I know the 4th Grade STAAR Writing test has already past, but I thought I'd share some of my strategies with you.
There seems to be plenty of strategies out there for reading and math standardized tests, but very little for writing. I've basically had to develop my own.
The first thing I do is actually from a STAAR training workshop I attended last year. It's called a Brain Dump. This strategy will work for any standardized test. When students first get their test, they open to a blank page and write down everything they can remember from lessons throughout the year. They are dumping their brains on paper and creating a sort of "cheat sheet."
After the first semester, I usually type up all the important information they've learned and give them a copy to keep in their binder. They can use this to refer to as they prepare for the test. I'll often have them practice this for a warm-up. They use a scrap piece of paper and set a goal at the top of how many items they want to have on their list. They are to up their goal each time. Then, they'll write down everything they can remember. I encourage them to keep it simple by abbreviating items on their list.
Some items I put on the list are:
- Personal Narrative = YOU
- Expository = NOT you
- ARMS (Add, Remove, Move, Substitute)
- COPS (Capitals, Order & Organization, Punctuation, Spelling)
- Spelling rules
- Differences in trouble homophones
- Punctuation rules
- Writing tips
For the multiple choice, I use a few strategies from the same workshop, then created my own. We start by labeling the question number in the passage. Then, we read the question and box the word "best", underline important information, and circle what we're looking for (you can see the sample below).
Next, we read the passage. As we're reading, we underline and make notes when we notice something is incorrect. After reading, we write a summary of the passage in just a few words.
Finally, when we're answering the questions, we write out to the side of each answer why it is correct or incorrect. I tell them that "doesn't make sense" does not tell me why.
In the following examples, I used 2013 released test.
These are two different examples of how we set up the passages. Below, you'll see how we prove our answers.
For the prompt, we always find and star the part that tells us what to write about. We underline, circle, and box key words. Then, we go back and read the whole prompt.
This really seems to help my students prepare for the test.Labels: STAAR
