1. HOW TO BE A STAR ON THE WRITING STAAR

2. HOW A STAR PREPARES FOR STANDARDIZED TESTING 1. Get a good night’s rest. 2. Eat a healthy breakfast. 3. Be positive. 4. Look over tips or notes at home. 5. Arrive early or on time to the testing room.

3. TIPS FOR REVISING/EDITING MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION READ ALL DIRECTIONS Highlight key words, if needed. ALL THE REVISING PASSAGES Revising involves understanding meaning. ALL THE QUESTIONS Punctuation is small, so look carefully. ALL THE ANSWER OPTIONS Even if you like the first answer option, make yourself read all of them before making a choice.

4. FOCUS ON YOUR WORK Try to avoid looking around at others. ON EACH PASSAGE & ?s, then take break Take a minute to have some water or a nibble of snacks. PACE YOURSELF! It’s a long test. Plan 2 hours for revise/edit multiple- choice and 2 hours for the essay. Watch the on-line timer projected in your testing room. Take at least one bathroom break to get your body moving.

5. BUBBLE AS YOU GO. It is easier to make transfer errors when you are doing all your answers at one time. It is much better to carefully bubble each answer as you choose it instead of waiting until the end. DARKLY & NEATLY. Make sure to not make stray marks on the answer document and to bubble each circle completely. EVERY ANSWER. When you finish, take a sheet of scratch paper and lay it horizontally across the bubble section. Carefully check, line by line, to see that you have bubbled an answer for every question.

6. TIPS FOR STAAR ESSAYS READ READ THE PROMPT CAREFULLY. Highlight the mode of writing: Expository or Personal Narrative. Then, highlight everything after the word WRITE. PLAN PLAN YOUR ESSAY OF GLORY. Think of ideas (list, Quick Write, sketch) and create a simple graphic organizer. DRAFT DRAFT AN ESSAY. Write your rough draft in the blank spaces in the test booklet or on the lined scratch paper.

7. REVISE/EDIT REVISE/EDIT YOUR ESSAY USING REFERENCES. Use strategies to improve and correct your draft while using a dictionary and thesaurus. PUBLISH PUBLISH YOUR FINAL DRAFT IN THE 26-lined BOX. Make sure to match up your essay to the correct 26-lined box. Do not skip lines. Write your essay only in the box. IN YOUR NEATEST PRINT OR CURSIVE.

8. What to Bring for After the Test You will remain in your testing room for a full four hours. You will only leave for bathroom breaks or lunch. Students must remain quiet and seated until the testing time has finished. You are only allowed to do two things after you turn in your test: 1. sleep 2. read So, you should bring a BOOK BOOK. You should NOT BRING A CELL PHONE OR OTHER ELECTRONICS.

9. THESIS STATEMENTS 1. State your topic and your point/opinion about the topic. 2. Work best in the introduction. 3. Are used in expository and persuasive writing. 4. Relate to the prompt. Example: Michael Jordan is a powerful role model for me because of his accomplishments on and off the court.

10. HOW TO CRAFT CONCLUSIONS OF GLORY! Thoughts Thoughts. What are your thoughts on the topic? Reflection Reflection. What can you learn from this information? Importance Importance. Why is the information important? Change Change. How could the information change your future? Knowledge Knowledge. What is the benefit of knowing this information?

11. EXPOSITORY -WRITTEN AS AN ESSAY EXPOSITORY -WRITTEN AS AN ESSAY TO INFORM & EXPLAIN

12. PERSONAL NARRATIVE -WRITTEN AS A STORY TO SHARE AN EXPERIENCE AND CONNECT TO THE READER

13. Decorate and personalize your test-tips booklet, and then turn it into the appropriate drawer. I will be returning the booklet to you by Friday so that you may look at it over the weekend. test-grade It is a test-grade, so please pay attention to the details.