1. Georgia Writing Assessment March 6, 2013 Essential Question: What do parents need to know about the 5th grade writing test? If you have specific questions about how you can help promote writing at home, please email your child’s teacher.

2. Details of the test All 5 th grade students must take the test. Session Length: 100 minutes Main Administration: One day (March 6th) Make-up Administration: One day (March 7th)

3. How is it graded? One rater will read each paper and give it a score. The score will determine if a paper will pass or fail.

4. It Looks Like This Scoring Domain Domain Weight% of total score Ideas2 x rater’s scores40% Organization1 x rater’s scores20% Style1 x rater’s scores20% Conventions1 x rater’s scores20%

5. Rubrics5 Overview of Score Points 1-5 Five Levels of Competence Score: 1 Lack of Control (of the elements of the domain) Score: 2 Minimal Control (of the elements of the domain) Score: 3 Sufficient Control (of the elements of the domain) Score: 4 Consistent Control (of the elements of the domain) Score: 5 Full Command (of the elements of the domain) GREEN = The degree to which the writer demonstrates control of the components.

6. Ideas= 40% Controlling idea- Thesis Supporting Details Coherency Facts and Examples Awareness of Genre Completeness

7. Organization= 20% Logical and appropriate sequencing and/or grouping of ideas in the paper Introduction/Body/Conclusion Expository/Persuasive Strategies used Introduction is engaging Conclusion provides a sense of closure I Can Do This! This test will be a piece of cake!

8. Style= 20% Word choice Figurative language (similes, metaphors...) Varied sentence lengths Attention to audience Consistent voice Humor Declarative Exclamatory Interrogative Imperative

9. Conventions= 20% Capitalization Punctuation Spelling Indention of paragraphs Subject/Verb Agreement Formal Register Errors do not interfere with meaning Proofread!

10. How Can I Help My Child Succeed? Make it RealSuggest Note-takingBrainstorm JournalWrite TogetherPlay Games Make ListsCopy from MediaRead More Write NotesProvide MaterialsResources Be a Writer Use the Library Make it Fun

11. Did You Know? Blank: The paper contains no student writing. Copied: Copied from a published source or another student’s writing. Illegible: Not enough words in the paper are recognizable to be used as a basis for determining what other words are. Incomprehensible: The paper contains few recognizable English words or it may contain recognizable English words arranged in such a way that no meaning is conveyed. Text Too Limited To Score: Lack of enough text to score the student’s writing.

12. Did You Know?  Non-English: The paper is written in a language other than English.  Nonparticipation: Student did not attempt to write.  Off-Task: Complete or major portion of the response consists of poetry, rap, and/or musical lyrics.  Off-Topic: Student did not follow directives for the assigned task.  Offensive: Language was inappropriate.  Invalidated: Student’s writing paper was not scored due to extenuating circumstances (i.e., cheating, etc.).

13. Great Writing/Vocabulary Websites Fact Monster Writing: http://www.factmonster.com/homework/writingskills1.ht ml http://www.factmonster.com/homework/writingskills1.ht ml Room 108 Kid’s Writing: http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/writing/Kids_Writin g.html http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/writing/Kids_Writin g.html Free Rice (Vocabulary Game): http://www.freerice.com/ http://www.freerice.com/ Teacher Vision Links: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/reading-and- language-arts/games/5831.html

14. Making it Work for You If you have specific questions about the 5 th Grade Writing Test, we have teachers here to answer your questions. Please raise your hand.