2. Ms. Morrow
• Teacher of English — Reader’s and Writer’s
Workshop
• School Librarian
• Freelance Writer
• Supermom of 3 children - ages 19, 7 and 2 (the
superman cape belongs to my 2-year-old)
3. Eng I STAAR Exam
• March 31
• why is this test important to you? - you must reach level II
on this test in order to graduate.
• a few test changes:
1. it is now one test - reading and writing combined with a 5
hour time limit
2. there is only one type of essay - expository (informative)
writing (you will write a total of 2 essays but one is a field
question — which doesn’t count against you and is used by
test makers as helpful information when writing new tests).
4. What Can You Do To Prepare
• The single most important thing students can do to
prepare for any reading / writing standardized test
is to read and write daily (choose books you enjoy
and write about something that interests you)
• Keep a journal or notebook and write in it daily
— set a timer (5-15 minutes) and use the
“Quick Write” strategy for just getting your
thoughts down.
• Read what you love — newspapers,
magazines, graphic novels, anything and
everything that engages you
5. What We Will Do Together
• I would like to structure this class like a writing workshop — a group of writers
who gather together to help each other with their writing. I want it to be
relaxed and fun — like we are sitting around a table at a coffee shop,
discussing our writing. You could fix a cup of herbal tea or coffee to bring
with you to class if that helps ;)
• We have 3 weeks before the exam, and I would like to focus on writing to a
prompt (constructed response questions)
• We will examine the test as a genre of writing — thinking critically about what
is expected of a student on this exam
• We will write together every day (no pressure quick writes to get our ideas
flowing).
• I will be available on Yahoo Messenger (smorrow_txva) and over the phone
(254-300-7945) to answer any questions and to help you academically in any
way I can.
6. Quick Write
When you write a quick write, you:
• write to get your ideas down;
• write freely as the ideas occur to you; and
• do not worry about perfection
7. For Today
Let’s begin by doing our first quick write together
• you may use a notebook (I prefer this — something about the act of putting an actual pen
to paper helps me think. I also like keeping my thoughts all together in one place where I
can flip through and touch the pages). Or you can use a word processor (I recognize that
your generation may be more comfortable writing on computers than on actual paper).
• Remember:
• write to get your ideas down — just write. keep the pencil or cursor moving with ideas
as they come to you. you can even write “I don’t know what to say or I am stuck until
your thoughts start flowing again”
• don’t worry about grammar, spelling etc. at this point. There will be a time when we will
focus on revising and editing but during the quick write it is not appropriate to think
about these things (it limits your creativity and the flow of ideas).
• we will write for 5 minutes today. I would like you to write about a time when you had
to do something you were afraid to do. If this prompt doesn’t excite you and there is
something else on your mind that you want to write about, go for it!
8. 5 Minutes
• please write the whole time
• don’t worry about mistakes
• let your thoughts flow out onto paper without
censoring
• I will set the timer and keep up with the time
9. Author’s Chair
• There will be opportunities during this course
for those who are comfortable to share their
writing in groups or one-on-one conferences or
with the entire class.
• I want to offer the opportunity for 2-3 students
to share what they wrote —if there are any who
are comfortable doing that— (you can skip over
things that you might not feel comfortable with
sharing).
10. Break Time
• Let’s take a 5 minute break — go to the
restroom, get a drink etc.
• Come back and let’s do the first writing
workshop: The Think and Do
