Last-Minute Reminders for STAAR Writing

If you don't know what a transition word or phrase actually means or what it's purpose is, look it up in the dictionary!

If you have a sentence with a subject and predicate and a complete thought and the same on other side of the sentence separated by a comma,  this is called a comma splice. The sentence is incorrectly punctuated. Incorrect: Mrs. Johnson walks to the park, she talks about her pugs on the way. Correct: Mrs. Johnson walks to the park, and she talks about her pugs on the way. Correct: Mrs. Johnson walks to the park and talks about her pugs on the way. Comma Splice

If a sentence has a subject and predicate on one side but only just a predicate on the other side, it DOES NOT need a comma before the conjunction (FANBOY). This is a compound predicate. A compound predicate tell us two things about the subject. Mrs. Johnson walks to the park and talks about her pugs on the way.

Semicolons are used in a COMPOUND sentence where there is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE/COMPLETE THOUGHT on each side of the semi-colon. She was sick of school; she had “checked out” even before Memorial Day. ;

Informal or very general words in an answer choice (like things, guys, stuff) will NOT be the correct choice.

Make sure subject and verb agree: The girls dance. The girl dances Make sure subject and verb agree: The girls dance. The girl dances. If one is PLURAL, the other is SINGULAR!

When asked about questions regarding imagery and detail, look for answers that contain descriptive words and phrases.

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Mrs Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Mrs. Johnson was hungry, so she went to the grocery store to buy some food. Antecedent Pronoun

Any questions that ask to change the spelling of a word, LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY to see which is the correct spelling!

Any questions that ask to change from one word to another, think about which PART OF SPEECH the words are to determine which one should be used. Then, ask yourself what this word is modifying in the sentence (noun/pronoun or verb/adjective/adverb). Remember, adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. intentional --------------------- intentionally adjective adverb

Remember that apostrophes are used to show possession and contractions. It’s = it is its = belonging to it It’s the beginning of the school year, and I am keeping up with my work. The flower lost its petals because the wind was very strong.

Make sure to choose the correct verb tense by reading the sentences around the sentence the question refers to.

Remember your BABY-MAMA rule when asked about whether or not to use a comma. If the baby comes before the mama, you need a comma. You need a comma if the baby comes before the mama. Dependent clauses start with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun like: if, after, when, as, because, even though, while, which, that…

THAN and THEN comparing Time transition Transitions like eventually and finally mark the last thing stated in a paragraph.

When using the terms like “Mom” or “Dad” – ask yourself if they could be replaced with another name. If so, use a capital letter. I ate too many cookies and Mom was angry. Replace “Mom” with another name: I ate too many cookies and Sara was angry. When saying “my mom,” you don’t need to capitalize.

If you’re not sure about the spelling of a homonym (words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings), LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY! Examples there – their here – hear where - wear

“A lot” and “a little” are TWO WORDS!

Punctuation marks generally go INSIDE the quotation marks Punctuation marks generally go INSIDE the quotation marks. For the STAAR test, they will always need to go inside. Also, look for MISSING quotation marks.

Proper nouns need to be capitalized Proper nouns need to be capitalized. A proper noun is a name used for a specific individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters, Examples: Larry, Mexico, and Boston Red Sox.