PASS Writing

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PASS Writing

• Hanning

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Writing Day 1 Overview

• Tuesday, March 10
• Extended Response
• You will be given a topic and an answer folder
  with two lined pages.

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Writing Day 2 Overview

• Wednesday, March 11
• Multiple Choice
• Editing Questions

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Day 1 Time to Write

• Read the topic carefully.
• Use separate, lined scratch paper for your
  prewriting and rough draft.
• Do not write a poem, song, or list. These will
  not be scored. You must write in complete
  sentences.
• You can use a dictionary or thesaurus.
• Use the Writing Checklist and rubric to check
  yourself!
• Write your final draft only on the lined pages
  labeled final draft.
• Do not write beyond the lines or in the margins.
• Make sure your work is ON TOPIC and LEGIBLE.
  Otherwise, it will not be scored at all.

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Day 1, continued

• This test is not timed, so you should follow all
  steps of the writing process
• -reading the topic carefully
• -prewriting brainstorm and outline
• -drafting (rough draft)
• -revising
• -editing
• -drafting (final)
• -rereading your work

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Extended Response Rubric

• You will be scored a 1-4 in each of the
  following areas
• Content / Development
• Organization
• Conventions
• You will be scored 1-3 in
• 4. Voice
• for a total of 15

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The PASS WRITING RUBRIC
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Content / Development

• 4 Presents a clear central idea about the topic
• Fully develops the central idea with specific,
  relevant details
• Sustains focus on central idea throughout the
  writing
• 1 There is no clear central idea
• Details are sparse and/ or confusing
• There is no sense of focus

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Content / Development Strategies

• What are specific details?
• Make the reader feel like they are there with you
  SHOW them what it was like. It wasnt just a
  nice day it was sunny and bright, without a
  cloud in the sky. It was the kind of day where
  you could hear screen doors slamming and kids
  shrieking with joy.
• Tell the story completely. Give us multiple
  reasons to believe you or make us want to learn
  more.

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Organization

• 4 Has an effective introduction, body, and
  conclusion.
• Provides a smooth progression of ideas by using
  transitional devices throughout the writing.
• 1 Attempts an introduction, body, and
  conclusion however, one or more of these
  components could be absent or confusing.
• Presents information in a random or illogical
  order throughout the writing.

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Strategies for Organization

• Write a great introduction of at least three
  sentences an attention getter, a transition into
  your thesis, and your thesis.
• If you have a hard time thinking of an
  introduction, skip lines and come back to it.
• Include transitions both between and in the
  middle of paragraphs first, second, finally, in
  addition to, also
• Smooth progression dont jump around. Tell the
  story in order.

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Conventions

• 4 Provides evidence of a consistent and strong
  command of grade-level conventions (grammar,
  capitalization, punctuation, and spelling)
• 1 Provides little or no evidence of having a
  command of grade-level conventions (grammar,
  capitalization, punctuation, and spelling).

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Strategies for Conventions

• Remember your rules about capitalization and
  punctuation.
• Do not throw in a comma for no reason!
• Please avoid exclamation points in most formal
  writing. If you include one, it should be in
  dialogue.
• Try reading your paper backwards after youve
  revised for everything else. This helps you focus
  only on conventions.
• Remember, you can use a dictionary to help you
  spell.

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Voice

• 3 Uses precise and/or vivid vocabulary
  appropriate for the topic
• Phrasing is effective, not predictable or
  obvious
• Varies sentence structure to promote rhythmic
  reading
• Shows strong awareness of audience and task
  tone is consistent and appropriate

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Voice, continued

• 1Uses simple vocabulary
• Phrasing is repetitive or confusing
• Shows little or no sentence variety reading is
  monotonous
• Shows little or no awareness of audience and
  task tone may be inappropriate

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Strategies for Voice

• Use concrete and proper nouns instead of
  saying my sister, give her a name my sister
  Alicia. Instead of saying at my school, say
  at Beck Academy.
• Use active and vivid verbs. Instead of saying,
  he was coughing, say Ben hacked and sputtered
  so loudly his chest sounded like a rattlesnake.
• Include compound and complex sentences so that
  your sentences arent all the same length. Dont
  just write I am a student. I dont like school.
  I fall asleep in class, write I am a student
  who doesnt like school. I fall asleep in class
  because

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Strategies for Reading the Topic

• Make sure you understand the topic or question.
  Underline key words in the topic.
• Sample topic Your principal is applying for a
  grant to place more computers in your school.
  Write an essay for the grant committee that
  explains how computers affect your learning in
  school. Be sure to give examples of the many ways
  you and your teachers can use computers in your
  classroom.

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Strategies for Prewriting

• List brainstorm everything you know about the
  topic
• With a partner, quickly brainstorm a list based
  on the previous topic.
• Web or Cluster a little more ordered than a
  list. Requires you to branch off different ideas
• Volunteer to complete the web on the board!

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After brainstorming

• After brainstorming, put your ideas into outline
  form.
• Copy my outline that I create from our web.
• You want to use Roman Numerals to stand for
  paragraphs, capital letters to stand for details,
  and regular numbers to stand for your explanation
  of the details.

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Outline Form

• I. Introduction
• A. Attention Getter
• B. Transition Sentence
• C. Thesis
• II. Body Paragraph I Topic Sentence (repeat
  if you have more than one body paragraph)
• A. Detail One
• 1. Explanation
• B. Detail Two
• 1. Explanation
• C. Detail Three
• 1. Explanation
• III. Conclusion

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After your outline

• Once youve written an outline that shows where
  you will put your details and what your topic
  sentences will be, youre ready to write your
  rough draft.

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Drafting

• Write in paragraph form, but do not worry too
  much about grammar or spelling. Youre trying to
  make sure you have enough content at this stage.
  Remember to include lots of details and
  transition words when appropriate.

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Revising

• Revision does not mean checking to make sure
  youve spelled words or punctuated correctly.
• Revision means youre checking the structure of
  the paper content / development, organization,
  and voice.

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Editing

• After youve revised for the content and
  structure of the paper, then edit for
  conventions.
• Check spelling with a dictionary if possible.
• Try reading your paper backwards if you have
  time. This forces you to forget content (ONLY DO
  THIS IS YOU HAVE ALREADY REVISED CONTENT!) and
  focus instead on grammar, capitalization,
  spelling, and punctuation.

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Final Draft

• Make sure your final draft is legible. Print if
  your cursive is bad. Illegible answers will not
  be scored.
• On the PASS test, you can handwrite your final
  draft in the booklet provided.
• For a class, essay, you should always handwrite
  in ink, double-spaced (skipping lines) or type
  and double-space your essay.

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Group Assignments Class Pass Essay

• Whole Class Brainstorming and Outlining
• Table One introduction with an attention
  getter, a transition into a thesis, and a thesis
• Tables Two and Three body paragraph one
• Table Four and Five body paragraph two
• Table Six Conclusion

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Topic

• Your principal is applying for a grant to
  place more computers in your school. Write an
  essay for the grant committee that explains how
  computers affect your learning in school. Be sure
  to give examples of the many ways you and your
  teachers can use computers in your classroom.

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Day 2 - March 11

• Multiple-Choice based on
• - editing passages that you will read and stand
  alone questions
• - 36 items total
• -25 items will count (we wont know which 25, so
  do your best)

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Multiple Choice Blueprint

• Domain Points
• Content/Development 5-8
• Organization 5-8
• Voice 5-8
• Conventions 5-8

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Content and Development(possible sample
questions)

• Which sentence would make the best supporting
  detail?
• Which topic sentence would be best to begin the
  second paragraph?
• Which sentence shifts focus by adding an
  irrelevant detail?

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Organization (possible sample questions)

• Which transitional word would best introduce
  sentence 24?
• What would be the best way to begin sentence 20?
• Which sentence interrupts the logical progression
  of ideas?

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Voice(possible sample questions)

• What would be a more precise word to replace
  ________?
• Which revision of the sentence is the most vivid?
• What is the best way to combine sentences 7 and 8?

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Conventions(possible sample questions)

• Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?
• Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
• What is the correct way to combine sentences 15
  and 16?
• What correction should be made to sentence 21?

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PASS Writing Day 2 Sample - handout

• Items 1-5 Class (listen to answers)
• Items 6-10 Group (share your answers)
• Items 11-15 Individual (do your best)