Dear Parents,
The next six weeks are extremely important. In two weeks, on March 31st, we will have our first STAAR test. The first two testing days are dedicated to the Writing portion of the test. With that in mind, we will be focusing the next two weeks of instruction mainly on Revising/Editing and Narrative/Expository Writing. The following are questions that students should be able to answer when asked in conversation.
How many paragraphs are in a narrative paper vs. an expository paper?
What is a thesis statement used for?
What is a hook/setting lead?
What does MINTS stand for?
What is a compound sentence, and how do you create one?
What are transitional phrases? Give some examples.
What is a topic sentence used for?
What is the last paragraph of any paper called and what is it used for?
What is a supporting detail?
Over the next two weeks, we will focus a majority of our time on specific examples of these whole group and then giving the students an opportunity to work on their own. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT STUDENTS ARE PREPARED EVERY DAY WITH SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH.
Sight words:
fin- ending
de- from, away, opposite
-en the action of doing
deflate
|
delete
|
detach
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deconstruct
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sharpen
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moisten
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tighten
|
lengthen
|
final
|
finish
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finale
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finalist
|
On the back of this page, I have listed several different skills that are required for both the revising and editing sections of the Writing STAAR as well as a sample so that you can see how students are labeling these questions. Please expect some forms of this to come home for homework in the next two weeks.
STAAR PREPARATION
REVISING (The following are examples of questions asked in the revising section of the test. The skill is including in parentheses.)
Which transitional phrase could BEST be added to paragraph 2? (Transitional Phrases)
What is the BEST way to combine sentences 13 and 14? (Combining Sentences)
Tyler wants to add a closing sentence to his paper. Which could BEST follow sentence 40 and bring the paper to a close? (Final thought/Concluding Statement)
Tyler wants to add a topic sentence to paragraph 4. Which could BEST be used before sentence 16? (Topic Sentences)
Tyler would like to add the following detail to the second paragraph. Where should he add this sentence? (Supporting Detail)
Malcolm wants to use a more accurate word than things in sentence 3. Which of the following could BEST be used to replace this word? (Word Choice)
Malcolm wants to add another detail to the fifth paragraph. Which sentence belongs in this paragraph and could BEST follow sentence 20? (Word Choice)
EDITING (All editing questions are asked using the following sentence stem)
What change, if any, should be made in sentence _____?
Students are supposed to label the question as follows:
What change, if any, should be made in sentence 17?
change runing to running
change lifeschool elementary to Lifeschool Elementary
add a quotation mark after here!
make no change
Please note that students should not choose answer choice D until they have shown their work and proven every other answer choice incorrect.
