How to score “EXCEEDS” on The Georgia High School Graduation Writing Test (GHSGWT)

• Slide 1

Slide 2 Slide 3 How to score EXCEEDS on The Georgia High School Graduation Writing Test (GHSGWT) Slide 4 (Yes, you CAN!) Slide 5 37 school days to prepare! GHSGWT Testing Date: September 25 Retest Date: February 22-23 Slide 6 How much time do I have? 100 Total Minutes Planning/Prewriting (15 minutes) Drafting (35 minutes) Revising (20 minutes) Final Draft (20 minutes) Proofreading (10 minutes) Slide 7 Requirements 1.Write on the assigned topic (off-topic papers fail) 2.Write in English (use standard Englishno slang) 3. Write legibly (if they cant read it, they wont grade it) Slide 8 Requirements, continued 4. Write a well-developed composition (four FAT paragraphs) 5. Write in prose (no poetry or song lyrics) 6.Write respectfully (no offensive language; yes, BUTT and CRAP are offensive) Slide 9 Requirements, continued 7. Write the final draft on the two page lined answer sheet (use up ALL the space provided, however, your FINAL draft MUST fit on the answer sheet). Slide 10 Weighting of Domains Weighting means that the scores in some writing domains will be given more weight than others in determining the total score that a student receives. Scoring Domain Domain Weight% of total score Ideas2 x raters scores40% Organization1 x raters scores20% Style1 x raters scores20% Conventions1 x raters scores20% Slide 11 Scale Score Range Scale ScorePerformance Level 100 199Does Not Meet Standard 200 249Meets the Standard 250 350Exceeds the Standard Slide 12 DOMAIN 1: Ideas DOMAIN 3: Style DOMAIN 2: Organization Four Scoring Domains DOMAIN 4: Conventions Slide 13 DOMAIN 1: Ideas Controlling ideas Supporting ideas Relevance of detail Depth of development Sense of completion Awareness of persuasive purpose Slide 14 DOMAIN 2: Organization Overall plan Introduction, body, conclusion Sequence of ideas Grouping of ideas Persuasive organizing strategies Transitioning Slide 15 DOMAIN 3: Style Word choice Audience awareness Voice Sentence Variety Slide 16 DOMAIN 3: Sample Style LevelExample Precise and Engaging Language Audience Awareness Thoughtful tone [[ ]] [[ This new class would be quite an effective way of teaching young adults how and when each basic academic subject will be valuable in everyday life. For example, students must learn that even the most simplistic math skills can become difficult and confusing when applied to real world situations. Think about filing income taxes. Though the addition and subtraction may not be hard, if you cant get everything in the correct column, there will be fines to pay with interest or even jail times. We need specific, how-to advice when it comes to using the correct tax forms, what to include with our returns, and what terms like standard deduction and itemized mean. ]] Simple and ordinary: I think we should have this class because it will be good. Slide 17 DOMAIN 4: Conventions Sentence formation Correctness, Clarity of Meaning, Complexity, End Punctuation Usage Subject/Verb Agreement, Standard Word Forms, Verb Tense Mechanics Internal Punctuation, Spelling, Paragraph Breaks, Capitalization Slide 18 DEFINE PERSUASIVE WRITING Persuasive Writing: Writing that has as its purpose convincing others to accept the writers position as valid, adopt a certain point of view, or take some action. Methods: Provides logical appeals, emotional appeals, facts, statistics, narrative anecdotes, humor, and/or the writers personal experiences and knowledge. Slide 19 What is a persuasive essay? A relatively brief essay focused on one topic Uses a variety of persuasive techniques Writer chooses one side of an issue and convinces the reader to agree with him or her ? Slide 20 Ways to Persuade Logical appeals Emotional appeals Facts Narrative anecdotes Humor Writers knowledge and experience Slide 21 Pathos Employ the Art of Rhetoric LogosEthos The art of rhetoric is the use of pathos, logos and ethos (persuasive techniques) to create a convincing argument. Slide 22 PATHOS = pity appeal to emotion/sex appeal/senses awww factor appeal to memory or common experience poetic persuasion Rhetorical Devices LOGOS = logic facts reason rationales (ifthen) ETHOS = ethics credibility/trustworthy authority/superiority in society or subject doctors, judges, celebrities Slide 23 PERSUASIVE writing is NOT formulaic writing!! Youre probably thinking, Okay, but what IS formulaic writing? Slide 24 Formulaic Writing: The Characteristics of a Formulaic Paper The writer announces his or her thesis and three supporting ideas in the opening paragraph The writer restates one supporting idea to begin each of the three body paragraphs The writer repeats or restates his/her controlling idea and supporting points in the conclusion paragraph Entire sentences may be repeated verbatim from the introduction, used as topic sentences in each of the body paragraphs, and repeated in the conclusion Slide 25 Sample Formulaic Writing I believe we should have a course called Preparing for Life. This course would help us get jobs, it would help us pay our bills, and we could take good field trips. The first reason we should have a course called Preparing for Life is it will help us get a job. We need to know how to apply, what to wear during an interview, and what to say during the interview. So it will help us get a job. The second reason we should have a course called Preparing for Life is it will help us pay our bills. I have no idea how to pay bills. My friends have no idea how to pay bills. We wont have our parents to help us. So, we need this course to help us pay our bills. My third and final reason why we we should have a course called Preparing for Life is we could take good field trips. We could go see engineers work. We could go to the AJC. We could go to Starbucks. The field trips in this class will be so cool. In conclusion, those are my reasons why we should have a course called Preparing for Life. This course would help us get jobs, it would help us pay our bills, and we could take good field trips. Slide 26 Essay: FOUR FAT Paragraphs Introduction 1 st Body Paragraph 2 nd Body Paragraph Conclusion Slide 27 Sample Persuasive Topic Writing Situation Many students do not think the subjects they study in high school prepare them for the real world they will face after graduation. The principal at your school is asking students for their opinions about new courses that could be offered to prepare students for life after high school. What new course do you think should be offered? Directions for Writing Write a letter to convince the principal that your new course should be offered. Be sure to explain why your new course is needed, using specific examples and details. Green: Writing Topic Yellow: Type of writing Red: Audience Slide 28 Introductory Paragraph Hook to catch readers attention Anecdote or background information Lead-in to thesis Clear thesis statement pick a side Slide 29 White: Hook and lead-in Red: Background Yellow: Lead-in to thesis. Pink: Thesis Statement Sample Introductory Paragraph Many things are being said about the academic programs and studies being offered at this school. Because I am a current student, I hear many more complaints and grievances from the student body about the classes being offered than the administration hears. A large portion of the students here seem to think that they may never use any of their current studies once they graduate because they are not taught how to apply general knowledge in real world situations. This is why I am proposing that an applying life skills class should be offered at this school. Slide 30 Two Body Paragraphs Major supporting Idea or counter claim Major Detail Supporting details and examples Slide 31 While Supporting idea Red: Major Detail Yellow: Specific details and examples Sample Body Paragraph #1 This new class will be quite an effective means of teaching young adults how and when each basic academic subject will be valuable in every day life. For example, students must learn that even the most simplistic math skills can become difficult and confusing when applied to real world situations. Think about filing income taxes. Though the addition and subtraction may not be hard, if you cant get everything in the correct column, there will be fines to pay with interest or even jail time. We need specific, how to advice when it comes to using the correct tax forms, what to include with our returns, and what terms like standard deduction and itemized mean. Slide 32 While Supporting idea Red: Major Detail Yellow: Specific details and examples Sample Body Paragraph #2 If students seem hesitant to sign up for this class, the benefits and requirements for the course could be advertised ahead of time. A great way to persuade people to sign up is to offer internships with local businesses. These internships would demonstrate how people use their education in the working world. For example, a student might watch an engineer using math as he designs buildings and bridges every day. This experience would help students to do well in their core classes like geometry and physics. If the class was worth a core credit, more students would sign up. It is obvious that anyone taking the class would need at least one class in each core subject in order to comprehend the life skills addressed. This may encourage students to do well in their core classes. Slide 33 Conclusion Paragraph Signal the reader that the paper is concluding Restate the topic in a COMPLETELY different way Make a point about something significant in your paper Add a call to arms Slide 34 Sample Conclusion Paragrap h White: Signal conclusion Red: Restate topic Yellow: Make a point Pink: Call to arms Life requires life skills, so offering life skills classes to high school students would make real world issues more relevant to us we move toward the future. These classes would not only expose students to many general fields of knowledge, but also provide students with practical adult survival skills. I personally would like to learn more about money and time management, how to write a resume, and how to maintain a house and a car, but my classmates may have broader interests. It just makes good sense to offer this type of class as an elective for next year as students head off to begin their own lives. Slide 35 Counter-claim Requirement Your paper MUST include a counter-claim. A counter-claim looks at the OPPOSITE side of an argument It addresses concerns in an attempt to sway the reader to take the writers side in the argument Slide 36 Sample Counter-claim. If students seem reluctant to sign up for this class, the benefits and requirements could be advertised ahead of time to generate interest. A great way to persuade people to sign up is to offer internships with local businesses. These internships would demonstrate how people use their education in the working world. For example, a student might watch an engineer using geometry and physics in his job as he designs. Slide 37 Counter-claim Rhetorical Strategies (pathos, logos, ethos) Rhetorical Strategies (pathos, logos, ethos) Figures of Speech Must Haves! Slide 38 Formulaic Writing Make up STATISTICS or FACTS Make up STATISTICS or FACTS LESS than 4 FAT Paragraphs Must NOT Haves! Slide 39 CAN we do it? Yes!! We CAN! Slide 40 What happens if I dont pass? You will have a chance to retake the test before the completion of 12 th grade. You must pass the test to graduate. Slide 41 Practice Makes Perfect The more SPECIFIC the development, the better. Like anything, getting specific takes practice. Heres a simple drill: School uniforms are not any cheaper than regular clothes. When you go school-shopping, its not like you just need one pair of the bottoms and one top. You would need multiple outfits. Some parents might not be able to pay that much. Which sentences could use some more specific elaboration (e.g., how expensive is shopping for new school clothes; dont most students prefer to express their personalities through fashion?). Slide 42 PPT created by Sandra Hurtte Union Grove High School McDonough, Georgia (July 2013) Writing samples and information courtesy of: Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT) Meadow Creek H.S. (3/27/08) Online PPT