Integrated Daily Writing Time
STAAR writing and beyond
STAAR has changed. Again.
OERs - Continuing our hard work
COMPARING
CONTRASTING
MAKING THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Let's Get To Writing!
Daily Writing Practice & Strategies, from the best
Gretchen Bernabei - Greatest Hits
Teaching STAAR Writing - A Timeline
1. Have students review the rubric for understanding.
Activity: You practice with your partner to do use the TEA rubric and transform it into student friendly language, using visuals if necessary.
- TEA Rubric (one pager) or Persuasive One Pager
- Blank Rubric
Discussion Question/Extension: What would you need to review just to make sure students understand the rubric/how to score? What can you design for your writing anchor wall that supports greater student understanding of how to score a "4?"
2. Have students practice scoring other students, as well as eventually their own writing, EVERY time they write an essay. You can use an OER format to have them justify the score they gave it, using "text evidence" directly from their own essay.
Activity: You practice calibrating your scoring practices.- Opportunities to practice scoring
- Discussion Questions/Extension: What elements do you notice about the "4" essays? What would you need to teach that you haven't yet? Start making a bullet list of needs and mini-lessons you need to teach before writing block. (Here is a blank one you may want to use; my example)
3. Use exemplary essays and focus on specific elements that support their unique writing needs or struggles:
STAAR Essays that scored 7 or 8 on STAAR - Expository or Persuasive
Digital Writing Binder of STAAR Essays, sorted by Strategy/Skill - mentor essays
Real Expository Writing Pieces for a variety of purposes/topics. (Example here: "Essays every HS student should read" or here: "Short English Essays for Students")
Activity: Work with your group to:
(A) find sentences from short excerpts - "real writing," a mentor STAAR essay, or create model sentences that match the needs of one of the mini-lessons your students need. "I Do"
(B) Design a "We Do" and "You Do" activity for students to do. The "You" should not only have a check for understanding but also an application/directions for incorporating the lesson into their own writing.
Extension: If you finish early, start planning for a second mini-lesson, using the same protocol above.
4. Chunk the teaching of the writing on a daily basis, where it is easier for you to grade sections at a time. This will also give you more of an idea for where students (and the class, in general) are struggling.
Example for teaching the first expository STAAR essay:
- Day 1: The hook, intro, and thesis
- Day 2: Example 1
- Day 3: Example 2
- Day 4: Concluding Statements
- Day 5: Revision
- Day 6: Editing
Activity 1: What are supports that students need for each step? What models, visuals, or bullet point notes could you design so that you can create folders for a place on your wall or in your room to store info and examples on each section of the writing process: Hook/Intro, Thesis, Example Ideas, and Conclusion?
Revising and Editing
All Released OER and Essay Prompts
Take some time to review the R&E Chart, along with the stems from the multiple choice questions, with your group.
Continuing "Chunking" the teaching of the essay - R&E
Activity 1: Take the sample essay through the revising shuffle activity with your group. Make sure you are ONLY looking for the one thing you have been instructed to revise for.
- Revising Shuffle Activity
Activity 2: Take the same essay through the editing shuffle activity. Make sure you are ONLY looking for the one thing that you have been instructed to edit for.
- Editing Shuffle Activity
Extension: What grammar lessons or examples would you need to do to ensure students are prepared for this activity?
Status of the Class
After students have gone through the process of the writing as a class, give them a minimum number of pieces to write and allow them to work at their pace, using SOTC. Those that finish early can continue writing, but it can be something from a previous entry or quick write. This will give variety and purpose to for real writing.
Need new prompts? Check these out!
Use SOTC (Status of the Class) at the beginning of writing time.
- Number the parts of the writing process on your wall/board (sample below).
- As you call each student, ask them to give you a number, based on where they are in the writing process. Record it as a way to check both attendance and their progress on a day to day basis.
- With this information, you know which students need your help first. You can also create workshops with select groups of students, where you can focus on mini-lessons and strategies based on their needs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS for an IDEAL WRITING BLOCK (35-40 minutes):
- Do two Quickwrites with a few golden lines that you type up to model correct structure, etc. (5-6 minutes)
- Have students create the four square from memory. (3 minutes)
- Do a 5 or 9 minute essay. (5-9 minutes)
- Add at least one ba-da-bing and at least one pitchfork and end with a truism. (5 minutes)
- Practice the steps of COPPS with them. (5 minutes)
- Do three rounds of Revise Shuffle and Edit Shuffle. (12 minutes)
The Perfect Writing Conference
- Ask the student to read aloud part of their paper (you may have a certain area of concern raised from a previous round of Revise/Edit shuffle)
- Ask them what they notice about the part they read. If they need prompting, ask reflective questions - is it clear to the reader/grader? Is the word choice at an elementary or college level?
- Ask them what they might try. If they need prompting, offer suggestions like: work with a partner to read their essay to see if they can find the thesis and support, add detail with a Ba-Da-Bing, icons, or pitchforking, etc.
In a writing conference, the goal is for the student to be doing the thinking, the reflecting - the work. Your role is to guide, support, and help them become more metacognitive about their writing and writing practices.
Testing Strategies
Here is a list to review what TEKS to hit before STAAR, as well as STAAR tips and testing strategies to review with students before the test.
Put a countdown and keep up with it daily; students will become more involved with keeping track of their data and meeting their TEKs deficiencies when they see that their days with you before the test are limited.
Sample Anchors for each Folder
- Breaking down the prompt including sample prompts
- The rubric
- The Thesis PPT used in class and an activity
- Practice evaluating thesis statements (cards)
- Text Structure cards and a text structure activity
Creating Folders for Every Writing Need
- Hook/Intro ideas (think Bernabei!)
- Outlines and/or graphic organizers
- Transition activity/cards
- Example Ideas (like CHELPS)
- Word Choice
- Revising Steps (including syntax)
- Editing Steps
- Scoring with rubric
- Concluding statement ideas
Materials to Include
- Extra lined pages
- Extra copies of the rubric
- Extra copies of blank outlines or graphic organizers
- Extra copies of peer conference sheets (here are some task cards to consider!)
- Dictionaries
- Thesauruses
- Bilingual and visual dictionaries
- Binder with exemplar essays and mentor texts
- Writing utensils
- Grammar Rules/Posters - ex: ARMS and CUPS
Other ideas to spice up your writing area
Quotes for Inspiration
- Shakespeare
- Politics
- Thematic to the unit or books students are reading
- Teachers and students!
Encourage students to come up with them! Having a small box near the poster on top of a bookshelf can encourage them to find some from their books or from things they've heard recently.
Golden Lines
As you move into writing, have students self-select one line from their writing to share and read it aloud to you. Type it so that you are modeling correct sentence structure, spelling, and grammar. Then, do the same thing - analyze what makes it a "golden line" - this is a great way to give organic mini-lessons around grammar, sentence structure, figurative language, word choice, etc.
Truisms
STAAR Games
Here is a list of fun activities for a STAAR blitz/camp to review; you can use these for whole class activities. There are also some group activities included.
STAAR Centers
Student Study Centers
Planning Time
During planning, I encourage you to walk around and interact with some of the centers I've provided. (Please don't write on or take materials - but feel free to take pics!)
Here are some things to think about when designing your own writing centers:
- Does it include clear directions?
- Does it include examples/visuals?
- Does it an exit ticket/check for understanding?
Erika San Miguel
- Masters from Concordia in Educational Leadership
- 8 years ELA & Reading Teacher
- 3 years Instructional Lead Teacher & Dept Chair
- 2 years Curriculum & Instruction Specialist, AISD
Email: erika.sanmiguel@austinisd.org
Website: teachermaterials.weebly.com
Location: 1111 West 6th Street, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: 512-414-4479