2. Everything you did…and didn’t want to know about it! The NC Writing Test How is making brownies like learning how to write?

3. Everything you did…and didn’t want to know about it! The NC Writing Test Brownie Recipe ¾ cup flour¼ tsp. salt 1 cup sugar¼ cup cocoa ½ cup butter2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla Sift flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa. Add butter, eggs, and vanilla. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook for thirty minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Everything you did…and didn’t want to know about it! The NC Writing Test

5. Basic Information The Writing Test will take place on March 9th, 2010. The Writing Test preparation counts as 25% of 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd quarters, and the test is 25% of your final exam grade. It is graded on levels of 0 to 4, with 4 being the highest level. You can get up to 20 points total. The range of points are as follows: -Level I: 0-7 -Level II: 8-11 -Level III: 12-16 -Level IV: 17-20

6. Basic Information It is a timed test, with only 100 minutes being given to plan and write your essay. You cannot write over two pages for your essay. According to the state, a passing score on the Writing Test is a level 3 or above. A level 3 is a 12 on the scale. The Writing Test is read by two scorers. The formula for figuring your Writing Test score is as follows: (Total Content Score X4) + (Total Conventions ScoreX 2)=Total Score

7. Basic Information Writing a non-scorable will make you fail the Writing Test, because a non-scorable is one of three things: 1. blank 2. in another language 3. only the prompt copied on the paper The prompt for the Writing Test will be an informational prompt, which means that you could be asked to do one of two types of writing: 1. definition 2. cause and effect

8. Basic Information The five main criteria the scorers are looking for are: 1. Main Idea 2. Support 3. Elaboration 4. Organization 5. Conventions Grammar does count in your Writing Test score. These are the main grammar conventions that you need to master: 1. fragments 2. run-ons 3. word choice error 4. pronoun misuse 5. spelling 6. punctuation 7. capitalization 8. subject-verb 9. verb tense

9. The Basics of Writing

10. The Beginning 1.Hook—opening sentence that catches the reader’s attention (quote, question, story, description, startling statement) 2.Link-bridge between hook & thesis statement 3. Thesis Statement—purpose of paper and preview of points

11. The Middle 1.Topic Sentence—clearly identifies main point 2.Examples/facts—introduction of evidence 3.Analysis/Interpretation of evidence/examples 4.Transition sentence to next point (reviews current point and previews relationship with next point)

12. The End 1.Restate Thesis or main ideas NEVER BEGIN WITH “IN CONCLUSION” 2.Intensified Insight & Additional thoughts 3.Dynamic sentence to end (perhaps use a quote or some similar method as hook to tie paper together)