Prentice Hall WritinG cOacH

Prentice Hall WRITING COACH

Texas Test Support Handbook

Grade 8

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Boston, Massachusetts Chandler, Arizona Glenview, Illinois

TEXAS TEST SUPPORT HANDBOOK

CONTENTS IN BRIEF

Information on the new Texas writing test, Readiness Standards, and Supporting Standards

The Texas Writing Test .................................................. 4

Activities in which writing rubrics, evaluation charts, and other Handbook materials are used in preparation for the Texas writing test

Whiteboard activities for analyzing literary and expository compositions

Instructional Activities ? Texas Test Support Mastery Activities.....................................5

? Texas Test Support Whiteboard Activities.............................. 6

Strategy for analyzing and responding to a writing test prompt

Strategy for conducting a focused revision of a composition

Writing Strategies ? The ABCDs of On-Demand Writing........................................7

? The Revision RADaR Strategy................................................ 8

Checklist of common errors

? Editing Checklist................................................................... 8

Evaluation and scoring criteria for a literary composition, organized on a four-point scale

One-page chart for use in evaluating and scoring a literary composition

First of two writing prompts for a story

Literary Writing ? Literary Writing Rubric.......................................................... 9

? Literary Writing Evaluation Chart..........................................13

? Literary Writing Prompt 1.................................................... 14

Writing Coach Texas Test Support Handbook ? Grade 8

Copyright ? Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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TEXAS TEST SUPPORT HANDBOOK

CONTENTS IN BRIEF

First set of literary writing models, consisting of four models with scores of 1 to 4. The scores of all writing models in the Handbook are based on the Texas writing rubric. The score for each model is shown in the Answer Key found in the Writing Coach Online Teacher's Digital Resource Library.

Second of two writing prompts for a story

Second set of literary writing models, consisting of four models with scores of 1 to 4

? Literary Writing Models for Prompt 1...................................15 ? Literary Writing Prompt 2.................................................... 19 ? Literary Writing Models for Prompt 2..................................20

Evaluation and scoring criteria for an expository essay, organized on a four-point scale

One-page chart for use in evaluating and scoring an expository composition

First of two prompts for an expository essay

First set of expository writing models, consisting of four models with scores of 1 to 4

Second of two prompts for an expository essay

Second set of expository writing models, consisting of four models with scores of 1 to 4

Expository Writing ? Expository Writing Rubric.................................................... 24 ? Expository Writing Evaluation Chart.................................... 28 ? Expository Writing Prompt 1............................................... 29 ? Expository Writing Models for Prompt 1..............................30 ? Expository Writing Prompt 2............................................... 34 ? Expository Writing Models for Prompt 2.............................. 35

Writing Coach Texas Test Support Handbook ? Grade 8

Copyright ? Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

3

TEXAS TEST SUPPORT HANDBOOK

THE TEXAS WRITING TEST

The Texas Writing Test

Starting in the 2011?2012 school year, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will implement new end-of-year student assessment tests. The new tests will be more rigorous and more closely aligned to college and career readiness than the tests they are replacing. The Writing Coach Texas Test Support Handbook is designed to help students prepare for the new test for writing.

Like the earlier tests, the new tests will be based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the state standards that inform instruction and prepare students for college and careers. However, the new tests will emphasize Readiness Standards, those TEKS that are crucial for success in a student's current grade or subject and important for the student's readiness for the grade or subject that follows. The remaining TEKS for a grade, called Supporting Standards, will be assessed but not emphasized. Supporting Standards identify more narrowly defined ideas that are less central in the next grade or subject.

The new Texas writing test will assess the writing of students in selected grades and will require that students write two compositions. The chart below identifies the grades at which writing will be tested and the writing genres of the two compositions required for each grade.

Grade 7

Writing Genres

Personal Narrative

Expository

9

Literary Fiction

Expository

10

11

(exit level test)

12

(exit level retest)

Persuasive Persuasive Persuasive

Expository Analytical Analytical

Additionally, the new Texas writing test will use new writing rubrics to evaluate student writing. These rubrics will replace the Texas traits rubrics. Like the earlier Texas traits rubrics, the new rubrics will be based on scores of 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest score.

Texas Writing Coach provides in-depth and targeted instruction for every Readiness Standard and every Supporting Standard for writing. The materials in this Handbook supplement that instruction.

Pages 7?38 of the Handbook are intended for use by students. These pages can be downloaded and printed or used with an overhead projector or on a whiteboard screen. The rubrics in the Handbook will help students become familiar with the new Texas scoring criteria for written compositions. The model compositions will help students understand the quality that is characteristic of a satisfactory or accomplished writing performance. Used as a supplement to Texas Writing Coach, these rubrics and compositions and other materials in the Texas Test Support Handbook will help students succeed on the new Texas writing test.

Writing Coach Texas Test Support Handbook ? Grade 8

Copyright ? Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

4

TEXAS TEST SUPPORT HANDBOOK

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Texas Test Support Mastery Activities

Texas Writing Coach provides in-depth instruction on writing for assessment in Chapters 5?12 of the Student Edition. However, you can use the Texas Test Support Handbook to supplement the test preparation provided in the Student Edition. The materials in the Handbook and the Texas Test Support Mastery Activities described below will help improve students' ability to write effective compositions on demand. You can have students work individually or in groups to complete any of these activities.

Analyze a Prompt Use the ABCDs strategy to analyze a literary or expository prompt and plan a written response.

Match Models to a Rubric Match each of the four writing models in a set to each score point in the four-point rubric. Then justify the score given to each model by referring to the matching prompt and the rubric or evaluation chart.

Score a Set of Models Score a set of four writing models from 1 to 4, without reference to the four-point rubric. Then check the scores by referring to the matching prompt and rubric (or the evaluation chart) and rescore the models as necessary.

Score Individual Models Score each writing model individually by referring to the matching prompt and four-point rubric or evaluation chart.

Evaluate a Model Use the prompt and four-point rubric (or evaluation chart) to identify the weaknesses and strengths of a writing model. Identify text that needs improvement by circling or underlining weak sentences, phrases, and words, as well as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors. Add margin notes to explain the evaluation of specific parts of the model. As an alternative, write short summary evaluations of each model.

Respond to a Prompt Write a response to one of the four prompts in the Handbook. Score or have a partner score the response using the matching four-point rubric or evaluation chart.

Revise and Edit a Model Use the rubric for a score of 4, the Revision RADaR strategy, and the Editing Checklist to revise and edit individual writing models. Add margin notes to explain specific revisions.

Writing Coach Texas Test Support Handbook ? Grade 8

Copyright ? Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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