Writing
To enhance their skills in each writing-related strand, students who score in the 1–2 score range may benefit from activities that encourage them to do the following:
| Score Range 1–2 |
| Expressing Judgments |
- discuss the goal of a persuasive essay
- ask five people for their opinion on an issue; note the range in viewpoints a single issue can bring out
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| Focusing on the Topic |
- identify a local community or school issue; phrase the issue in the form of a question; then experiment with ways to answer that question clearly in a single sentence
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| Developing a Position |
- study model paragraphs that have topic sentences; notice that in each example the idea in the topic sentence is explained by the rest of the sentences in the paragraph
- in a model persuasive essay, list the ideas that the writer talks about; discuss which is the essay's main idea and which are ideas that support or illustrate the main idea
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| Organizing Ideas |
- practice grouping sentences that share like subjects
- construct a simple timeline of an event; discuss how the event has a beginning, a middle, and an end
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| Using Language |
- read the works of favorite writers
- regularly write informal entries (responses to readings, or original ideas) in a journal
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