1. STAAR WRITING GUIDELINES

2. What students should KNOW: Two-day test; time limit of 4 hours per day Day 1–All 40-48 multiple-choice questions and first composition. Day 2–Second and third compositions Compositions will be PERSONAL NARRATIVE AND EXPOSITORY ESSAY forms Students may use dictionaries for the entire test (multiple-choice section and written compositions) Compositions/Essays must be no longer than one page—a maximum of 26 lines for each composition 2

3. STAAR Writing Performance Score Point 1—VERY LIMITED Score Point 2—BASIC Score Point 3—SATISFACTORY Score Point 4—ACCOMPLISHED On-Level: Your goal should be score 3 or 4 for each composition. Pre AP: Your goal should be score 4 for each composition. 3

4. DO’S DO read and understand ALL PARTS of the prompt: ◦ “Read” ◦ “Think” ◦ “Write” ◦ “Be Sure To…” DO focus upon the “Write” for your MAIN WRITING GOAL. 4

5. DO’S, continued… Read the WRITING GENRE listed at the top. ◦ There will be a label stating either “Personal Narrative” or “Expository Essay”. ◦ KNOW YOUR PURPOSE! ◦ WRITE ACCORDING TO YOUR PURPOSE! ◦ STAY FOCUSED UPON YOUR PURPOSE! 5

6. DO’S, continued… BEFORE WRITING ON THE 26-LINE PAPER: BRAINSTORM IDEAS under the writing prompt. PLAN by creating an ORGANIZER on a blank page of your booklet. WRITE A ROUGH DRAFT on a blank page in your booklet. WRITE A ROUGH DRAFT 3-PART THESIS STATEMENT for your EXPOSITORY ESSAY / CONTROLLING IDEA Purpose Sentence for your PERSONAL NARRATIVE Story. 6

7. DO’S, continued… Write STRONG SENTENCES. ◦ Use COMPOUND and COMPLEX SENTENCES. ◦ Use specific, elevated WORD CHOICES (Dictionary). ◦ Use images, metaphors, interesting ideas. 7

8. DO’S, continued… Write interesting/clever EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTIONS that don’t exceed 3 lines. Write REFLECTIVE CONCLUSIONS that contain the LESSON LEARNED and don’t exceed 3 lines. 8

9. DO’S, continued… Use the dictionary to locate correct spellings and elevated, precise synonyms to make your writing sound more mature and sophisticated. FOCUS UPON HIGH QUALITY WORDS AND IDEAS!  Think QUALITY over QUANTITY! 9

10. DO’S, continued… Ask the teacher or test administrator to read the prompt aloud to you if you need to hear it. 10

11. DO NOT’S DO NOT Forget to REREAD the prompt as you write. DO NOT forget to reread your PURPOSE.- Is your entire composition FOCUSED on the TOPIC in the Prompt? DO NOT forget to reread the Prompt, your PLANNING SHEET, and ROUGH DRAFT to make sure you are CORRECTLY addressing the PROMPT AND PURPOSE. 11

12. DO NOT’S, continued… DO NOT forget to REREAD your THESIS STATEMENT as you are planning and rough drafting BODY PARAGRAPHS AND THE CONCLUSION. DO NOT just list your ideas—make sure to DEVELOP your writing with QUALITY IDEAS, EXAMPLES, IMAGES, ETC. 12

13. DO NOT’S, continued… DO NOT skip the PLANNING AND ROUGH DRAFT. You MUST FIT YOUR ENTIRE FINAL DRAFT ON THE 26 LINES.  Without careful planning and prewriting, your essay may not meet the 26 line requirement. DO NOT forget to EDIT for capitalization and proper punctuation! - REREAD ◦ If your ideas don’t make sense because of missing or improper punctuation, your score will be greatly reduced. 13

14. DO NOT’S, continued… DO NOT waste words by repeating them or by using poor quality words. DO NOT ramble on and on about the same thing. Use only FRESH, INTERESTING, IMPORTANT IDEAS. 14

15. DO NOT’S, continued… DO NOT forget that you may have the prompt read aloud to you if you wish. 15

16. BEFORE THE STAAR WRITING TEST 16 REVIEW your PERSONAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURE and guidelines. ◦ KNOW your purpose for Personal Narrative writing. REVIEW your EXPOSITORY ESSAY STRUCTURE and guidelines. ◦ KNOW your purpose for EXPOSITORY ESSAY writing.

17. Adjacent Scoring for STAAR 17