STAAR WRITING GUIDELINES

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STAAR WRITING GUIDELINES
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What students should KNOW

• Two-day test time limit of 4 hours per day
• Day 1All 40-48 multiple-choice questions and
  first composition.
• Day 2Second 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
  pagea maximum of 26 lines for each composition

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STAAR Writing Performance

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

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DOS

• 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.

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DOS, 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!

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DOS, 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.

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DOS, continued

• Write STRONG SENTENCES.
• Use COMPOUND and COMPLEX SENTENCES.
• Use specific, elevated WORD CHOICES
  (Dictionary).
• Use images, metaphors, interesting ideas.

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DOS, continued

• Write interesting/clever EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTIONS
  that dont exceed 3 lines.
• Write REFLECTIVE CONCLUSIONS that contain the
  LESSON LEARNED and dont exceed 3 lines.

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DOS, 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!

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DOS, continued

• Ask the teacher or test administrator to read
  the prompt aloud to you if you need to hear it.

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DO NOTS

• 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.

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DO NOTS, 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 ideasmake sure to DEVELOP
  your writing with QUALITY IDEAS, EXAMPLES,
  IMAGES, ETC.

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DO NOTS, 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 dont make sense because of missing
  or improper punctuation, your score will be
  greatly reduced.

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DO NOTS, 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.

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DO NOTS, continued

• DO NOT forget that you may have the prompt read
  aloud to you if you wish.

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BEFORE THE STAAR WRITING TEST

• 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.

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Adjacent Scoring for STAAR