Writing
To enhance their skills in each writing-related strand, students who score in the 5–6 score range may benefit from activities that encourage them to do the following:
| Score Range 5–6 |
| Expressing Judgments |
- choose a position on an issue and generate a list of possible objections others might have to that position
- listen to a public debate; identify strategies skilled speakers use in responding to their opponent's viewpoint
- experiment with ways to acknowledge an opposing viewpoint without weakening the essay's focus or position
- practice writing brief responses to opposing viewpoints
|
| Focusing on the Topic |
- understand the relationship between a general topic and a specific issue within that topic
- practice writing short responses (one paragraph) that stay focused on a specific topic
- identify the thesis statements in a variety of model essays
- critique writing in peer workshops to ensure that the thesis is clear and that the thesis, introduction, and conclusion all focus on the same idea
|
| Developing a Position |
- understand that a thesis statement expresses an essay's main idea and must be supported with reasons, examples, and details
- discuss how to generate specific examples and details to illustrate general ideas
- read model essays that derive generalizations from specific examples and details
|
| Organizing Ideas |
- compare the outline of an original essay to the outline of a model essay; discuss ways to reorganize the original writing to make it more effective
- critique writing in peer workshops to see if paragraphs are organized effectively: identify sentences out of sequence, paragraphs that lack clear topic sentences, and ideas that don't belong
- review paragraphs to see if smooth transitions are provided from one to the next
- draft an introduction that includes a clearly stated thesis, and a conclusion that confirms the main theme of the essay
|
| Using Language |
- continue to read and discuss works by skilled writers to become more familiar with correct language use
- read original writing aloud to hear and identify language errors
- revise writing to reduce unnecessary repetition of words and phrases
- practice varying sentence length by combining simple sentences
- experiment with varying sentence construction by moving prepositional phrases to the beginning of sentences
|
