Last-Minute Reminders for

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Last-Minute Reminders for STAAR
Writing Revising and Editing
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If you don't know what a transition word or
phrase actually means or what it's purpose is,
look it up in the dictionary!
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If you have a sentence with a subject and
predicate and a complete thought and the same on
other side of the sentence separated by a comma, 
this is called a comma splice. The sentence is
incorrectly punctuated.Incorrect Mrs. Johnson
walks to the park, she talks about her pugs on
the way.Correct Mrs. Johnson walks to the
park, and she talks about her pugs on the way.
Correct Mrs. Johnson walks to the park and
talks about her pugs on the way.
Comma Splice
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If a sentence has a subject and predicate on one
side but only just a predicate on the other side,
it DOES NOT need a comma before the conjunction
(FANBOY). This is a compound predicate. A
compound predicate tell us two things about the
subject.Mrs. Johnson walks to the park and
talks about her pugs on the way.
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Semicolons are used in a COMPOUND sentence where
there is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE/COMPLETE THOUGHT
on each side of the semi-colon.She was sick of
school she had checked out even before
Memorial Day.
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Informal or very general words in an answer
choice (like things, guys, stuff) will NOT be the
correct choice.
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Make sure subject and verb agreeThe girls
dance. The girl dances.If one is PLURAL,
the other is SINGULAR!
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When asked about questions regarding imagery and
detail, look for answers that contain descriptive
words and phrases.
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Pronoun Antecedent AgreementMrs. Johnson was
hungry, so she went to the grocery store to buy
some food.
Antecedent
Pronoun
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Any questions that ask to change the spelling of
a word, LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY to
see which is the correct spelling!
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Any questions that ask to change from one word
to another, think about which PART OF SPEECH the
words are to determine which one should be used.
Then, ask yourself what this word is modifying in
the sentence (noun/pronoun or verb/adjective/adver
b). Remember, adjectives modify nouns and
pronouns, and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives,
and other adverbs. intentional
---------------------? intentionally
adjective
adverb
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Remember that apostrophes are used to show
possession and contractions. Its it isits
belonging to itIts the beginning of the school
year, and I am keeping up with my work.The
flower lost its petals because the wind was very
strong.
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Make sure to choose the correct verb tense by
reading the sentences around the sentence the
question refers to.
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Remember your BABY-MAMA rule when asked about
whether or not to use a comma.If the baby comes
before the mama, you need a comma.You need a
comma if the baby comes before the
mama.Dependent clauses start with a
subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun
like if, after, when, as, because, even though,
while, which, that
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THAN and THEN
comparing
Time transition
Transitions like eventually and finally mark the
last thing stated in a paragraph.
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When using the terms like Mom or Dad ask
yourself if they could be replaced with another
name. If so, use a capital letter. I ate too
many cookies and Mom was angry.Replace Mom
with another nameI ate too many cookies and
Sara was angry. When saying my mom, you dont
need to capitalize.
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If youre not sure about the spelling of a
homonym (words that sound the same but have
different spellings and meanings), LOOK THE
WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY! Examplesthere
their here hear where - wear
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A lot and a little are TWO WORDS!
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Punctuation marks generally go INSIDE the
quotation marks.For the STAAR test, they will
always need to go inside.Also, look for MISSING
quotation marks. INSIDE the U.S., punctuation
goes INSIDE!
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Proper nouns need to be capitalized.A proper
noun is a name used for a specific individual
person, place, organization, days of the week,
months, holidays, or initials with capital
letters. REMEMBER Names of seasons are NOT
capitalized! Examples Larry, Mexico, spring,
fall, and Boston Red Sox.