Transcript STAAR Writing

STAAR WRITING
REVIEW
2014-2015
Jael Penn
Test Breakdown
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The two compositions=16 Maximum
Points out of 44 possible points.
The Multiple Choice=28 Maximum
Points out of 44 possible points.
Percentages-Compositions = 36% of
Test
Percentages-Multiple Choice=64% of
Test
Cumulative Review
Resource
Go to:
http://mrswarnerarlington.weebly.c
om/
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Grammar
Grammar Rock Videos
Language Videos
Editing
Watch the following videos on
www.brainpop.com“Capitalization”.
“Punctuation”
“Their, There, and They’re”
“ Subject Verb Agreement”
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Review “CUPS”
Common
Homophones
be / bee
wood / would
eye / I
hear / here
hour / our
know / no
knows / nose
mail / male
meat / meet
plain / plane
prince / prints
right / write
road / rode
sail / sale
sea / see
son / sun
steal / steel
storey / story
tail / tale
their / there/they’re
to / two
buy / by/ bye
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence has a sentence and a
fragment.
If the fragment is first, use a comma.
The fragment begins with a subordinating
conjunction--after, although, as, as if, as though,
because, before, if, since, than, though, till,
unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas,
wherever, while.
Ex. When Sally moved to Houston, she missed
her old friends.
Compound Sentences
It contains two or more sentences
joined by a comma and a
conjunction or by a semicolon.
Remember… FANBOYS!
Ex. Shakespeare was a playwright,
but he also wrote poetry.
Ex. Shakespeare is a playwright; he
also writes poetry.
Comma Rules
Rule: Use a comma after each item in a series
of at least three items.
Ex. I dislike veggies, nuts, and chocolate.
Rule: Use commas in a street address.
Ex. 11825 Teaneck Houston, TX 77089
Rule: Use a comma between the day and the
year in a date.
Ex. My birthday is March 7, 1964.
Comma Rules (cont’d.)
Rule: Use a comma to separate two or
more adjectives that describe a noun.
Ex. I like bright, cheery colors.
Rule: Use a comma before the conjunction
in a sentence.
Ex. We had fun, so we’ll do this again.
Rule: Use a comma after a dependent
clause that begins a sentence.
Ex. If she complains, just ignore it.
Comma Rules (cont’d.)
Rule: Put a comma to the left of a quotation mark,
when it doesn’t already have a punctuation mark.
Ex. Mitzi said, “Do your best!”
Rule: Use a comma after an interjection at the
beginning of a sentence.
Ex. Oh, what a difference!
Rule: Use a comma to set off an interruption in
the main thought of a sentence.
Ex. Esme, of course, will bring the food.
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Editing: Comma Use
Comma Use
The most common uses on a standardized test are:
*Commas are used with conjunctions to separate two
ideas.
*Commas are also used to separate items in a set/list.
*Commas are used after a prepositional phrase at the
beginning of a sentence.
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Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence _______?
What is the correct way to write sentences _____ and
_____?
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Editing: Subject/Verb
Agreement
Usage/ Subject Verb Agreement
To be or not to be: Most of the time the question will
ask you about some form of the verb form “to be”,
irregular verbs, “have” verb forms or the tense of the
verb. Remember that a singular noun has a verb that
ends in ‘s’ and a plural noun does not.
 Ex. Girls cry.
A girl cries.
 Question Stems:
 What is the correct way to write sentence
________?
 What revision, if any, needs to be made in sentence
_____?
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Spelling Errors
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Rule: i before e except after c or with words that use
ei to make the long A sound - Ex. believe, achieve,
grief, thief, field, piece words with c - receive, conceive,
deceive, conceit, receipt, ceiling, words with long A sound
- neighbor, weigh, vein
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Rule: To make a plural (more than one) of a word, add
an s at the end unless the word ends with a ch, sh, x,
or s, then add es at the end Ex. lunch-lunches, watchwatches, wish-wishes, flash-flashes, box-boxes, taxtaxes, dress-dresses, miss-misses, toss-tosses
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Rule: The letters i, u, and v never come at the end of
English words. Ex. long i sound at the end spelled with
y - my, try, fly, deny, reply; menu is a word borrowed from
French and flu is short for influenza; words that end with
a v sound have a silent e - have, give, love, stove
Spelling Errors (cont’d.)
Rule: Words that end with a single vowel y change the y to an i before adding a
suffix except if the suffix begins w/ the letter i
Ex. party-parties, worry-worries, happyhappiness, hurry-hurried, cry-cried, enjoy-enjoying,
party-partying, worry-worrying
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Rule: When a word ends with a silent e, remove
the e before adding a suffix if the suffix begins
with a vowel, leave the e and add the suffix if the
suffix begins with a consonant
Ex. race-racing, hope-hoping, phone-phoned, makemaking, like-liked, bake-baker, smile-smiled; raceraces, smile-smiles, hope-hopeless, hope-hopeful
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Spelling Errors (cont’d.)
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Rule: All, till, and full are written with one l at the
end when they are combined with another
syllable
Ex. always, already, until, thankful
Spelling Errors (cont’d.)
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Rule: Soft c sound (like s sound) and soft g sound
(like j sound) are made when the letters e, i, or y
follow the c or g ex. city, circle, cylinder, center,
centimeter, citizen, cell, giraffe, giant, gypsy, gentle,
germs, gems, gerbil, general
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Rule: At the end of a one syllable word that has a
single vowel, the letters f, l, and s are usually
doubled Ex. stuff, staff, off, cliff, stiff, well, tell, fill, hill,
dress, mess, miss
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Rule: The letter x is never followed by the letter s Ex.
excellent, excited, boxes, taxes, exceed
Editing: Spelling Rules
Spelling Rules
The most common spelling errors on a standardized
are test are for…
*doubling consonants
*plural forms
*homophones (Which one should be used in the
sentence?)
Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence ________?
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Apostrophe Rules
RULE: Most words simply get an apostrophe s…('s).
Ex. Lisa’s box
RULE: Plural nouns ending in S simply get an
apostrophe (s').
Ex. boys’ box
RULE: For irregular plurals (not ending in S), add
apostrophe S ('s).
Ex. the children’s coats
Apostrophe Rules (cont’d.)
RULE: For names ending in S, add apostrophe S
('s) or just an apostrophe
Ex. Charles’s dog
Charles’ dog
RULE FIVE: Use it in contractions for the missing
letter.
Ex. doesn’t = does not (the ‘o’ is missing)
Editing: Apostrophes
Apostrophes
Remember the Rules: Remember to think about how
contractions are spelled and the use of an apostrophe
when showing possession.
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Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence ________?
What revision, if any, needs to be made in sentence
_____?
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Capitalization Rules
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The word ‘I’
Proper nouns
Titles
Abbreviations
Days and months
Historical events
Beginning of a sentence
Editing: Capitalization
Capitalization Rules
Use capital letters at the beginning of
sentences, for names of people, places,
historical events, months/days, languages,
and the word ‘I’.
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Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence
________?
What revision, if any, needs to be made in
sentence _____?
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Punctuation Rules
Periods
 End of a telling(declarative)
sentence
 The word ‘I’
 After an abbreviation
 Proper Nouns
Punctuation Rules
Quotation Marks
 Use before and after a direct
quote.
 Put them around titles.
Editing: Punctuation
Punctuation Marks
We use a period at the end of most sentences and for
abbreviations. We use a question mark at the end of a
sentence to which we could give an answer. We use
an exclamation point at the end of an interrogative
sentence that shows emotion.
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Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence ________?
What is the correct way to write sentences _____ and
_____?
What revision, if any, needs to be made in sentence
_____?
Revising
 Watch
the following videos
on www.brainpop.com
“ Run Ons”
“ Sentence Fragments”
 Review
“ARMS
Revising:
Organizing Sentences
Organizing/Adding/Deleting Sentences
Find a connection: Look for sentences that are talking
about the same thing/idea. Move sentences around or
add a sentences.
Question Stems:
 Roberto wants to add a sentence after sentence
____ in paragraph ___. Which sentence should he
add to improve or strengthen his paper?
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Juanita would like to add the following sentence to
the first paragraph. (There will be a sentence in a
box.) Where is the best place to insert this
sentence?
Revising:
Organizing Sentences
(cont’d.)
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What change if any should be made in
sentence _____?
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What is the best way to revise sentence
______?
Revising:
Concluding Sentences
Concluding Sentences
Connect the whole piece: The answer connects the
whole essay together without elaborating on details.
Question Stems:
Eric wants to add a conclusion to his report. Which of
the following could BEST follow sentence ____ and
close his report?
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Revising: Transition Words
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Transition Words
Clue Words: Reread the sentence and insert every
answer choice. Which one makes sense?
Question Stems:
 Sally needs to add a transition word or phrase to
move from sentence ___ to sentence ___. Which
transition word could BEST be added to the
beginning of sentence ___?
 What change if any should be made in sentence
_____?
 What is the correct way to write sentences ____
and ____?
 What is the best way to revise to sentences ____
and ____?
Revising:
Eliminating Sentences
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Eliminating Sentences
Look for the intruder: You are on “intruder alert”
status and you are looking for a sentence that is off
topic. Read the sentence before and after the one in
question. Does it all flow and make sense?
Question Stems:
 What change is any should be made in paragraph
_____?
 Which sentence does not belong in this paper?
Revising: Replacing Words
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Replacing Words
Look for clear meaning: Choose the answer that has
clear word choice. Reread the sentence and choose
the word that an author would write to get his point
across clearly. There could be a homophone or a
pronoun question.
 Question Stems:
Look at sentence _______. The word _____ does not
express what James was trying to say. Which word
could BEST replace _____ and help James improve
the meaning of the sentence?
 What change if any should be made in sentence
_____?
 What is the correct way to write sentence _____?
Revising:
Combining Sentences
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Combining Sentences
Look for conjunctions: Look for the sentence that is
combined with a conjunction and the proper
punctuation marks. Eliminate fragments or a run-on
sentences as answer choices.
Question Stems:
 What is the best way to combine sentence ______
and _____?
 What is the correct way to write sentence _____?
 What is the best way to revise sentence ______?
Revising:
Complete Thoughts
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Complete Thoughts
Sentence or Fragment: If there is a group of words
that does not have both a subject and a predicate, then
it is an incomplete thought and not a sentence.
Question Stems:
What is the correct way to write sentence ________?
What is the correct way to write sentences _____ and
_____?
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Revising:
Central Idea & Details
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Central Ideas/ Supporting Details
Look for central idea: The answer should not have
the details about the topic. It is a topic sentence that
clearly tells what the essay is going to be about with
simple sentence structure and may have ‘voice’.
Stay on Topic: Details must go with the topic and the
surrounding sentences. The sentence must stay on
topic.
 Question Stems:
 Which sentence could be added to state the main
idea of the story?
 Lisa wants to insert a sentence after sentence ____
in paragraph ______. Which sentence should she
add to provide details about the topic?