Top Secret For teachers’ eyes only STAAR Writing: Understanding the Narrative Prompt Jacob M. Lightbody © 2012

Dear Teacher, Your students will be taking the new STAAR Writing Test this year. This test can be very tricky. The secrets found in this file should make the test less confusing for your students and help them pass the test. Use this information wisely. Sincerely, Anonymous

Some Basics to get you started: ∙ The STAAR Writing Test will be administered over two days. ∙ On each testing day, students will have a total of four hours to answer the questions in the multiple choice portion of the test and to complete their writing sample. ∙ Students will be provided with a blank page to use for prewriting and to generate a rough draft. Students are not expected to begin composing their final drafts without preparation.

Now let’s get to the really important stuff.

really important stuff #1: Students will fail the writing test if their personal narratives are NOT personal narratives. A narrative is a story. It should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. A student’s personal narrative must be an autobiographical story about something that happened to the student.(It may be okay to fake a few details, but it wouldn’t be wise to turn the story into a fantasy.)

really important stuff #2: To complete each writing sample, students will be provided with a single page on which to record their responses. The page will have twenty-six lines. Students are expected to fill up most of the page, but their work must not exceed the twenty-six lines provided on the answer document. Any writing that students try to squeeze onto the bottom of the page will not be scored. It can be tricky to learn how to write just the “right amount” for the test. Practice is recommended.

Now we’re ready to get to the really, really important stuff.

You are about to be shown a sample of a STAAR-Style Personal narrative writing prompt. Study it very closely.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. Be sure to: ∙ Write about a personal experience. ∙ Organize your writing. ∙ Develop your ideas in detail. ∙ Choose your words carefully. ∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences. Look at the picture below.

Did you notice that the Look-Think- Write model was being used? The Look-Think-Write model can be a good way to get a writer’s creative juices flowing, but it can also be confusing for someone who doesn’t know what to focus on. Fortunately, we have a little trick to share with you that might help your students who don’t know much about the Look-Think-Write model.

Are you ready to learn the trick?

Here’s what you need to do: 1.)Put your right index finger on the tip of your nose. 2.)Stick out your tongue. 3.)Squint your eyes. -Are you ready to continue?

Please do not be alarmed by what you see.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. Be sure to: ∙ Write about a personal experience. ∙ Organize your writing. ∙ Develop your ideas in detail. ∙ Choose your words carefully. ∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences. Look at the picture below.

It’s easy for the “real” directions to get lost in all of the text that is used in a STAAR-style prompt. It might be helpful to teach your students the trick so that they can use it to stay focused on the prompt.

Of course, it’s still a good idea to try to understand the Look-Think-Write model.

Let’s start with the “Look” component.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. Be sure to- ∙ write about a personal experience ∙ organize your writing ∙ develop your ideas in detail ∙ choose your words carefully ∙ use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences. Look at the picture below. What NOT to do: Do not write about the picture. What to do: Look at the picture and think about it. Ask yourself if the picture reminds you of any of your own experiences.

Now Let’s move on to the “think” component.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. Be sure to- ∙ write about a personal experience ∙ organize your writing ∙ Develop your ideas in detail. ∙ Choose your words carefully. ∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences. Look at the picture below. What to do: Think about the “truism” (or “think” statement.) Try to recall any personal experiences that this statement might remind you of. What NOT to do: Do not write about the truism. You should be able to make mental connections between the truism and the prompt that follows it. These connections will help you generate ideas for your composition.

Now Let’s move on to the “Write” component.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. Be sure to: ∙ Write about a personal experience. ∙ Organize your writing. ∙ Develop your ideas in detail. ∙ Choose your words carefully. ∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences. Look at the picture below. What to do: Write a personal narrative about the topic provided in the prompt. Also, be sure to follow all of the good advice that is offered beneath the prompt.

Let’s wrap this up by taking a look at how connections can be made between each component of the Look-Think-Write model.

Write Think Mowing a lawn can be hard work. Look Write about a time when you did something that was difficult. You can see that mowing a lawn looks like hard work. The prompt tells you that mowing a lawn can be hard work. It’s hard to do things that are difficult. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out what the connection is here.

You should now have a better understanding of the personal narrative component of the STAAR Writing Test. Mission Accomplished