Test Taking Strategies for STAAR: Essay Prompt Planning

Dear Shona, 

I follow your blog and really love your thoughts and suggestions. I am reaching out to ask if you have an effective process or method for teaching teachers how to unpack the prompt page/box and stimulus with students? We have found that kids don’t use this page as a place to plan/rehearse. 

Thanks for your thoughts! 

For kids, 

XXX

Interesting. I pray every day that I can bring value and support to those who touch our kids. 

Here's what I made to think through  what I have seen high scoring campuses and teachers use to diffuse the prompt and to plan the writing. 

    I remember listening to Victoria Young talk about how they were developing these new prompts when STAAR came on line. They thought that the Read, Think, Write charge was going to be a great support for kids. They thought that adding the extra information would give kids a start on their thinking. They thought it would help kick start them with ideas that they could write about. 

    Unfortunately, they helped-us-to-death. Instead of being a support, many students get lost in this stimulus. They end up being confused. They write about what is in the box instead of what the writing charge directs them to do. 

    We also have kids that don't use the word "expository" in their daily language. No surprise there. I don't either. 

1.  Kids use a synonym that helps them remember what kind of writing they are supposed to accomplish. This is especially helpful to kids who are having to retake both English I and English II tests in the same week. I have kids write "Convince" on the Persuasive prompt for English II. 

 2. CROSS out the C***: Have kids - especially those who struggle with reading or language - cross out all the stuff they don't need.  Ignore that stuff. You don't need it. I will say, however, that I have seen some campuses tell them to use the stuff in the box as an introduction.

3. Highlight the WRITE charge. Then underline and label the parts. ALL of the 4th grade STAAR released expository prompts have two parts. This gives a GREAT clue for readers about how they might organize their paragraphs. It also tells them exactly what should be included in the essay.

2016: Part A: Tell what you like about being in 4th grade Part B: Why do you like it? 

2015: Part A: Tell what you look forward to doing Part B: Why do you want to do it? 

2014: Part A: Describe your favorite place to spend time Part B: Why is it special? 

2013: Part A: Write about your favorite time of year Part B: What makes it special to you? 

4. Make a working thesis/controlling idea. Use the language in the WRITE charge and leave a blank.

"I would like to meet ________________. (Notice that I purposefully did not add the because. I want a SIMPLE and focused idea that keeps kids thinking about the SAME idea all the way through the paragraph. Also, kids who are taught to write a three pronged thesis for 26 lines won't have room to fully develop ANY of the ideas. That strategy pretty much ensures a 5 paragraph essay and a score of a 2 at best.) 

5. Use a decision donut. (Or quicklist.) What are the possibilities that you could consider? Then decide which one you have the most to say about for both parts of the essay. Can you describe them? Do you know enough about them for a full paragraph? Can you explain why you would like to meet them in more than one sentence? What are you in the mood to write about right now? Cross out the ones you don't like and prioritize the ones you like from greatest to least. Once you decide, fill in the blank. 

Think Aloud: I could write about famous people. I don't know many of them because I live under a rock. How about Elvis? I don't really care much about that. If I don't care about that topic, then I probably won't have much to say. Not enough to fill a whole paper. Other people might write about sports, but EW! No way. I could write about people in books. Winnie the Pooh? I might have trouble coming up with the "whys" for that one. Harry Potter. Doable. I could write about real people. My favorite character in the bible was Ruth. She was so brave! In one of the student papers I read, a kid wrote about wanting to meet his grandmother who had passed. I have always wanted to know my cousin Willie better. That one kinda pulls at me. The Ruth thing sounds too serious. And I think I could share the essay with my cousin. He would like it. I'll put a star next to that one and see if I can generate enough examples, reasons, explanations, and such to fill a paper. If I can't, I'll come back and work on Harry Potter. 

6. Develop your ideas. If you start writing now, it will all be a confused mush. And you don't know if you have enough to say yet. Jot down all the things you could say for WHO you want to meet in the first half of the box. Jot down all the ideas about WHY you want to meet that person in the second half. Try to come up with 10 things. You might not use them all or even have room for them all. Some is good. More is better. And too much is just enough. You can always cut out the weakest ideas or examples later. 

7. 7. Organize your ideas. There are lots of ways to do this, but there are two main ones that writers can master as they are beginning. Since the prompt asks for two things, I can write a paragraph about each one. The first paragraph can be about who I want to meet. The second paragraph can be about why I want to meet him. That's called BLOCK format. Like things go with like things. 

(A helpful strategy also is to number the ideas you have jotted down in the order that will make the most sense to talk about them. Then you just have to start with number one, make a sentence, and move to number two. For Cousin Willie, I'd probably start out with "Up north" as number one, because the distance between us is one of the biggest reasons I don't know him. Then I'd probably put number two as "met when little" because I have actually met him. He just doesn't remember me. It's important that I get that in there because it's one of the main reasons I want to meet him. I want him to remember me! Lol.)

I can also organize in another way. I can also explain one characteristic of Willie and then match it to why that characteristic makes me want to meet him. I write a sentence about who Willie is. Then right after that, I write a sentence about why that characteristic makes me want to meet him. That's called POINT by POINT format. (Or reason followed by explanation.) Then I keep going until I have explained all the important characteristics.  

Notice: I did NOT have the kids start organizing their work FIRST. Kids who try to organize their paragraphs into a five paragraph structure end up writing in generalities and vague references. They repeat the same idea over and over. NO ONE NEEDS AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY UNTIL THEY HAVE IDEAS TO ORGANIZE. What people have to say dictates the structure that will be the best delivery system, NOT a formula. 

Think Aloud: I can also group my ideas together in a point by point structure. As I was generating ideas, I realized that there are some things about cousin Willie's descriptions that are connected to why I would like to meet him.

When I was brainstorming about the ideas I could use to write, I noticed some connections. Cousin Willie runs a restaurant. And I love to talk about food. I would enjoy talking about that with him. Cousin Willie posts pictures on Facebook about camping with his family. I think that would be a fun activity for us to do if we got a chance to meet. 

Then I started to notice that a lot of my other ideas were all about family. It was then that I realized that I could have 2 paragraphs - one about Willie's activities and why that makes me want to meet him; and one about the importance of family and why that calls my heart to see him. 

If I don't have room to write about both, I can pick the most powerful one. I obviously have more to say about family. I think that I can start writing about that one. 

8. Write a sentence (or more) for each idea. Reread and revise for powerful word choice. 

9. Edit and Check: Draw some check boxes on the paper. Reread your paper for spelling. Try reading it backwards -from the bottom to the top - to help you see the mistakes. Then check off the box. Now read your paper again, checking for capitalization. Check it off. And so on. 

10. Write the introduction.

11. Copy the draft to the lined paper. Add the conclusion. (Some kids will write too slowly to write a whole rough draft. You can have them highlight to group their ideas and then number the ideas for the order that they are going to write sentences. Then they just write the sentences and check off the ideas as they compose.) 

Here's a copy of the whole enchilada planning sheet: