Team Up for Great Writing Parent Night 3/06/2018 Presented by: Stacy Garcia

STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS (STAARTM) Grades 4 Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency

Grade 4 Writing Test Design Multiple-choice questions and Expository Prompt The students can work through the test in any order: composition first or multiple-choice questions first.

Revision and Editing Grade 4 Revision and editing assessed separately, with increased focus on revision as students become more experienced and skilled writers For Grade 4 : 8 Revision multiple choice questions and 16 Editing multiple choice questions 3 Types of questions “Change” , “Correct” and “Best”

STAAR Expository Prompts Expository prompts contain a stimulus and are scaffolded: Read, Think, Write, Be Sure to − Purpose: to help students “build” a concept of what they might write about and to provide students with important reminders that will help them be successful on the writing task

Expository Writing Prompts focus on issues/questions that don’t require students to bring particular background knowledge or facts to the table in order to write a good essay Task requires students to clearly explain what they think about something Students may use 1st person; in fact, prompts are written to elicit an explanatory response that reflects students’ own thinking about their lives and the world

Sample Prompt READ the information in the box below. In the movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” THINK about a place that is special to you. WRITE about your favorite place to spend time. Describe the place and explain what makes it special.   Here is an example of a prompt that could be found on STAAR. It’s important to read all aspects of the prompt. Now we’re going to practice how we can prewrite to generate ideas for this prompt.

Writing—What Drives Scoring ? RESPONSIVENESS to both the purpose and the topic Did they respond to the prompt? Did they respond to the narrative or expository purpose? Students must also use the appropriate organizing structure – expository. Students can’t be removed from the topic or adjacent to the topic – They must address the topic.

Writing—What Drives Scoring ? PROGRESSION/CONNECTIONS What isn’t required: a specific number of ideas or paragraphs What is required: moving logically from sentence to sentence and connecting ideas with meaningful transitions so that the reader can really (easily) follow the student’s train of thought Progression/connections are weakened when the student moves randomly from sentence to sentence does not use transitions or use them effectively to connect ideas We do not need multiple ideas…this is a snapshot. The more ideas you have, the less space you have to develop them.

Writing—What Drives Scoring ? FOCUS Must be focused on the central “charge” of the prompt (the “Write about”) An explicit, specific central idea is critical to a focused essay—the earlier in the paper, the better. Focus is weakened when the central idea is general or vague. The earlier in the paper that the central idea is communicated, the better. Some students have multiple ideas rather than a specific central idea, thus their paper is superficially developed.

Writing—What Drives Scoring ? PROGRESSION/CONNECTIONS The biggest problem we see when an essay is lacking in this area: clusters of ideas that are each linked to the prompt but not connected to each other a roadblock to substance/depth/thoughtfulness because the student does not “build” from one idea to the next Remember Unconnected ideas = superficial development Superficial development = a score of 2

Writing—What Drives Scoring ? DEVELOPMENT Given the space constraints of 26 lines, what makes the most sense: Narrow and deep development— fewer ideas with more depth better than more ideas with less depth Building meaning from one idea to the next—each idea enriched/enhanced by what came before it

Writing—What Drives Scoring Remember An effective essay requires both planning and revision!

Adjacent Scoring for STAAR Compositions will be scored using the “adjacent scoring” model by two scorers Perfect agreement does not have to be reached. With this method, districts will receive a more accurate description of each student’s writing performance.

Adjacent Scoring for STAAR

Reflection on Lower Scores Typical Problems in Lower-Scoring Responses Wrong organizational structure/form for purpose Weak, evolving, or nonexistent central idea/controlling idea Wasted space: repetition, wordiness, looping/meandering, meaningless introductions and conclusions, development that does not contribute (e.g., the “bed-to-bed” approach) Inclusion of too many different ideas for 1 page General/vague/imprecise use of language or inappropriate tone for purpose Essay poorly crafted Weak conventions

Reflections on Higher Scores Typical Strengths in Higher-Scoring Responses Strong match between structure/form and purpose Explicit central or controlling idea and sustained focus “Narrow and deep” development with no wasted words or space Think Quality over Quantity! Introduction and conclusion short but effective Specific use of language and appropriate tone for purpose Essay well crafted Strong conventions (Remember: “Strong” doesn’t mean “Perfect”!)

What’s Our Game Plan ?

Expository Graphic Organizer Beginning – Hook, Central Idea Closing Description/Definition Explanation of what/why Details/ Examples Details, Examples, Explanations Expository Graphic Organizer

Revising Substitute Take out Add Rearrange Unimportant information Vivid Verbs for tired verbs (whispered for said) Awesome Adjectives for boring adjectives ( ecstatic for happy) Specific words! Meaningful transitions for formulaic ( Not only… instead of next) Unimportant information Off topic information Repetition Meaningful transitions Similes Metaphors Idioms Onomatopoeia Catchy hook Thoughtful concluding sentence Specific details Real life experience Words Sentences Ideas Paragraphs Transitions

T-CUPS - Editing T – Title: Is it “catchy” or plain? Be sure the first letters are capitalized and that the title is underlined. C Capitalization: Check every single word. If it’s the beginning of a sentence, beginning of a quote, a proper noun, or part of the title, it SHOULD be capitalized! U Usage: Stick your fingers in your ears and “whisper” read your story. It is a GUARANTEED One Mistake Finder! P Punctuation: Darken in ALL punctuation marks while checking. (Do you have a quotation mark family?) S Spelling: Work backwards and look out for misused homophones! Examples are there, they’re and their; it’s and its; your and you’re

Mustang Revising & Editing Strategies For Objective Section 1. Read the entire passage. 2. Read question – Decide if it is a “Change”, “Correct”, or “BEST” question 3. Underline the sentence in the passage. Label it. 4. Read each answer choice. 5. Substitute each answer choice into the sentence. 6. Explain why each answer is or is not the right answer. (Prove it) 7. Choose the answer you think is correct. 8. Repeat 9. Review

Tips for Helping Children with Writing Encourage your child to keep a journal. (Set aside 10 minutes a day to write in it) Have children brainstorm ideas using a Circle Map. When a child is angry, sad, etc.. ., have them write their feelings in their journal. Write letters back and forth to each other. Use the comic section of a newspaper. Have your child write a story for a comic strip. Read a story and have your child change the ending. Have your child research something that is important to them. Have them write about it. Explain why it is important to them. Have your child write an informational piece explaining how to play their favorite game.

Tips Continued Have your child read their writing out loud to you listening for mistakes. Read your child’s writing to see if it shows a little bit of their personality. (No robots) Read your child’s writing to see if it stays on topic – Does it tell too little or too much. Ask your child to clarify 1 part of their writing – Explain it. Read your child’s work checking for spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Read your child’s writing and ask questions like: 1.) How did you feel about this? (Show me) 2.) How did you react? (Show me) 3.) Does this make sense? 4. What do you mean?

Praise your child for their ideas and hard work Praise your child for their ideas and hard work!!!! Meadows students are winning writers!