Writing a Paragraph for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write a paragraph in response to sources you have read or viewed. The following activity will help you practice responding.

1. Read the writing prompt.

You have just read three articles and watched a video about monarch butterflies. Write a paragraph that explains how the additional sources expand your understanding from Source 1. Include at least two examples, naming the title and author of each source that you use.

2. Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose?

Audience?

Subject?

Type?

Practicing for Assessment

Reading and writing tests measure important learning skills. You can do your best on such tests by reading and writing every day. You can also get a better score if you practice for assessment.

How Can I Practice for Assessment?

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The best way to practice for a reading and writing assessment is to take a practice test. This unit asks you to closely read information and write about it, just as you will do on actual assessments.

You’ll find interesting articles to read and respond to. You’ll also get to watch a video. In the end, you’ll need to take the information you discover and use it to write an informational essay of your own.

If you would like more help with close reading and informational writing, see the unit “Reading and Writing for Assessment.”

Reading a Practice Assessment

Some tests ask you to closely read and respond to explanatory articles and then use them to write an essay. One technique for reading closely is SQ3R:

• Survey the headings, illustrations, beginning, and ending of the text.
• Question what the text is about and what you expect to learn from it.
• Read the text carefully.
• Recite the main points covered in the text.
• Review the material, thinking about how it relates to other things you have learned.

Source 1

Editing Command Sentences

Commands usually start with verbs.

What about a subject? Commands have implied subjects: you.

Revising to Elaborate Details

To explain something, you need to elaborate. When you elaborate, you use different types of details to explain an idea.

Step 2: Get a cage

Next, you need to get a cage for your hamster.

Detail 1: Metal cages

Metal cages let the air flow through.

Detail 2: Plastic cages

Plastic cages can have all kinds of tubes for exercise.

Detail 3: Cage features

You need a water bottle, food dish, and wheel for running.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

Lead Sentence

Detail Sentences

Focus Statement

Prewriting to Focus Your Ideas

1. List three things that you know how to do really well.
2. Which of these three processes would you like to explain in an essay?
3. What tools and materials do you need for this process?
4. What steps would you list for doing this process?
5. What special thought or feeling do you have about this process?

Editing End Punctuation

Sentences end in a period, question mark, or exclamation point. These punctuation marks are like traffic signs because they signal that a sentence has come to a stop. Here are the rules for using these marks.

• Use a period at the end of a statement.

  Thirty-five third graders in the school answered two questions.

• Use a question mark at the end of a question.

  What is your favorite ocean mammal?

• Use an exclamation point to show strong emotion.

  They crack oysters open on rocks on their bellies!

Revising to Find Paragraphs

If your writing goes on and on without paragraphs, it can be hard to read. When this happens, you need to separate the writing into paragraphs. Use this three-step process:

1. Label the first word with a paragraph sign (¶).
2. Name the main idea in the first paragraph.
3. Find the first sentence not about this idea and label it. Start a new paragraph.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as you move through your essay.