Review the parts of a writing response. A writing response should consist of an introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction is basically a paragraph that expresses the author's main thesis. The body of the essay consists of one to two paragraphs in which the author supports her thesis with evidence. The conclusion synthesizes the whole piece by re-positing the main argument and explaining why it is important.
Show students various writing responses and discuss the qualities of poor, average and above-average writing responses. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides examples of content-specific and on-demand writing to authorized teachers through the Writing System Online. Contact your LEA Test Coordinator or School Test Coordinator for username and password.
Advise students of the kinds of prompts that will appear on the writing exam. Students answer four prompts, two of which are content-specific and two of which are on-demand. Content-specific writing prompts require students to write on a specific topic about which they should have prior knowledge, such as mathematics, sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts or technology; on-demand writing prompts are more open-ended, allowing students to be creative and rely on personal experiences or opinions.
Administer practice exams using writing prompts from previously issued writing tests. Enforce test day rules for the practice test, abiding by time restrictions and allowing no student to get out of his seat during testing. Practice writing exams help students deal with time constraints and prepare for the test-day environment.
Review students' practice tests to identify areas of improvement, according to the rubrics provided online by the Department of Public Instruction. Student writing responses are accessed according to the categories of features, conventions and content (for content-based responses only). Features include structure, form, organization and logical presentation of ideas. Conventions include grammar and mechanics, such as spelling, tense agreement, proper use of capitalization, sentence formation and punctuation. Content relates to a student's employment of sound reasoning, application of learning skills and citation of specific examples. Address class-wide problems and, if time allows, collaborate with students individually to improve on areas of specific need, such as a poor introduction, poor grammar, frequent misspellings or lack of evidence in support of claims.