I used TEKSas Target Practice as my daily morning math with my class for an entire academic year. My students were trained to immediately begin working on their morning math for the first 30 minutes everyday. After that, we would go over the answers together as they used a red pen to correct their own work while sharing and describing how they got the answers. As the TEKS updated, I taught mini-lessons so that my students would know how or why we got our answers. When my students took the TAKS test, I was not only very confident, but they all told me after the test, that it was very easy. When my scores came in, I had 88% of my students to make Commended. Out of the 88%, half of those made 100s and the other half missed it by only one question. The other 12% who did not score Commended, missed a total of 4-5 questions. I was very proud of this program and have suggested it to my entire team. This is the first time Ive ever had a 100% passing rate in math with such extremely high scores!!

Trulunda Howard
Hay Branch Elementary School Killeen, TX

My name is Sharon Shafer. I am a fifth grade teacher at Hempstead Elementary. I was first introduced to Lone Star Learning last year at the CAMT conference in San Antonio. At first, I was reluctant to use their products because I was a fan of a different program. A third grade teacher from my school finally talked me into trying the program. Thank you Lone Star Learning! This year my students went from barely passing TAKS to 95% passing with 41% Commended Performance! My 5th graders love using your TEKSas Target Practice program and it is very easy to implement. Thanks again!

Sharon Shafer
Hempstead ISD

Word of the Day - I just wanted to let you know we have gone through 124 of these words, so I decided to give them a test over all of those words, just out of curiosity. I have all 100s in my 1st period! This is amazing, because this word list has never gone home! The students are just reviewing it daily and weekly in class. You have made such a difference for my students and me! I cannot tell you how much you have improved my classes for my students and for me. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Melissa
Shallowater ISD

I am a second grade teacher in Virginia. We received one copy of the Target the Question math program to try out. At first I was skeptical about the program and thought it was just something else I had to find time for. As soon as I set up the bulletin board for the program it got the students attention. We began using Target the Question during the second week of school right after finishing morning calendar. After about three weeks of using the program every day the kids started enjoying it and I was starting to see results during our regular math period. Each morning when I plug in the overhead the kids know it is time to put on their critical thinking caps and do Target the Question. Depending on which day of the week it is I always review the question or information from the day before. Then we review the overhead transparency. I will ask a student to predict what they think the question for the day is. The children get very excited and want to see the question quickly. Following the steps of the program I put the question in the pocket I made on the bulletin board. Then I ask the kids to find the important information (numbers and clue words) needed to answer the question. I circle the information on the board from the transparency, and underline the clue words on the pocket. Then the students set to work writing their number sentences. Upon completion of the number sentence we write an explanatory statement about our answer. We have been doing this part as a group, and are working towards writing it independently. Because of this program my class has learned what a number sentence is, how to write one and why it is different from a regular sentence. They are also more in tune with the important information found in math stories or word problems. On our regular math practice pages I see them circling this information to help them solve the problem. My children are also very good at writing their own math stories, because we work with them every day now. I have told the curriculum coach at my school what a great program I think Target the Question is. Other teachers have (observed) Target the Question and really like the way that there are specific steps to follow for each problem. I think this program teaches children the strategies.

Kari Brewer

Target Vocabulary Set 1 - I will recommend this to every teacher I know! This was by far my favorite product I evaluated this year! Both my students and I loved this!!

- Teacher Tester
Learning Magazine

We use Seeing Science Structures in our classroom and it helped us tremendously! Our results from student testing went from 68% to 92% after successfully implementing Seeing Science Structures! Thanks for providing top of the line materials that really prepare our students to become independent, critical thinkers!

Teresa Khirallah, Campus Director
Peak Academy Preparatory, Dallas, TX

It is always exciting to review best practices for all students and encourage our special educators that TEKS based instruction can be accessible to students with disabilities.  We appreciate the structure, visual representation, and strategies embedded in your product design.  Thanks for your generosity and support!

Nichole Kertis, LOT
Austin, TX

My teachers love TEKSas Target Practice. We have been using your product for the past 4 years and my teachers feel that this is one reason we have had exemplary math scores on the TAKS test.

Melissa Mclntire
Principal
Frankston Elementary

Your products are of great benefit to our students.  We use TEKSas Target Practice in most grade levels as a warm up activity. It is the best way to cover all TEKS objectives. I am a Special Education teacher and I use it in resource daily.  What I like best is the teachable moments that TEKSas Target Practice offers when a student doesn’t get it.  I can immediately teach a mini lesson on that set. Way to go! I am ordering the Target Reading as a (Laungauge Arts) support.

Karie Eagleston
Special Education
Windsor Elementary

I was given sets 1 & 2 of the Target Vocabulary Pictures. I posted them all over the room, two years running! Any time a child had a question about a vocabulary word, I would point to the word as I explained it, thus hoping that seeing the picture while hearing the word would help them better understand the term. Even during my last TAKS test, I saw the children looking to the wall where the word had been posted when they encountered it on the test. Muscle memory and dual sensory introduction combined, hopefully, help bring the word to mind easier. That year our school went from “Unacceptable State Standard” to “Acceptable State Standard” and our goal is “Exceptional State Standard” for next year. I think the vocabulary pictures helped a lot! Thank You Lone Star Learning!

Joseph Mehring
6th Grade Math
Greenville ISD