ACCESS season can be stressful for newcomers in all grade levels, especially those who have never taken a similar test before. To make this experience more manageable, you can lean on classroom routines you already use. These strategies work with ACCESS and other language proficiency tests. Get Ready! and Get Reading! already mirror the same tasks, so you can turn familiar lessons into low-stakes practice.
Start by demystifying the test. Explain that it looks at how students listen, speak, read, and write so teachers can plan support, not judge them. Show a few sample items, then practice them in brief, low-stress chunks during lessons instead of long test prep blocks. Then, use the four language domains as your guide and turn familiar Get Ready! and Get Reading! lessons into low-stakes practice.
Listening
Choose a Get Reading! reader your class has finished and replay the audio. Have students listen once, then listen again and answer questions that match test format. Review key strategies using listening activities in every Get Ready! lesson.
Speaking
In Get Ready!, students revisit Video Virtual Chat activities in Connect to Language, Connect to Language in Action, and Connect to Grammar Communicate lessons. Use picture-based and turn-and-talk activities on Communicate pages.
Reading
In Get Ready!, review completed Connect to Reading activities. Have students reread passages from familiar Get Reading! titles, then complete the matching digital practice. Get Reading! comes in three levels (A, B, and C) for differentiation.
Writing
Get Ready! includes low-stakes writing throughout each unit so students write regularly. For test prep, focus on writing strategies, models, and prompts in Connect to Writing, since these most closely mimic language tests.
Make targeted use of assessments
Get Ready! also offers standards-tagged proficiency assessments that clearly show which skills students have mastered and which still need support. These assessments help teachers group students strategically, provide just-right practice, and track progress toward the skills emphasized on ACCESS and other language tests.
A note for SLIFE newcomers: These students may need smaller steps. Let them listen with a partner, join choral or echo speaking, choose or point before writing, and use one sentence frame at a time.
Before test day, build a weekly routine that mirrors the test: Have students listen, read, speak with a partner, and write a short response. Use digital Proficiency Assessments on vhlcentral to familiarize them with the test format and turn Get Ready! Sail and Soar, Get Ready! 6-8 and 9-12, and Get Reading! work into authentic practice for testing and everyday classroom language.
By Katalyn Vidal Loveless
Also read:
4 Simple Ways to Reset Newcomer Routines After Winter Break with Get Ready!
