The Common Core Companion Test-Readiness Survival Kit - Grade-Specific Sample Passages and Questions

Oct 3, 2026

A practical readiness resource for educators using The Common Core Companion series across K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. It frames “test readiness” rather than traditional test prep, emphasizing strategic preparation aligned with effective instruction and CCSS literacy goals. The kit highlights academic language and reading, writing, and thinking demands on ELA standardized assessments, offers explicit skill connections, and provides grade-specific PARCC and SBAC sample passages, questions, and guidance for periodic practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Getting Started Materials

Letter from Jim Burke and Leslie Blauman

Best Tips & Strategies for Developing Students’ Literacy Skills All Year (6–12)

Q&A: Test Preparation

Student Tip Sheet: Top 5 Strategies for Dominating the SBAC/PARCC Tests

7 Top Frameworks for Accessing a Text’s Ideas

Student Tip Sheet: Reading Closely and Testing Efficiently

A Lesson Structure for Teaching Academic Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary, Grades 3–5: Key Words and Phrases

Academic Vocabulary: What Do Kids in Grades 6–12 Need to Know?

How to Turn Up the Volume on Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills

Graphic Organizers That Warm Up Cold Reads

PARCC TEST, Grades 3-5

PARCC Overview and Helpful Links, Grades 3–5

Answer Keys: PARCC Grades 3–5

SBAC TEST, Grades 3-5

SBAC Overview and Helpful Links, Grades 3–5

Answer Keys: SBAC Grades 3–5

PARCC and SBAC, Grades 6-8

Answer Key Grades 6–8

PARCC and SBAC, Grade 11

Answer Key: Grade 11

Dear Colleague: Welcome to The Common Core Companion Test-Readiness Survival Kit. This collection of free resources is designed for educators who have been using one or more books from The Common Core Companion series, published for Grades K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. The most important thing to recognize first about this collection is what it is not. It is not test prep. It’s test readiness.“Prep” has too much baggage, too many “bad practices,” and test industry profits associated with it. (We know, we know, ELA teachers always get so whipped up about connotation.) Test readiness, on the other hand, comes closer to our intention here: to help you be strategic in how you get your students ready to take standardized tests in general, and the CCSS’s PARCC or SBAC in particular, and still stay true to what we know about effective instruction. The Common Core Companion series underscores that the Standards may be the high jump, but it’sthe intellectually energizing teaching you do all year that gives students the stamina to leap over the standards. Students succeed when they are fortunate enough to be taught in language-rich settings, in which teachers bring about high levels of reading, writing, and thinking through instructional and independent reading, discussion, and purposeful writing. That said, it’s good to be mindful of the comprehension and writing skills students will be expected to perform on these ELA tests, and make explicit connections between the “mind work” in our instruction and the cognitive demands of the tests. For example, can our students sequence events? Determine main idea? Recognize extraneous information? Compare and contrast text structures? Evaluate character change? The resources here help you focus your test-readiness plans on the academic language and literacy skills that are most critical to the CCSS assessments. Just as we wouldn’t send our students off to Italy without their knowing Italian, we shouldn’t send our students into these exams unfamiliar with their unique language and formats. So a big part of these resources is the grade-specific sample passages and questions based on PARCC and SBAC tests. We encourage you to share these with your students, and use them as the basis for talking through strategies for approaching each type of test item. Don’t wait until the last minute—it’s best done periodically over a longer stretch of weeks leading into the exams. When the tests are over? Keep on keeping on with your best-practice literacy instruction, and the satisfaction of knowing you and your students have given it your best shot. Jim Burke Leslie Blauman Copyright 2015 by Corwin. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Common Core Companion Test-Readiness Survival Kit. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, [www.corwin.com/thecommoncorecompanion. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization](www.corwin.com/thecommoncorecompanion. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization). Common Core Companion Getting Started Materials Letter from Jim Burke and Leslie Blauman 1 Best Tips & Strategies for Developing Students’ Literacy Skills All Year (6–12) 2 Q&A: Test Preparation 5 Student Tip Sheet: Top 5 Strategies for Dominating the SBAC/PARCC Tests 8 7 Top Frameworks for Accessing a Text’s Ideas 9 Student Tip Sheet: Reading Closely and Testing Efficiently 13 A Lesson Structure for Teaching Academic Vocabulary 16 Academic Vocabulary, Grades 3–5: Key Words and Phrases 18 Academic Vocabulary: What Do Kids in Grades 6–12 Need to Know? 24 How to Turn Up the Volume on Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills 27 Graphic Organizers That Warm Up Cold Reads 34 PARCC TEST, Grades 3-5 PARCC Overview and Helpful Links, Grades 3–5 50 Grade 3 Fictional Narrative Text: PARCC 54 Grade 3 Informational Text: PARCC 61 Grade 4 Fictional Narrative: PARCC 67 Grade 4 Informational Text: PARCC 75 Grade 5 Fictional Narrat

FAQs

What is the core purpose of the Common Core Companion Test-Readiness Survival Kit?

It helps educators prepare students for standardized ELA tests in a strategic way that stays consistent with effective instruction and CCSS literacy goals.

How does “test readiness” differ from traditional “test prep” in this kit?

“Test readiness” focuses on building academic language, literacy skills, and strategy practice rather than relying on approaches associated with common test-prep practices.

What resources does the kit provide for PARCC and SBAC preparation?

It includes grade-specific sample passages and questions aligned to PARCC and SBAC test formats, supported with guidance for discussing strategies with students over time.

Oct 3, 2026

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