State Writing Assessment Tools and Resources February 10, 2012
Preparing for the State Writing Assessment
Do you have a state or district writing assessment just around the corner? Are you prepared? Are your students prepared? Hey, let’s not waste another second. Let’s get started! Wait a minute… is it too late? How much time do you have? Should you “teach to the test” or simply “teach writing?”
If it’s test time, then it’s also springtime. In springtime, we want to be harvesting the wonderful rewards from all our hard work. The truth is that it may not be so easy if we didn’t plant the seeds of writing success earlier in the year.
Steven Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, tells a story around the premise that if you want to harvest in the fall, you will need to plant in the spring, and have tended to the fields during the summer. (Of course, as teachers, we want to be planting in the fall and harvesting in the spring.)
Regardless of the time of year, be sure to check out Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay. I confess, the program is more of a real solution than it is a quick fix. However, more and more excited elementary and middle school teachers are discovering that they can get real writing improvement faster than they ever dreamed possible!
The program provides a foundation and a framework for student writing. It also provides a foundation and a framework for teaching students to write! The program does not teach to the test, but the results absolutely and positively show up at test time. Best of all, the program just makes sense to student! (And it’s kind of fun!)
The state writing assessment resources found on this page are designed to help teachers learn what kind of writing results they should be striving to achieve. The Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay program makes achieving those results quick and easy!
State Writing Assessment Resources: The Six Components
On the state-testing resource pages below, you will find:
1. Released writing prompts
2. Scoring rubrics
3. Anchor papers and scoring commentary (a.k.a. Student writing samples!)
4. Teacher guides and/or test directions
5. State writing standards
6. Released questions – multiple choice
Released Writing Prompts for State Testing January 10, 2012
Where Do You Find Released Writing Prompts?
Are you looking for a fabulous collection of released writing prompts from state writing assessments? Would 114 PAGES of these released writing prompts be enough? If so, you have landed on the right page! Below you will find the finest collection of released writing prompts available. Nearly all the prompts are appropriate for elementary and middle school students, and there are quite a few designed specifically for high school students.
You may also enjoy reading: “Writing Prompt Structure and Keywords for State Writing Tests” and “Elementary Writing Samples, Middle School Writing Examples, Sample Essays.” If you are looking to improve student writing FAST, be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” page.
What types of writing are students asked to write on state writing tests? What types of prompts will you find in the collections below?
Writing Prompt Structure and Keywords for State Writing Tests January 9, 2012
Tips and Tricks for State Testing Writing Prompts
Most writing prompts across all of the 50 states look very much alike. They have a similar structure, they use similar language, and they involve similar situations. While it’s true that writing prompts do change across grade levels, it’s also true that fourth grade writing prompts looks quite similar to high school writing prompts. In fact, the “writing situation” may be exactly the same, but with more complex language and writing requirements for high school students.
After learning some tips and tricks regarding the writing prompts found on state writing assessments, be sure to get 114 pages of free State Testing Released Writing Prompts here. Also, if you are looking to bring about true writing success for elementary students or struggling middle school writers, be sure to check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” page.
State writing assessments usually ask for one of these eight types of writing:
1) Narrative (A realistic story or an imaginative story)
2) Expository (Explain + Inform = Expository)
3) Persuasive (This is expository writing with an agenda.)
Autumn Writing Prompts, Essay Ideas, and Fall Writing Activities October 4, 2011
Be sure to check back for the Thanksgiving writing prompts coming soon. You may also enjoy “Back to School Writing Prompts.” Remember: Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay is the fastest, most effective way to teach children essay writing… Guaranteed! 
If you plant writing success in the fall, you will have a mighty spring harvest! (One can plant in the fall and harvest in the spring? Absolutely!)
Autumn Cause and Effect Essay
• Leaves change color in fall. What makes the leaves change color? What effects do the colorful leaves have on the tree, on the environment, and on people?
• The amount of daily sunlight decreases during autumn. What are the causes of this? What are its effects?
• Some students go to summer school – what effect does this have on students once school starts up again in fall?
• The weather changes in fall. How does it change? How does this affect the way people dress? Does the change in weather also affect people’s moods?
• Kids are back in school during the fall – what effect does this have on family life?
• Some people get depressed in autumn. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). What are some of the causes of SAD? What are its effects?
• Because of daylight savings time clocks are set back one hour in the fall. Why do we do this? What effect does this have?
Autumn Persuasive Essay
Autumn Poems for Kids October 3, 2011
Welcome to a great collection of autumn and fall poems for kids! Be sure to check out the very bottom of the page for a few additional autumn poem resources for younger children. (Many of these are classic autumn poems for kids; however, I have only posted poems which I am positive are in the public domain.) 
In this collection you will find:
• A Song of the Woods by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.
• A Fall Song by Ellen Robena Field
• Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Autumn, Queen of Year by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.
• Down to Sleep by Helen Hunt Jackson
• Farewell to the Farm by Robert Louis Stevenson
• How the Leaves Came Down by Susan Coolidge
• November by Alice Cary
• November Morning by Evaleen Stein
• September by Helen Hunt Jackson
• October’s Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson
• The Huskers by John Greenleaf Whittier
• “After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost
• The Migration of the Grey Squirrels by William Howitt
A Song of the Woods
by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. (1902–1983) (Written between age five and twelve.)
“My leaves are turning crimson,” the giant oak tree said,
“It’s almost time these children should seek their winter’s bed,
But how they still cling to me and gleam with crimson hue,
They truly are more lovely than cirrus clouds of blue.
State Writing Standards K-12 – What to Teach and When? September 15, 2011
Teachers need to use their time wisely when teaching writing. Here is a great resource for making sure you are teaching what you are supposed to be teaching in the grade that you are supposed to be teaching it. Below are five sets of K-12 state writing standards. (If you are teaching writing… don’t click the back button. You won’t want to miss this!)
Why Take a Look at these K-12 State Writing Standards?
If you found this page, you likely want some answers on how to teach writing. I guarantee that printing out these standards and reading them will be a fantastic use of your time. If you are looking for answers on how to teach writing, you must understand the big picture. Since the standards are K-12, you will get to see the big picture, year by year.
The directions that follow will make it easy and fast for you to download and print just the “writing standards.” Once you read them, you will understand where your students have been, where they are now, and what can wait for next year.
Be sure to check out the Pattern Based Writing program on the homepage. It’s the foundation that will improve your students’ writing across the curriculum.
For a Moment… Just Focus… on Teaching Writing
In most states, the writing standards are a part of the English Language Arts (ELA) Content Standards. The truth is, you may want to read all of the ELA Content Standards for your state and/or your grade. However, if you are using a basal reading program, you likely have your reading instruction all mapped out for you. Writing, on the other hand, is a different matter. When it comes to teaching writing, the teacher needs to bring something to the table. Teachers need to get their head around where they want to take their students and how they will get them there.
Save yourself (and your students) a lot of frustration; read at least one set of the K-12 state writing standards. If you like it and you learn a lot… read another. You will quickly figure out what you should teach YOUR students about writing! Once again, I have made it easy! Just read on (all are in free downloadable PDF files):
• California – The writing standards are part of the ELA content standards. The ELA standards are 92 pages; however, I have listed the page numbers for just the writing standards. The K-12 writing standards total just 31 pages. Print them out in the order listed and you will have a well-organized “K-12 Writing Standards” booklet.
• New York – The writing standards are part of the ELA content standards. The ELA standards are 92 pages; however, I have listed the page numbers for just the writing standards. The K-12 writing standards total just 28 pages. Print them out in the order listed and you will have a well-organized “K-12 Writing Standards” booklet.
Back-to-School Writing Prompts and Activities August 22, 2011
Welcome back to school! Writing assignments for the beginning of the new school year often revolve around these four areas: 
1. “All About Me” writing activities and assignments. This is a time-honored beginning-of-the-school-year writing tradition. It starts the school year off right when teachers get to know their students. Teachers want to know their students and students like to be known and understood as real people.
2. Students’ expectations, goals, hopes, and dreams for the new school year. Let’s see if the teacher and the students agree on what school is supposed to be like. Teachers will get to learn about their students’ beliefs in regards to school, learning, and education. This can provide valuable insights which will help the teacher properly motivate their students.
3. Reflections on summer vacation. This is kind of similar to “all about me” writing. It gives students a chance to let go of summer, and allows teachers to have up-to-date knowledge of what their students are interested in.
4. Classroom routines and policies. The most effective way to be sure that students understand what is expected of them is to have them write about it. An additional important benefit of this kind of writing is that students convince themselves of the benefits of having an excellent classroom learning environment. When students explain to themselves why routines, rules, and policies are necessary, they become convinced without feeling “convinced against their will.”
Most of the writing prompts that follow will fall into one of these four categories. See if you can determine which category each writing prompt falls into. The four categories all have a strong purpose behind them, and assigning a writing prompt with purpose leads to better writing.
Why Grammar Instruction Does Not Improve Student Writing July 26, 2011
What Does the Research on Teaching Writing Show?
Do you want to improve your students’ writing? Well, don’t teach grammar! I’m serious. Teaching grammar doesn’t improve student writing. I will never forget the year when I devoted an unreasonable amount of time to teaching grammar in the hopes that students would stop making all those careless mistakes in their writing. It didn’t work. 
Recently, I discovered that decades of research have proven what I discovered through experience. The National Commission on Writing quoted the research below in this important report on teaching writing: The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution.
The research shows:
• “Experiments over the last 50 years have shown negligible improvements in the quality of student writing as a result of grammar instruction.” (Becoming a Nation of Readers, National Institute of Education, 1985.)
• “Decades of research (Elly, 1979, Hillocks, 1986, Freedman, 1993, Freedman and Daiute, 2001) have shown that instructional strategies such as isolated skill drills fail to improve student writing.”
But before you throw out all those fabulous grammar books, please let me explain why it doesn’t work and then how to make it work.
Three Reasons Why Isolated Grammar Skill Drills Don’t Improve Student Writing
• First, the information doesn’t stick because students simply figure out “the trick” and then fill in all the rest of the answers using the same trick.
Paragraph Examples – Narrative, Persuasive, Descriptive and Many More February 28, 2011
In the “Writing with Purpose” section of Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, students learn to apply their writing strategies to different types (or modes) of writing. The truth is it’s quite easy to get students writing tons of paragraphs like the ones below – that is – when they have the right foundation.
In short, all of these different types of paragraphs simply involve layering on a different purpose or intent. When students have the right foundation, it’s just that simple.
What are you trying to do? What is your purpose here? Do you want to describe? Do you want to evaluate? Do you want to narrate? Are you trying to persuade…?
When students don’t have a foundation, these questions don’t mean much to them. They don’t have control over their writing; they are not fluent writers. It’s likely they won’t even understand what you are talking about!
In Pattern Based Writing, when a student wants to:
• Describe >>>> they write a >>>> Descriptive paragraph
• Inform >>>> they write a >>>> Informative paragraph
• Narrate >>>> they write a >>>> Narrative paragraph
• Persuade >>>> they write a >>>> Persuasive paragraph
It’s easy! For Writing Success… CLICK HERE! Get your students writing amazing paragraphs — Wait… why stop there?! Why not get your students writing entire essays filled to the brim with amazing paragraphs?! (Gr. 2-6 and for remediation in middle school and above.) Check out the Pattern Based Writing program!
Descriptive Paragraph
1. Describe: I am going to DESCRIBE a sunset!
Sunset is the time of day where our sky meets the outer space solar winds. There are blue, pink, and purple swirls, spinning and twisting like a cloud of balloons caught in a blender. The sun moves slowly beyond the horizon, while the moon races to take its place in prominence atop the night sky. People slow to a crawl, entranced, fully forgetting the deeds that still must get done. There is a coolness… a calmness… whenever the sun does set.
Informational Paragraph and a Narrative Paragraph
2. Inform: I am going to INFORM you about the Apollo 11 space mission.
Mastering Essay Writing in Elementary School February 26, 2011
Often student writing is not held to the same high standards that student work is in many of the other subjects.
Here are a few reasons why:
1. Writing is an art. There is not an easy answer key for the writing teacher.
2. The way writing is taught can often seem esoteric to children. It seems to them that the rules of good writing sure do seem to change a lot. “The teacher liked what I wrote yesterday, but today they say this is not good. I don’t get it.”
3. Staying on top of student writing is hard work for teachers. As such, students have more opportunities to slack off and practice writing the wrong way.
Without a doubt “Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay Writing” has gotten a hold of all of these issues. I will admit, the “Pattern Based Writing” program does not teach every aspect of what good writing is. However, what it completely and absolutely solves is what this video below talks about.
Elementary School Essay Writing vs. High School Essay Writing
What is shocking about this video is that it is from Ashworth University and is designed for high school students. (It’s an excellent video on the 5-paragraph essay. The teacher is very clear and concise.)
As you watch it, imagine an entire class of third graders sitting there watching this video and saying, “Yes, we can do all that. We learned that last month. We can organize and write one of those five-paragraph essays in less than 30-minutes.”
The third graders I am talking about are from the inner city and their teacher had become ill early in the year. This began a long string of substitute teachers. I came in at the end of their school year and took them from unorganized sentences to excellent five-paragraph essay in just 37 days.
“Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay” solves the essay problem. Whether your students are in elementary school or middle school you can revolutionize their writing quickly and easily. This should not be an issue in high school.
Enjoy the video!
P.S. Concerned parents, “Pattern Based Writing” is an easy way for you to bring control to your child’s writing.
