STAAR WRITING STAAR WRITING GUIDELINESGUIDELINES

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

STAAR Writing PerformanceSTAAR 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.

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DO’SDO’SDO 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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DO’S, continued…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!

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DO’S, continued…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

DO’S, continued…DO’S, continued…Write STRONG SENTENCES.

◦Use COMPOUND and COMPLEX SENTENCES.

◦ Use specific, elevated WORD CHOICES (Dictionary).

◦Use images, metaphors, interesting ideas.

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DO’S, continued…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.

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DO’S, continued…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!

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DO’S, continued…DO’S, 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 DO NOTNOT’S’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.

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DO DO NOTNOT’S, continued…’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.

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DO DO NOTNOT’S, continued…’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

DO DO NOTNOT’S, continued…’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.

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DO DO NOTNOT’S, continued…’S, continued… DO NOT forget that you may

have the prompt read aloud to you if you wish.

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BEFORE THE STAAR BEFORE THE STAAR WRITING TESTWRITING TEST

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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.

Adjacent Scoring for Adjacent Scoring for STAAR STAAR

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