STAAR Revising & Editing Lessons, continued! *Freebie!
So last week, I shared an idea I’m trying out in my writing classroom. My students and I used a paragraph through the whole week to work on some revising and editing skills. I aligned the questioning with STAAR, but instead of boring test practice, it was interesting and engaging! (I thought it was, anyway).
This is the paragraph I had on the board the first day (you could also do a pocket chart): One benefit of being a reader is that you can grow your vocabulary. When you read, you learn new ___ and you can use them in your own writing! I have to use context ___ to figure out their meaning and understand what the message was.
On Monday, we practiced editing skills: apostrophe or plural? You can read about that here.
Then we practiced the STAAR released question that addressed this skill.
Tuesday – Thursday, we practiced revising skills. Below are the skills and the questioning that we practiced.
Tuesday: Look at sentence __. The phrase “—“ does not express what I was trying to say.
– Which word could BEST replace “grow“ and help me improve the meaning of the sentence?
– Which word could BEST replace “figure out“ and help me improve the meaning of the sentence?
Choices: expand, demonstrate, determine, decrease
Wednesday: I would like to add the following sentence to the paragraph. Where is the BEST place to insert this sentence?
Sometimes I come across words that I’ve never seen before and I don’t know what they mean.
Then we practiced the STAAR released question that addressed this skill.
Thursday: I want to add a conclusion to my paper. Which of the following could BEST follow sentence __ and close the paragraph?
– I don’t like taking vocabulary quizzes.
– When I use my vocabulary strategies, I get the most out of reading!
– Yesterday, I learned the word, “elated”.
– Some context clues are difficult to find.
Then we practiced the STAAR released question that addressed this skill.
At the end of the week, this is what the paragraph looked like:
At the end of the week, this is what the paragraph looked like:
One benefit of being a reader is that you can expand your vocabulary. When you read, you learn new words and you can use them in your own writing! Sometimes I come across words that I’ve never seen before and I don’t know what they mean. I have to use context clues to determine their meaning and understand what the author’s was. When I use my vocabulary strategies, I get the most out of reading!
It took about fifteen minutes each day, and fifteen minutes more to practice the STAAR-released question that utilized the same exact skill, as well as some Mentoring Minds questions.
Not only did we create a pretty decent paragraph, we addressed several difficult revising/editing skills in an engaging, collaborative way, and we applied it to test-taking situations to prepare for the STAAR test. I think it was a week well-spent.
In case this sounds like something you’d like to try out in your own classroom, I put together a new freebie pack!
In case this sounds like something you’d like to try out in your own classroom, I put together a new freebie pack!
It includes the lessons, how to prepare, and pictures of the first lesson’s delivery!
Great post! I teach third grade in Texas and I know the fourth grade teachers in my building could use this! I pinned it for you and also shared the link with our fourth grade team. I am your newest follower!
Heather
Kickin' It With Class
Thanks, Heather! I hope your teachers like it!
PS – Now I'm following your Teacher pinterest board!
What a great freebie! I'm excited to try a similar lesson with my kids 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Jenny
Luckeyfrog's Lilypad
Thanks for the freebie! It looks great!
Doodling Around in 6th Grade