Transcript Daily SOL Writing Practice A How-To Essay

Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
A How-To Essay
Jenna’s teacher has asked the class to write a composition explaining how to do
something. Jenna decides to write about how to make seeds grow in a garden.
1
All of these could help Jenna
before she begins writing her
essay except–
A
B
reading books about
gardening
making a web of the
information she wants to
use
C
narrowing her topic
D
starting her rough draft
2
Which of these best describes
the reason for writing this
essay?
F
to explain
G
to tell a story
H
to entertain
J
to persuade
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Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Answer Sheet – For Teacher Use
Question
Correct Answer
VA SOL Essential Understanding Correlation
1
D
8.7ab – Use prewriting strategies to generate and
organize ideas.
2
F
8.7aa – Use prewriting strategies to generate and
organize ideas.
Notes to Teacher:
The writing subtest of the Grade 8 English test will have a series of brief scenarios, each of which defines a
writing task for a specified audience. Items following the statement of the writing task will address planning
or prewriting activities relevant to the specified task and will be coded to the Planning, Composing, and
Revising reporting category. A rough draft of a response to the specified writing task will follow the
planning/prewriting test items. The rough draft will be divided into sections. The first section will have errors
which require revision such as the inclusion of a sentence that does not belong or two sentences that need
to be combined. Items following the first section of the rough draft will require the student to correct these
errors by choosing the correct revision from the answer choices provided. These items will also be coded to
the Planning, Composing, and Revising reporting category.
The second section of the rough draft will contain embedded errors in usage or mechanics. Items following
this section will refer to underlined words or groups of words in the second section of the rough draft and will
require students to choose the answer which represents correct usage or mechanics. These items will be
coded to the Editing reporting category. In some cases, the underlined words will contain no error and the
correct answer will be "as it is." Following the expanded blueprint is a list of usage and mechanics skills
which are addressed in the Editing reporting category.
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Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
After narrowing her topic to growing tomato seeds, Jenna created this cluster
diagram. Use it to answer questions 3 and 4.
Cucumbers need lots of sun too.
Plant and water the seeds
In a sunny spot.
Prepare the soil.
Growing tomato seeds
Prune plants and harvest ripe
red tomatoes.
3
Which detail does not belong on
Jenna’s diagram?
Cage or stake plants to prevent
them from falling.
4
The audience for this essay would
most likely be –
A
Prepare the soil.
F
elementary school children
B
Cucumbers need lots of sun
too.
G
homeowners
H
vegetable growers
J
grocery store managers
C
D
Plant and water seed in a
sunny spot.
Prune plants and harvest
ripe red tomatoes.
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Answer Sheet – For Teacher Use
Question
Correct Answer
VA SOL Essential Understanding Correlation
3
B
8.7bb – Organize details to elaborate the central idea.
4
H
8.7ac – Use prewriting strategies to generate and
organize ideas.
Notes to Teacher:
During the revising stage of the writing process students will revise for focus, organization, and
elaboration.
To assist students in developing these skills direct instruction must take place on including important
details, deleting unnecessary information and varying sentences.
The Standards of Learning writing assessments ask students to use their revising skills to identify ways
to improve a passage that is provided. To be successful on this section of the test, students must be
able to suggest the best way to combine provided sentences, choose a more descriptive way to write
provided sentences and locate unneeded information.
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Read the first part of Jenna’s rough draft. Use it to answer the questions below.
(1)I love growing tomatoes. (2)Working in the dirt and watching a plant grow from a seed to a
beautiful fruit-producing vine gives me a feeling of accomplishment. (3)A few simple steps
must be followed in order to have success growing your own tomatoes. (4)Tomatoes are
different than cucumbers and melons. (5)If you want beautiful tomatoes, you need rich soil
and a lot of sun. (6)You also need a little patience.
5
Which sentence does not belong in
this portion of Jenna’s essay?
A
sentence 1
B
sentence 2
C
sentence 3
D
sentence 4
6
How are sentences 5 and 6 best
combined without changing their
meaning?
F
If you want beautiful tomatoes, you
need rich soil, a lot sun, and a
little patience.
G If you want beautiful tomatoes, you
need rich soil and sun and a lot of
patience.
H If you want beautiful tomatoes, you
need rich sun and soil and a little
patience.
J
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If you want beautiful tomatoes, you
need rich soil, a lot of sun,
and little patience.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Answer Sheet – For Teacher Use
Question
Correct Answer
VA SOL Essential Understanding Correlation
5
D
8.7cd – Select specific vocabulary and information.
6
F
8.7dd – Revise writing for word choice, sentence variety,
and transitions among paragraphs.
Notes to Teacher:
During the revising stage of the writing process students will revise for focus, organization, and
elaboration.
To assist students in developing these skills direct instruction must take place on including important
details, deleting unnecessary information and varying sentences.
The Standards of Learning writing assessments will ask students to use their revising skills to identify
ways to improve a passage that is provided. To be successful on this section of the test students must
be able to suggest the best way to combine provided sentences, choose a more descriptive way to write
provided sentences and locate unneeded information.
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Read the next part of Jenna’s rough draft. Use it to answer the questions below.
(7)Before planting tomato seeds make sure you have nutrient rich soil. (8)You can
purchase good potting soil at a garden center. (9)Next, find a nice sunny spot to plant the
seeds. (10)Tomatoes will not grow well if it does not get sun for most of the day. (11)After
you have your soil and you find a sunny spot, you are ready to plant your seeds.
7
How is sentence 7 best written?
A
B
Before planting, tomato seeds
make sure you have nutrient
rich soil.
Before planting tomato,
seeds, make sure you have
nutrient rich soil.
C
Before planting tomato seeds,
make sure you have nutrient
rich soil.
D
as it is
8
In sentence 10, how is it does not
correctly written?
F
they do not
G
they do
H
it doesn’t
J
as it is
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Answer Sheet – For Teacher Use
Question
Correct Answer
VA SOL Essential Understanding Correlation
7
C
8.8ba – Use and punctuate correctly varied sentence
structures to include conjunctions and transition words.
8
F
8.8ad – Use a variety of graphic organizers, including
sentence diagrams, to analyze and improve sentence
formation and paragraph structure.
Notes to Teacher:
During the editing stage of the writing process students will edit for correct grammar, punctuation,
capitalization, spelling and sentence construction.
Students should be provided with many opportunities to edit and correct punctuation in their writing and
the writing of their classmates.
The Standards of Learning writing assessments will ask students to edit a given passage for
punctuation, correct case and number, verb tense, and comparative and superlative degrees. Students
will be expected to understand the use of conjunctions and transitional words.
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Read the next part of Jenna’s rough draft. Use it to answer the questions below.
(12)Plant your seeds approximately twenty-four inches apart. (13)This will prevent over
crowding of your plants. (14)As they grow, you will either need to cage, stake, or support
your tomato plants. (15)This prevents the plants from lying on the ground and rotting.
(16)Make sure to prune stalks from your plants that are not producing fruit. (17)This will
allow the fruit that is on the plant to grow even more bigger.
(18)After you harvest your beautiful ripe tomatoes the only thing left to do is eat one.
(19)Slice it, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and enjoy the delicious flavor.
9
In sentence 14, how is cage, stake, or
support best written?
A
cage or stake or support
B
cage, stake or support
C
cage, or stake or support
D
10
In sentence 17, how is more bigger
correctly written?
F
most bigger
G
biggest
H
bigger
J
as it is
as it is
provided by Simply Achieve, Inc.
Daily SOL Writing Practice
Grade 8
Week 4
Answer Sheet – For Teacher Use
Question
Correct Answer
VA SOL Essential Understanding Correlation
9
B
8.8bj – Use and punctuate correctly varied sentence
structures to include conjunctions and transition words.
10
H
8.8eh– Use comparative and superlative degrees in
adverbs and adjectives.
Notes to Teacher:
During the editing stage of the writing process students will edit for use of language, capitalization,
punctuation and spelling. Students can earn 14 multiple choice points and 8 possible score from the
direct-writing component by accurately editing.
On the Grade 8 Standards of Learning writing assessments students will edit for the use of:
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
•Subject-verb agreement with
intervening, phrases and clauses
•Pronoun-antecedent agreement to
include indefinite pronouns
•Maintain consistent tense inflections
across paragraphs
•Choose adverbs to describe verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs
•Use correct spelling for frequently
used words
•Choose pronouns to agree with
antecedents
•Subject-verb agreement with
intervening phrases and clauses
•Edit for verb tense consistency
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•Use and punctuate correctly varied
sentence structures to include
conjunctions and transition words.
•Choose the correct case and number
for pronouns in prepositional phrases
with compound objects.
•Maintain consistent verb tense across
paragraphs
•Use comparative and superlative
degrees in adverbs and adjectives