of the equation equal to y on a new line.

3. Find the intersection. The x-coordinate is the correct answer.

What is the solution to 5 – 3(m – 10) = 2(10 – m)?

Enter your answer in the box.

12 Desmos: The Algebra I MVP

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Distribution Done Right

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion.

Negative Paranoia: When you see subtraction or negatives in a question, double-check every step to make sure you don’t forget about the negatives.

Solving Equations With Distribution

Whenever you need to solve an equation using distribution, here’s how:

1. Copy the equation to your scratch paper or notepad.

2. Draw arrows to visualize the distribution.

3. Distribute.

4. Collect like terms and solve.

Show your work for question 1 below.

Distribution Done Right 13

Boot Camp for STAAR Algebra I | Solving Linear Equations

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

SECTION 2 CELLS

Boot Camp for STAAR Biology

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Cells | Boot Camp for STAAR Biology

Cells Preview

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

A student uses the following objects to make a model of a cell:

• A marble to represent the nucleus

• A rubber band to represent the cell membrane

• Dry rice to represent ribosomes

• Pieces of yarn to represent RNA

Which material should NOT be included in a model of a prokaryotic cell?

A. Marble (nucleus)

B. Rubber band (cell membrane)

C. Dry rice (ribosomes)

D. Pieces of yarn (RNA)

10 Cells Preview

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

A model of the interaction between two cellular processes is shown below.

What products are produced at each phase of the interaction?

Write the name of the correct product in each box in the figure below.

The events of the cell cycle are divided into distinct phases. Which phase of the cell cycle involves one cell dividing into two identical daughter cells?

A. G1

B. G2

C. S

D. M

Organelle II

Organelle I

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Cells | Boot Camp for STAAR Biology

Breaking Down Enzymes

Instructions

Add arrows in the blank boxes to complete the diagram.

The #1 Thing to Remember

Enzymes can only “unlock” specific substrates.

Enzyme reactions are different from typical chemical reactions.

Chemical Reactions

Reactants → Products

Enzyme Reactions

Enzyme + Substrates → Enzyme-Substrate Complex → Enzyme + Products

The Lock and Key Mechanism

Representations of enzyme reactions give momentary pause in the middle to highlight the complex that is formed before moving on to the products.

18 Breaking Down Enzymes

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Boot Camp for STAAR Biology | Cells

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion. Circle the correct answer.

An enzyme catalyzes a chemical reaction with a substrate as shown below.

Enzyme

Which of the following most correctly depicts the products AFTER the chemical reaction?

Breaking Down Enzymes 19

A. C.

Substrate

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Cells | Boot Camp for STAAR Biology

Respiration and Photosynthesis. Big Words. Big Energy. Big Mood.

Instructions

Fill in the diagram as your instructor leads the discussion.

The mitochondria and chloroplasts are like cousins. They’re sort of related in that they both deal with energy, but they look different and have different priorities.

YOU are mighty, like the mitochondria.

IN OUT

20 Respiration and Photosynthesis. Big Words. Big Energy. Big Mood.

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Boot Camp for STAAR Biology | Cells

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion. Rewrite each term in the correct box.

A model of the interaction between two cellular processes is shown below.

What products are produced at each phase of the interaction?

Write the name of the correct product in each box in the figure below.

Respiration and Photosynthesis. Big Words. Big Energy. Big Mood. 21

Organelle II

Organelle

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

SECTION 2

LITERARY TEXTS

Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Literary Texts Preview

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

from American Cake

by Alexi Petrov

1 You must concede that the stars in foreign places are larger than the stars in Russia. I really don’t have to mention the shooting stars, telescopes, astronomy, and the like. Only this cake, not that important, really. How do the Americans make such cakes? Such shiny plastic wrapping, and the vanilla ones are so white, the chocolate ones so shiny, dark, paint-like, as if made of wax. They really exist, but appear so manufactured.

2 Not to boast or anything, but as a photographer at a local magazine, the first time I laid eyes on an American snack cake was in a foreign newspaper ad in our company’s reference library. It appeared to be a grocery store with stacks of cakes carefully arranged, a stack of vanilla cakes, then a stack of chocolate cakes, then another stack of vanilla cakes, on and on, reaching out like a huge sea serpent. Especially the vanilla cakes, they looked so white, so shockingly white, that there wasn’t any hint of other flavors in them.

3 In this place we call home where everyone loves to chase after anything trendy, all sorts of foreign sweets fill up grocery market aisles, but the ones people go the craziest for are the American snack cakes. The appearance of American snack cakes increased the agony in my heart. I felt like a childish boy struggling with an unrequited crush, who, despite his raging desire, could not bring himself to do anything more daring than sneak clandestine glances at his darling from a distance. For a hundred times I allowed my artist’s imagination to dream freely and delighted in my thoughts of how delicious and sweet American snack cakes would taste, but I refused to get close to them. One American snack cake for 100 rubles, twice as much as a whole case of the local vanilla “Polyot” cakes. Not that my pockets cannot afford an occasional American cake. It’s only that I didn’t wish to throw away my money on these trendy foreign things.

4 One afternoon I took my son shopping. Of the many thousands of products on display in the huge shopping center, his heart was set on the American snack cakes alone. And he refused to give me a break until I bought one. I pulled out all the tricks I had to redirect his obsession and even bought him his favorite Mindal pudding, Bird’s Milk cake, and rugelach bites, but none caught his eye. He sulked unhappily the entire next day and night and didn’t wish to speak to me at all. When he woke up the following morning, he still had not let it go. I had never experienced such hardheadedness for so long in my son, even at his young age. I felt stunned. These vanilla American snack cakes had such a frightening appeal to our young kids.

5 I guessed, no matter how I cut it, I shouldn’t have refused my son and discouraged his burgeoning curiosity about the mysteries of life. To put it another way, I should have allowed my son to see what the American snack cake tasted like. So I kept my nose to the grindstone for a week, sold some more photographs, made a little more money, and rushed to the shopping center. There I used a two-hundred-ruble bill and purchased two American snack cakes from a youthful, ever-grinning sales clerk. When I returned home with the two cakes, my son bounced with excitement, but he didn’t immediately rip open the plastic wrapping.

Literary Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Rather, he put the cakes next to his brown bear, his favorite toy. At night before going to sleep, he would take one final glance and touch the snack cake’s wrapping in his hand with care. I asked: Why won’t you eat them? I’ll get you more if you love them that much. He would sigh deeply, his eyes still glued to the deliciously wrapped cakes. He couldn’t bring himself to unwrap the cakes that he thought looked so perfect in their plastic packaging.

6 A few days later, after finishing a serious business proposal, the clients gave all of the veteran employees an elegant gift box, each holding four pristinely-wrapped American snack cakes. I felt so excited about the gift, which felt so precious in my hands. At my encouragement, my son eventually surrendered and decided to eat a cake. My son’s enthusiastic eyes watched me carefully as I gently pulled open the shiny plastic wrap of the snack cake with my fingers, almost ceremoniously, but I still felt like I was breaking a rule.

7 I had anticipated my son would bounce with excitement again, but at only the first bite, he stiffened, a confused look in his bright eyes. He smacked his lips a couple of times as if unsure of his sense of taste. Then, with obvious unhappiness, he slid the plate across the table: How come it tastes like this?

8 I ate a bite and my forehead creased immediately too. Certainly it tasted like cardboard compared to our vanilla “Polyot” cakes.

9 So we set the elegant box of American snack cakes aside uneaten and forgot they existed for some time. When we remembered them again after all that time, the cakes inside eerily hadn’t changed at all.

Read the dictionary entry.

concede \kən-’sēd\ v

1. recognize the superiority of an opponent in a game or match 2. give up grudgingly or hesitantly 3. accept as valid or true 4. grant as an honor or right

Which definition best matches the word concede as it is used in paragraph 1?

A. Definition 1

B. Definition 2

C. Definition 3

D. Definition 4 1

Read this quotation from paragraph 4.

He sulked unhappily the entire next day and night and didn’t wish to speak to me at all. When he woke up the following morning, he still had not let it go.

What does this quote from paragraph 4 convey about the narrator’s son?

A. He will continue to ignore his father until he gets a cake.

B. He’s sad that he will never have an American snack cake of his own.

C. He feels resentful of his father for not purchasing a cake for him.

D. He spends his days and nights deep in thought about how to raise funds for a cake.

Boot Camp for STAAR English I | Literary Texts

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Cut the Drama and Clutter

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion.

When the question gives you the quote, it’s counting on you to be lazy. Why bother going back to the passage if it’s already in front of you, right? Wrong! Take time to go back and reread the whole paragraph where the sentence shows up.

You’ll also commonly see the same kinds of traps in these question types:

• The Dramatic One, which goes way overboard and outside of what the passage actually says.

• The Recycled Words, which repeat words or phrases from the quotation in an inaccurate way.

Read this quotation from paragraph 4.

He sulked unhappily the entire next day and night and didn’t wish to speak to me at all. When he woke up the following morning, he still had not let it go.

What does this quote from paragraph 4 convey about the narrator’s son?

A. He will continue to ignore his father until he gets a cake.

B. He’s sad that he will never have an American snack cake of his own.

C. He feels resentful of his father for not purchasing a cake for him.

D. He spends his days and nights deep in thought about how to raise funds for a cake.

14 Cut the Drama and Clutter

Boot Camp for STAAR English I | Literary Texts

Literary Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Literary Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Predict the Future

Instructions

Refer to the question below as your instructor leads the discussion.

When you see answer choices full of italicized text, you know you’re about to be quizzed on text evidence. Instead of diving straight into the answer choices, answer the question for yourself. What do you think? Use what you come up with to eliminate bad answers.

Which sentence best explains the narrator’s resistance to buying the American cakes?

Predict the Future:

A. I had anticipated my son would bounce with excitement again, but at only the first bite, he stiffened, a confused look in his bright eyes. (paragraph 7)

B. In this place we call home where everyone loves to chase after anything trendy, all sorts of foreign sweets fill up grocery market aisles, but the ones people go the craziest for are the American snack cakes. (paragraph 3)

C. Such shiny plastic wrapping, and the vanilla ones are so white, the chocolate ones so shiny, dark, paint-like, as if made of wax. (paragraph 1)

D. It’s only that I didn’t wish to throw away my money on these trendy foreign things. (paragraph 3)

Predict the Future 15

Boot Camp for STAAR English I | Literary Texts

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Boot Camp for STAAR English I | Literary Texts

Test Run

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

In 1932, Joseph Stalin was the communist leader of Russia, and he suppressed all political opposition to increase his control. During this time, many Russian citizens were imprisoned or killed. In the following excerpt, Demitri Radcensky contemplates a memory of his grandmother from this period.

from Twice as Strong: Living in Two Cities

by Demitri Radcensky

1 Each night when I would twist and turn trying to fall asleep, I would feel plagued by visions of my grandmother floating above me. I would picture her in my ten-year-old’s imagination as a refined older woman during the toughest years of Stalin’s reign: Winter 1932.

2 My grandmother kept an assortment of traditional Russian “aristocratic arts”: quills from empires of old, nesting dolls painted by renowned artists, prized fur hats, bear-bone hairbrushes, and exquisite books of poetry. For three months before I was moved from our family home in Moscow, every evening before she fell asleep, my grandmother would take these items gently out of their protective bags and inspect them. She would handle them carefully, as if they were beloved childhood friends. Then she would choose one item to leave on the dresser next to her bed. The next morning, an expression of misery covering her normally peaceful face, she would venture into the city of Moscow and sell it for a trifle.

3 Stalin’s Red Army had closed down the local grocery stores and taken over the food supply for the city. Every family was provided with limited amounts of flour, vegetable oil, potatoes, salt, and meat. Sometimes that wasn’t sufficient to feed every person in our family. Some grocers were selling food in the underground market because they couldn’t make enough money to take care of their families. As a middle-class family, we had consistently enough money to feed ourselves. But in that time, food was becoming scarce. My grandmother understood that if she wasn’t prepared to let go of her cherished heirlooms, her loved ones would starve. She steeled herself, knowing that the loss would ache.

4 Every evening when my grandmother set aside the treasured antiques she hoped to sell the following morning, she would explain to me why she cared for them. One evening, she took out a Russian nesting doll that was painted by a distinguished Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. As she shared with me the tale of how she’d gotten the doll—it was a present from her dear father, who had put in a lot of effort to get it for her fifteenth birthday—she laid her fingers on it delicately. Then she unscrewed the middle and removed the top, revealing another nesting doll underneath that twinkled like pixie dust.

5 Another night, my grandmother talked with me before bed and took out a delicate silver necklace from underneath her collar as she spoke. Even though it was a plain, unremarkable chain of silver, she had fiddled with it so much that it had taken on an aged, tarnished appearance.

6 “One time, a long time ago,” my grandmother described, “I was strolling down the sidewalk when I was mesmerized by a one-armed man playing the balalaika”—a traditional Russian folk music instrument. “Around two hundred women were circled about to listen, so I paused as well. The onearmed man’s playing was bewitching. Once he completed his tune, I gave him some coins, assuming I would be on my way. But the musician started pulling at my cloak.

Literary Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

7 “’I wish to offer you this silver necklace,’ the one-armed man said. ‘Will you purchase it from me? I need the income to support my family.’

8 “’No, I don’t need another necklace,’ I responded, declining the one-armed man’s offer. I murmured good-day and hurried off.

9 “The next morning, I ran into the same musician strumming. Once more, I felt bewitched by his tune and paused to hear it. Once more, the one-armed man tugged at my cloak and urged me to purchase his silver necklace, but I declined.

10 “It continued like this morning after morning. Finally, on the sixth morning, when the one-armed man pleaded with me to buy the necklace so he could help his family, I gave in. I think I paid much more than its actual value because I turned out my pockets and handed the one-armed man all my coins. But it wasn’t about the quality of the necklace. I merely felt inspired to help this kind soul who played such heavenly music. I hoped that he would be able to feed his children.”

11 My grandmother exhaled seriously. “Soon, I’ll trade this necklace to a moneylender for maybe fifty rubles—around one-hundredth what I got it for. What brings me the most heartache is not the price. It’s that I’ll be trading my good luck charm. After all, from that morning on after I bought the silver necklace, I’ve worn it under my collar and touched it to bring our family good fortune. That’s how it has gotten this tarnished finish.”

12 In that instant, my grandmother’s mouth broke into a gut-wrenching smile. “At the same time, it feels right, anyhow. Purchasing this necklace was how I one time helped a man protect his family. Now, in trading it, I’ll be protecting my own family. I suppose this silver necklace has accomplished what I wanted it to.”

Read the dictionary entry. trifle /’trīf(ə)l/ n

1. a British dessert made of cake, custard, and jelly 2. a thing of little importance 3. minimal value or price 4. senseless talk or writing

Which definition best matches the word trifle as it is used in paragraph 2?

A. Definition 1

B. Definition 2

C. Definition 3

D. Definition 4

Read this quotation from paragraph 4.

As she shared with me the tale of how she’d gotten the doll—it was a present from her dear father, who had put in a lot of effort to get it for her fifteenth birthday—she laid her fingers on it delicately.

Why does the author include this detail about how the narrator’s grandmother acquired the doll?

A. To show that her father paid a lot of money for the doll

B. To highlight the reason why the doll was so precious to her

C. To explain why she was guaranteed to get a good price when she decided to sell it

D. To share the story about the time she met a famous Russian author

Literary Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English I

Boot Camp for STAAR English I | Literary Texts

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

TEXTS

Boot Camp for STAAR English II

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Informational Texts Preview

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

The Power of Music

by Elena Curtis

1 The opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony makes up perhaps the most recognized introduction in modern music. Four notes, short-short-short-long, create a powerful rhythmic sequence that introduces the piece with ominous intensity. As the violins follow with rising arpeggios, the woodwinds, horns, and trumpets join in, helping the violins carry the melody, until finally leading back to the famous motif: “da-da-da-duuuum.”

2 Listening to the opening movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, critics have described it as the sound of fate knocking at your door. German Romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann was deeply affected by the first performance; he described “radiant beams” of light and “gigantic shadows ... rocking back and forth” in his account. But these are just four musical notes, and the piece consists only of combinations of sound, or changing rhythms. So what’s happening here? Music must have a certain type of power to cause the listener to experience such strong emotions when hearing particular arrangements of notes. Well, as it turns out, there is a certain power, but it’s not in the music itself. It’s in the brains of audiences who hear it.

Total Immersion

3 Dr. Sara Wong, of the University of Indiana and author of Mind and Music, explains that music feels especially transcendent when we experience it live in a concert venue. “When the performers begin to play,” she explains, “you forget your surroundings. The music takes you away from your normal life.” In our daily routines, our brains are like searchlights, busy turning their focus on our surroundings, and seeking out those stimuli that are worthy of our attention or investigation: a flashing sign, a ringing doorbell. This is called the filtering process, and it simply means the way that the brain selects what we react to. But as the audience settles into their seats, and the performers begin to play, we stop scanning with our searchlights and immerse ourselves in the music. Melodies, chord progressions, dissonance, and resolution— these are all compositional elements that create a narrative and draw us into the piece.

4 As the performance continues, we are swept along by the music: the details of studying and work and chores fade away. We are no longer aware of our bodies, we don’t think about our surroundings, we are immersed in the music and its soundscape. Psychologists refer to activities like listening to music as “escapism”: when we seek out experiences that require deep attention without the constant need for searchlights, the brain’s filters, to find and respond to new input. We feel magically transported to a different world. This is why humans enjoy music: it’s as if your brain is drifting through outer space.

Informational Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English II

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Boot Camp for STAAR English II | Informational Texts

In Sync With the Music

5 But music has other effects on us too: when we engage with it, our mood actually shifts. “Music has varying rhythms and frequencies,” Wong points out, “that our brains react to. Neurons in our brains typically fire at different speeds—some are faster and some are slower—and these rates are associated with different moods; interestingly, music can actually cause these neurons to synchronize, which then results in a change to our mood.” Our bodies respond to the beats of music in other ways, too, like by increasing blood flow to our legs, causing the urge to tap our feet in time with the music, which helps our brains make sense of the rhythmic patterns. It’s like we are trying to join the orchestra. Neuroscientists and music therapists call this the “motor theory of perception,” and because of it, the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth actually energize us, and we become invested in where the symphony is going.

6 But there are other processes going in the brain at the same time too. Just like a suspenseful book can keep you up late reading, eagerly trying to find out what happens to the characters and whether you’ve guessed correctly, the patterns in music tell a story, and your brain can’t wait to figure out what will happen next. “Musical information is constantly being interpreted by your auditory cortex and your frontal lobes,” Wong says. “And as your brain builds its interpretation, it tries to predict what is coming up.” And when a prediction is correct, the brain releases dopamine, a chemical messenger that makes us feel satisfied. “We experience suspense and resolution,” Wong explains, “because of the way the brain anticipates and rewards fulfillment.” That is, the longer we wait for our brain’s expected outcome, the more intense the reaction. As the dissonant chord finally resolves to the harmony we wanted, dopamine is triggered, and we experience a tingle of pleasure or chills of excitement. Music may be abstract, but our reactions to it are both mental and physical.

Active Listening

7 Unfortunately, the potency of the emotions that music inspires in us, and the resulting satisfaction we get from hearing it, may in fact be decreasing. This is because of the way we listen to it. On our phones, or on our computers, music is easily accessible. But listening on these devices reduces music’s power because the music becomes secondary: it’s easy to do other things while the music is streaming in the background. And at the same time, we are pestered with interruptions: ads loudly breaking up songs, the insistent buzz of an incoming message. The concert hall is engineered to keep out those distractions, and when it does so, our listening experience is greatly enhanced. “If you’re not actively listening to music,” Wong says, “you’re not tapping into its full effects.” Passively listening to background music might be easy, but it’s not a rich experience. Certainly we owe ourselves a better experience, and we owe it to Beethoven too.

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Define, Define, Define

Instructions

The STAAR test will challenge you will all kinds of vocabulary questions, usually at least once per passage. Use the Plug In strategy to test each option and find the best match.

Melodies, chord progressions, dissonance, and resolution—these are all compositional elements that create a narrative and draw us into the piece.

In Sync With the Music

5 But music has other effects on us too: when we engage with it, our mood actually shifts.

NOTES

In paragraph 4, what does the word escapism mean?

A. Fleeing danger

B. Retreating from reality

C. Unhealthy isolation

D. Avoiding problems

24 Define, Define, Define

Informational Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English II

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Read Between the Lines

Instructions

Refer to the information below as your instructor leads the discussion.

When making an inference based on a passage, it’s all about the evidence.

No Evidence = No Answer

Beethoven’s Fifth actually energize us, and we become invested in where the symphony is going.

Active Listening

7 Unfortunately, the potency of the emotions that music inspires in us, and the resulting satisfaction we get from hearing it, may in fact be decreasing.

Based on paragraph 6, with which statement would the author most likely agree?

A. The power of music overrides the preconceived ideas of the listener.

B. Listening to music enhances the filtering process, bringing listeners in tune with their surroundings.

C. Music has such a powerful effect because it impacts the brain’s tendency to predict an outcome based on incoming information.

D. The increasing availability of music has increased its influence on our thought processes.

Read Between the Lines 25

Boot Camp for STAAR English II | Informational Texts

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Read Between the Lines

Instructions

Refer to the information below as your instructor leads the discussion.

When making an inference based on a passage, it’s all about the evidence.

No Evidence = No Answer

Beethoven’s Fifth actually energize us, and we become invested in where the symphony is going.

Active Listening

7 Unfortunately, the potency of the emotions that music inspires in us, and the resulting satisfaction we get from hearing it, may in fact be decreasing.

Based on paragraph 6, with which statement would the author most likely agree?

A. The power of music overrides the preconceived ideas of the listener.

B. Listening to music enhances the filtering process, bringing listeners in tune with their surroundings.

C. Music has such a powerful effect because it impacts the brain’s tendency to predict an outcome based on incoming information.

D. The increasing availability of music has increased its influence on our thought processes.

Read Between the Lines 25

Boot Camp for STAAR English II | Informational Texts

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Informational Texts | Boot Camp for STAAR English II

Literary Texts Reboot

Instructions

Identify common trap answers to improve the process of elimination as you answer the following question.

Neuroscientists and music therapists call this the “motor theory of perception,” and because of it, the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth actually energize us, and we become invested in where the symphony is going.

Active Listening

7 Unfortunately, the potency of the emotions that music inspires in us, and the resulting satisfaction we get from hearing it, may in fact be decreasing.

Read this sentence from paragraph 6.

The longer we wait for our brain's expected outcome, the more intense the reaction.

How does this sentence support the central idea of the article?

A. It shows that the brain reacts positively when music is different than predicted.

B. It argues that individuals should listen to a variety of music.

C. It provides further details about the powerful effects of listening to music.

D. It explains why people wait to listen to music in a passive setting.

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

SECTION 2

HISTORY

Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

History Preview

Instructions

Complete the quiz. If time remains, check your answers.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

—Ninth Amendment

Which of the following best explains the purpose of the Ninth Amendment?

A. To designate rights for the federal government

B. To protect the rights of the people

C. To ensure the separation of state and federal governments

D. To protect the right to due process

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

The Country to Country Music Festival, also known as C2C, is an annual American country music festival that has been held in various countries in Europe, as well as Australia, for the past decade. It has become known as one of the premier venues for country music outside of the United States, attracting tens of thousands of fans.

Which conclusion is best supported by this passage?

A. Musical artists from other countries are becoming popular in the United States.

B. Country music is the world’s most popular musical genre.

C. American music is primarily derived from the music of immigrants.

D. American culture is diffused to the rest of the world through music. 2

History | Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

They joined the military as part of the World War II effort to defeat totalitarian regimes based on myths of racial and national superiority. These African American men and women were well aware of the large irony built into the fact that they were serving in racially segregated units.

"African Americans: Pioneers," Library of Congress, www.loc.gov (accessed December 23, 2022)

How did the United States government address the irony described in this excerpt?

A. By enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education ruling against “separate but equal” treatment

B. By enacting a law to guarantee voting rights for all American citizens

C. By issuing an executive order to integrate the armed forces

D. By passing a constitutional amendment to forbid all racial discrimination

Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History | History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Just the Facts?

Instructions

Refer to the questions below as your instructor leads the discussion.

Option 1

Which of the following quotations appears in the Declaration of Independence?

A. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

B. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

C. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

D. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

—Ninth Amendment

Which of the following best explains the purpose of the Ninth Amendment?

A. To designate rights for the federal government

B. To protect the rights of the people

C. To ensure the separation of state and federal governments

D. To protect the right to due process

Option 2

History | Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Process of Elimination

Instructions

Use the process of elimination to answer the question below.

The Process of Elimination

There are more wrong answers than right ones. Focus on picking out the ones you know are wrong, with the goal of narrowing your options down to just one: the right one.

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Which conclusion is best supported by this passage?

A. Musical artists from other countries are becoming popular in the United States.

B. Country music is the world’s most popular musical genre.

C. American music is primarily derived from the music of immigrants.

D. American culture is diffused to the rest of the world through music.

Process of Elimination 15

Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History | History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Quote Me on That

Instructions

Underline key words and dates in the quotation below that can help you answer the question.

Mine Quotes for Clues

As you review a quote or excerpt, focus on:

Capitals: names, places, eras, titles of legislation, major events, etc.

Numbers: specific years that appear in the quote, but watch out for traps in the attribution

Key Words: anything that jumps out as familiar

When you are unsure of how to answer the question, think back to the era. What do you remember about that topic? Use the process of elimination to narrow your options.

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

"African Americans: Pioneers," Library of Congress, www.loc.gov (accessed December 23, 2022)

How did the United States government address the irony described in this excerpt?

A. By enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education ruling against “separate but equal” treatment

B. By enacting a law to guarantee voting rights for all American citizens

C. By issuing an executive order to integrate the armed forces

D. By passing a constitutional amendment to forbid all racial discrimination

16 Quote Me on That

History | Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History

It’s Giving Era Vibes

Instructions

Refer to the information below as your instructor leads the discussion.

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

If You Time It Right

Instructions

Use the decade timeline to answer the next three questions.

This photograph was taken in Washington, D.C., in 1967. Select ONE correct answer in each box to complete each sentence.

This crowd wanted the United States government to stop . This protest occurred during a period of public unrest caused by the segregating schools sending troops overseas raising taxes Vietnam War Cold War Great Depression

Leffler, Warren K, photographer. Large crowd at a National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam direct action demonstration, Washington, D.C. / WKL. Washington D.C, 1967. [21 Oct] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2015647173/.

History | Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History

Boot Camp for the STAAR Workbook

Which factor directly contributed to the outbreak of World War I?

A. The growth of nationalism throughout Europe

B. Economic hardship resulting from the Great Depression

C. Unprecedented technological improvements to manufacturing processes

D. Increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States

Newspaper Illustrations, 1959

6 Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 19 Feb. 1959. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1959-02-19/ed-1/seq-29/>

Source: The Library of Congress

These illustrations demonstrate —

A. the rationing necessary to conserve supplies for war

B. the spread of counterculture among the nation’s youth

C. the hardships caused by an economic depression

D. the rise of consumer culture during an economic boom

Boot Camp for STAAR U.S. History | History

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