Writing a Story for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write a story of your own, using another story as inspiration. The following activity will help you practice.

Read the writing prompt.

Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose?

Audience?

Subject?

Type?

Warm-Up for Reading and Writing Literature Assessments

Reading lets you experience great stories, and writing helps you tell your own great stories. That's why some major assessments test your ability to read literature, write about it, and maybe even write your own stories.

What Is Literature Assessment?

© Thoughtful Learning 2016

Literature assessments test how well you read stories and poems and whether you can write clearly about them. On some literature assessments, you will create your own stories. This unit will help you prepare for these kinds of assessments.

In the following activities, you’ll learn about close reading—reading to understand how a story or poem works. You’ll discover how writers use character, setting, plot, conflict, and theme to develop stories. You’ll also learn how poets use rhythm, rhyme, imagery, and figures of speech. Then you’ll discover strategies for on-demand writing—strategies for developing your own ideas during an assessment.

Thinking About Close Reading

To read closely, you need to think about the parts of a story: character, setting, conflict, and theme. Even flash fiction has these elements.

Editing Possessives

In writing, possessives are used to show ownership. Read the following rules and examples about forming possessives.

• To form the possessive of a singular noun or an indefinite pronoun, add ’s. (Indefinite pronouns include one, anybody, nobody, somebody, anyone, no one, someone.)

• To form the possessive of most plural nouns (those that end in s), add only the apostrophe.

• To form the possessive of irregular plural nouns (those that do not end in s), add ’s.

1. Joes train has been delayed. Joe’s train has been delayed.
2. My books pages are stuck together. My book’s pages are stuck together.
3. The mens’ locker room is down the hall. The men’s locker room is down the hall.
4. The women basketball game lasted two hours. The women's basketball game lasted two hours.
5. I poured the cat food into Henry’s bowl. I poured the cat food into Henry’s bowl. (correct)
6. The party is at the Green’s house. The party is at the Greens’ house.
7. The outcome of the election is anybodys’ guess. The outcome of the election is anybody’s guess.
8. The closet was full of children’s toys. The closet was full of children’s toys. (correct)
9. The first baseman missed the coachs’ sign. The first baseman missed the coach’s sign.
10. Alisha met her friends at Janets’ house. Alisha met her friends at Janet’s house.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

The first sentence in your narrative should grab the reader’s attention. It is called a lead. The following strategies will help you write an effective lead.

• Start in the middle of the action.

  I stepped into my first debate meeting, and my whole world changed.

• Start with someone speaking.

  “There's no better time than now to try something new,” said my mother.

• Ask readers a question.

  Do you know what it feels like to step outside your comfort zone?

• Begin with a surprising statement or an interesting fact.

  Before the winter of my 7th grade year, I wore a shell.

Beginning Paragraph

Prewriting to Select a Topic

The topic of your narrative should be a period in your life in which you learned something important about yourself or your world.

Topic 1:

Topic 2:

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

The first sentence in your narrative should grab the reader’s attention. It is called a “lead.”

• Start in the middle of the action:

  With the mighty Rockies on the horizon, our expedition came upon a fork in the Missouri River.

• Start with interesting dialogue:

  “If we make the wrong choice, the expedition is doomed,” said Captain Lewis.

• Use a startling idea:

  If your life hung on a 50-50 chance, could you flip the coin?