← Teacher Printables

Elementary Science Visual Cue Cards

Elementary Science Visual Cue Cards — visual cue cards for grades 3–5 that help students retrieve what they already learned for grade 5 science: matter and energy, force/motion/energy, earth and space, and organisms and environments. Mnemonics, diagrams, and picture cues. Print-friendly, free to share, and adapt for your classroom. Free to use, print, share, and adapt.

Classroom and Review Resource

Classroom and Review Resource

These visual cue cards are designed primarily for classroom instruction, intervention, retrieval practice, and review. They should not be assumed to qualify as supplemental aids during a STAAR assessment.

Texas has specific requirements governing supplemental aids used as designated supports. Student eligibility, routine use, documentation, the format of the aid, and local approval requirements must all be considered.

Before using any resource from this collection during a state assessment, review the current Texas Education Agency accessibility guidance and consult your district or campus testing coordinator.

Meeting the format requirements for a supplemental aid does not make a resource automatically allowable for every student.

Five ways to use them

  1. Spiral grades 3–5 — build the vocabulary and pictures early so grade 5 review is recall, not re-teach.
  2. Make abstract ideas visible — the water cycle, circuits, and food chains as one clear diagram.
  3. Anchor each reporting category — a picture sticks when a paragraph doesn't.
  4. Support intervention & stations — one card per concept for small groups and tutoring.
  5. Build the cue during instruction — introduce visual cues during teaching, retrieval practice, intervention, and classroom assessment so students learn to use them independently.

The visual should help students retrieve an idea they already understand — not replace the understanding. Routine classroom use alone does not make a resource allowable during STAAR: test-day use is a separate decision governed by current TEA eligibility, documentation, format, and local approval requirements.

For STAAR Testing

A future set of aids designed to follow current TEA supplemental-aid format guidance is coming later. Final student eligibility and use remain subject to current TEA and local testing requirements.

Testing guidance reviewed: September 2026