WEST-B Test Preparation Study Guide

WEST-B Test Preparation Study Guide
Writing Developed by Amy D. Hitchcock, M.A. In cooperation with the Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education, located at Green River College, and the Placement and Testing Center at Highline College Summer 2017

Start Here Click any button to start. Help getting started
AUDIENCE & PURPOSE Understand the role of audience and purpose in written communication. WRITING CONVENTIONS Recognize the use of standard writing conventions. ABOUT WRITING Scoring What’s on the test Take a Pre-test FLUENCY & ORGANIZATION Understand idea development, fluency, and organization within writing. REVISION Apply revision strategies to written works. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Recognize writing that effectively communicates intended messages. COMPOSITION Prepare an organized, developed composition in response to instructions regarding content, purpose, and audience. Help getting started

About WEST-B Writing Learn about the writing section of the WEST-B and strategies for answering test questions Take a reading pretest and make your writing study plan

About WEST-B Writing WEST-B Scoring CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE Scoring
50 multiple choice questions. 2 “constructed response” questions (essays) No penalty for wrong answers. It’s better to guess than skip a question. Your guess could be correct. Passing score is 240 or higher. Scores range from 100 – 300. You need to answer about ⅔ of the multiple choice questions correctly to pass. Constructed response questions are scored on a 4-point scale, with 4 as the highest score. The score is based on the following criteria: Focus and appropriateness Unity and organization Development and rationale Usage and sentence structure Mechanical conventions Click a button below to learn more about WEST-B Scoring WEST-B Scoring CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE Scoring

What’s on the test? WEST-B Test Objectives The WEST-B Writing subtest has multiple choice and essay questions aligned with these objectives: Understand the role of audience and purpose in written communication. Appropriate language, word choice, writing techniques for specific purposes Apply revision strategies to written works. Revision strategies, fluency, clarity, sequence, transitions, wordiness Understand idea development, fluency, and organization within writing. Organizational methods, effective and ineffective thesis statements, shifts in point of view, distracting details, transition phrases Recognize the use of standard writing conventions. Subject-verb agreement, Pronoun-antecedent agreement, parallel structures, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, sentence fragments, run-ons Recognize writing that effectively communicates intended messages. Idea development, paragraphing, supporting details Prepare an organized, developed composition in response to instructions regarding content, purpose, and audience. Focus and appropriateness, unity and organization, development and rationale, usage and sentence structure, mechanical conventions

A Note about Standardized Tests
The WEST-B and other standardized tests are testing your skills in Standard English—the English that is used in college and most formal school settings. The grammar and writing conventions discussed in this study guide apply to Standard English compositions. It’s very helpful to you and your students if you also speak or understand other languages or dialects even though it may be more challenging to take standardized tests. Think… How might speaking or understanding another language or dialect help you in the classroom? How might it help you when studying for a standardized test?

Multiple Choice Questions
Question from testprepreview.com About 50 writing questions are multiple choice. You have to choose the best answer out of four options. You may have to identify and correct errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, etc. Choose the option corresponding to the word or phrase that expresses meaning most fluidly and logically. Once he had determined the cause of the accident, the insurance investigator authorized payment of the claim. no change accident the insurance investigator accident; the insurance investigator accident: the insurance investigator

Question from testprepreview.com About 50 writing questions are multiple choice. You have to choose the best answer out of four options. You may have to identify and correct errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, etc. Choose the option corresponding to the word or phrase that expresses meaning most fluidly and logically. Once he had determined the cause of the accident, the insurance investigator authorized payment of the claim. no change accident the insurance investigator accident; the insurance investigator accident: the insurance investigator No change is needed to make this sentence grammatically correct.

Question from longsdalepub.com You may also be asked to read passages and identify errors that need revision, extraneous or supporting statements, etc. (1) A series of unique ecological communities exist at the bottom of the ocean near thermal vents. (2) Every other community found on the planet is sustained by the sun. (3) But at the bottom of the sea there is no sun. (4) The ocean water, in certain spots where the earth’s plates are joined, is rich in hydrogen sulfide from its interaction with the hot basalt beneath the ocean’s floor. (5) Hydrogen sulfide is, of course, a deadly poison to life on the surface. (6) Bacteria in these vents eat the sulfide. (7) With the energy produced by splitting apart the hydrogen sulfide compound, these bacteria produce enormous quantities of starches and sugars much as the plants on the earth’s surface do. (8) With this richness, the bacteria multiply by the billions. Which of the following would help focus attention on the main idea of the paragraph? Delete sentence 2. Combine sentences 2 and 3 by changing the period after “sun” to a comma. Add a phrase to sentence 4 explaining what basalt is. Delete sentence 5.

Question from longsdalepub.com You may also be asked to read passages and identify errors that need revision, extraneous or supporting statements, etc. (1) A series of unique ecological communities exist at the bottom of the ocean near thermal vents. (2) Every other community found on the planet is sustained by the sun. (3) But at the bottom of the sea there is no sun. (4) The ocean water, in certain spots where the earth’s plates are joined, is rich in hydrogen sulfide from its interaction with the hot basalt beneath the ocean’s floor. (5) Hydrogen sulfide is, of course, a deadly poison to life on the surface. (6) Bacteria in these vents eat the sulfide. (7) With the energy produced by splitting apart the hydrogen sulfide compound, these bacteria produce enormous quantities of starches and sugars much as the plants on the earth’s surface do. (8) With this richness, the bacteria multiply by the billions. Which of the following would help focus attention on the main idea of the paragraph? Delete sentence 2. Combine sentences 2 and 3 by changing the period after “sun” to a comma. Add a phrase to sentence 4 explaining what basalt is. Delete sentence 5. The paragraph is about ecological conditions at the bottom of the ocean. Sentence 5 can be deleted to focus attention on the main idea.

Constructed Response Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. You will be asked to write two essays in response to prompts describing the content, purpose, and audience for the writing. The following is an expository essay prompt. Expository essays explain or provide information to the reader. Persuasive essays try to convince the reader of something. What are the characteristics of a good friend? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, explain your ideas about what makes someone a good friend. Include details to support your views.

Tips for the Writing Test
Take the Writing test on a different day than Math and Reading if you can. Do the Writing test first if you take all three subtests in one day. Glance through the multiple choice questions and writing prompts to determine how much time you should spend on each part of the writing test. Read directions and test questions carefully. Read all the answer choices. Try to eliminate answer choices that you know to be incorrect. Read writing prompts completely and respond to each part of the prompt. Organize your ideas before you start writing. TIP… If you can eliminate one or two wrong answers right away, you have a better chance of answering correctly, even when you guess. Make a guess and mark questions you aren’t sure about. You can come back to them later.

Pre-test Click the handouts to download them. Handout: Pre-test
WEST-B Sample Test Questions at west.nesinc.com WEST-B Reading and Writing Glossary Now that you’ve seen the types of questions you’ll see on the test, check what you already know by taking a pre-test. This will help you figure out what you want to study. The test has Reading, Math, and Writing all in one. You can do them all at once or take each section separately. You will be able to download this same pre-test in all of the sections (Math, Reading, and Writing) of this Study Guide. Also download a Glossary of terms you’ll need for the Reading and Writing subtests. Click the handouts to download them. Handout: Pre-test Handout: Writing 01 Glossary

What writing do you want to study?
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions The table below lists the objectives tested for each question on the writing pre-test. Which questions did you get wrong? Which objectives do you want to review? Reading Pre-test Objectives Question 1. Objective: Understand the role of audience and purpose in written communication. Question 6. Objective: Understand idea development, fluency, and organization within writing. Q2. Objective: Understand idea development, fluency, and organization within writing. Q7. Objective: Recognize the use of standard writing conventions. Q3. Objective: Recognize writing that effectively communicates intended messages. Q8. Objective: Recognize writing that effectively communicates intended messages. Q4. Objective: Apply revision strategies to written works. Q9. Objective: Apply revision strategies to written works. Q5. Objective: Understand the role of audience and purpose in written communication. Q10. Objective: Recognize the use of standard writing conventions. TIP: Skip ahead in the study guide to the parts you really need to work on. You don’t need to waste time on the stuff you already know. Just make sure you take practice tests and use the computer tutorial to get used to answering all types of questions. Also be sure to practice writing short, timed essays using a computer.

Study Plan Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide and Preparing for the WEST-B: Feeling Confident, Finishing Strong! Now that you’ve taken a pretest and identified what you need to study, fill in the “Studying by Section – Writing” portion of your study plan. NOTE… You may have this already. The Make a Plan Section of the Study Guide has activities and information to help you complete the first part of your study plan. Click the worksheet to download it. Handout: Make a Plan 05 Study Plan

Audience & Purpose WEST-B Objective: Understand the role of audience and purpose in writing. In this section… What is writing? Point of View Vocabulary Text features Understanding purpose Practice

What is writing? Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Definition from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary Writing well is critical to communication. Understanding the principles of writing well is critical to doing well on the WEST-B. So let’s think: What is writing? How do we come up with ideas for what to write about? How do we organize writing? How do we know that our sentences are complete and grammatically correct? How do we communicate our intentions? Think... How is a grocery list similar to an essay you write for class? How is it different?

Vocabulary PURPOSE: The reason for writing
The following vocabulary is important for both the reading and writing portions of the WEST-B. PURPOSE: The reason for writing AUDIENCE: The readers. It’s important to identify who the writing is intended for. For example, you write an to a friend very differently than you write an essay for school, which will be read by your professor and possibly other students. TONE: The way the writing sounds to the reader. As you read, try to identify the tone. Is it serious? Sarcastic? Funny? Casual? Serious? Formal? WORD CHOICE: The words the writer chooses to support the tone she intend to convey. Authors also choose different words depending on their audience. For example, in a formal letter you might write inform me of any changes rather than keep me in the loop, which is more casual.

Understanding the Purpose
The purpose of a selection is the reason the author wrote it. It answers the question, “What did the author want to achieve? What was the author’s goal?” Click the button below to look up vocabulary in an online dictionary. Examples of purposes: To entertain To inform To persuade To analyze To predict To compare Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Video from HeatherShoresInco on YouTube Some common purposes for writing are: PERSUADING Did the author try to convince me of something? Did the author try to change my opinion? INFORMING Did the author try to tell me something? Did the author try to give me new information? ENTERTAINING Did the author try to make me laugh? Did the author try to tell me a story? Click to watch a video about P.I.E.

Video from HeatherShoresInco on YouTube Some common purposes for writing are: PERSUADING Did the author try to convince me of something? Did the author try to change my opinion? INFORMING Did the author try to tell me something? Did the author try to give me new information? ENTERTAINING Did the author try to make me laugh? Did the author try to tell me a story? Click to watch a video about P.I.E. The two writing prompts you will see on the WEST-B will likely ask you to write one persuasive essay and one informative, or expository, essay.

Other purposes for writing include: ANALYZING Did the author explore a topic methodically and in great detail? COMPARING Did the author try to tell me what is similar about two things? CONTRASTING Did the author try to tell me what is different about two things? PREDICTING Did the author try to make a guess about what will happen in the future? Comparing Contrasting Predicting

Text features Text examples from the University of Minnesota The words you choose as a writer, the punctuation, and the structure of your sentences all contribute to the tone of your writing, which changes according to your purpose and audience. Last Saturday, I volunteered at a local hospital. The visit was fun and rewarding. I even learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Unfortunately, I think caught a cold from one of the patients. This week, I will rest in bed and drink plenty of clear fluids. I hope I am well by next Saturday to volunteer again. OMG! You won’t believe this! My advisor forced me to do my community service hours at this hospital all weekend! We learned CPR but we did it on dummies, not even real people. And some kid sneezed on me and got me sick! I was so bored and sniffling all weekend; I hope I don’t have to go back next week. I def do NOT want to miss the basketball tournament! Think… Read the two paragraphs that describe the same events. Which one is an assignment for class and which one is an to a friend? How do you know? Think about the features of the text that make it easy to tell which is which.

Text features For class. The writer uses complete sentences that end in periods and doesn’t use contractions (I will not I’ll, I am not I’m). The writer uses the full term for CPR, then adds the acronym. In general this passage is formal and neutral in tone. Text examples from the University of Minnesota The words you choose as a writer, the punctuation, and the structure of your sentences all contribute to the tone of your writing, which changes according to your purpose and audience. Last Saturday, I volunteered at a local hospital. The visit was fun and rewarding. I even learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Unfortunately, I think caught a cold from one of the patients. This week, I will rest in bed and drink plenty of clear fluids. I hope I am well by next Saturday to volunteer again. OMG! You won’t believe this! My advisor forced me to do my community service hours at this hospital all weekend! We learned CPR but we did it on dummies, not even real people. And some kid sneezed on me and got me sick! I was so bored and sniffling all weekend; I hope I don’t have to go back next week. I def do NOT want to miss the basketball tournament! Think… Read the two paragraphs that describe the same events. Which one is an assignment for class and which one is an to a friend? How do you know? Think about the features of the text that make it easy to tell which is which.

Text features Text examples from the University of Minnesota The words you choose as a writer, the punctuation, and the structure of your sentences all contribute to the tone of your writing, which changes according to your purpose and audience. Last Saturday, I volunteered at a local hospital. The visit was fun and rewarding. I even learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Unfortunately, I think caught a cold from one of the patients. This week, I will rest in bed and drink plenty of clear fluids. I hope I am well by next Saturday to volunteer again. OMG! You won’t believe this! My advisor forced me to do my community service hours at this hospital all weekend! We learned CPR but we did it on dummies, not even real people. And some kid sneezed on me and got me sick! I was so bored and sniffling all weekend; I hope I don’t have to go back next week. I def do NOT want to miss the basketball tournament! To a friend. The writer uses acronyms and abbreviations without explaining them (OMG, CPR, def) indicating that the writer knows the reader will understand. The writer also uses incomplete sentences, exclamation points, and informal language (kid instead of child). Think… Read the two paragraphs that describe the same events. Which one is an assignment for class and which one is an to a friend? How do you know? Think about the features of the text that make it easy to tell which is which.

Point of View POINT OF VIEW (POV) has two meanings.
One is the writer’s attitude toward the topic. It answers the questions: How does the writer view this topic? Is he for it or against it? What are the writer’s beliefs about the topic? The other is the perspective of the writing itself. First-person point of view, the writer uses words such as I, we, me, us Second person: you Third person: He, It, They

Point of View POINT OF VIEW (POV) has two meanings.
One is the writer’s attitude toward the topic. It answers the questions: How does the writer view this topic? Is he for it or against it? What are the writer’s beliefs about the topic? The other is the perspective of the writing itself. First-person point of view, the writer uses words such as I, we, me, us Second person: you Third person: He, It, They Tips… Formal writing is usually in the third person. It can help you identify the tone and audience to recognize the POV. Also look for changes in the POV because the author may have a reason for changing the perspective.

Practice with Purpose, Audience, and POV
Click a button to practice identifying purpose, audience, or point of view. As you do these exercises, think about how you know. What clues are you using to figure it out? AUDIENCE PRACTICE at ixl.com PURPOSE AND POV PRACTICE at Sam Houston State University PURPOSE AND TONE PRACTICE at laflemm.com TONE PRACTICE at Houston Community College

Audience and Purpose Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: analyze the destruction caused by various earthquakes. explain why the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is so well remembered. evaluate media coverage of various earthquakes. compare major earthquakes of the 1800s and 1900s.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: analyze the destruction caused by various earthquakes. explain why the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is so well remembered. evaluate media coverage of various earthquakes. compare major earthquakes of the 1800s and 1900s. Think… Does the author explore the destruction caused by earthquakes in great detail? Does she explain why one earthquake in particular is so well remembered? Does she make a judgment about media coverage? Does she describe similarities among earthquakes of the 1800s and 1900s?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: analyze the destruction caused by various earthquakes. explain why the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is so well remembered. evaluate media coverage of various earthquakes. compare major earthquakes of the 1800s and 1900s. The writer doesn’t closely analyze the destruction caused by various earthquakes and she doesn’t evaluate media coverage of various earthquakes. She only discusses media as it relates to the 1906 quake. We can eliminate A and C.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: analyze the destruction caused by various earthquakes. explain why the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is so well remembered. evaluate media coverage of various earthquakes. compare major earthquakes of the 1800s and 1900s. Both of the remaining answers are true for this passage. But which is the writer’s main purpose? The writer does less comparing and more describing of various earthquakes. She also uses one whole paragraph to talk about the 1906 earthquake and the reasons it is “so well remembered.” The writer’s main purpose is B.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: show how Maxine Hong Kingston gathers ideas for her books. compare Maxine Hong Kingston’s main works. analyze recurring themes in books written by Maxine Hong Kingston. describe major features of Maxine Hong Kingston’s life and work.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: show how Maxine Hong Kingston gathers ideas for her books. compare Maxine Hong Kingston’s main works. analyze recurring themes in books written by Maxine Hong Kingston. describe major features of Maxine Hong Kingston’s life and work. Think… Ask yourself questions. Which answer is best? How do you know?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. The writer’s main purpose in the selection is to: show how Maxine Hong Kingston gathers ideas for her books. compare Maxine Hong Kingston’s main works. analyze recurring themes in books written by Maxine Hong Kingston. describe major features of Maxine Hong Kingston’s life and work. This passage describes major features of Kingston’s life and work. The best answer is D.

Fluency & Organization
WEST-B Objective: Understand idea development, fluency, and organization within writing. In this section… Text structures Thesis statements Supporting details Transitional words and phrases

Organization Writers make choices about where to put each sentence. The way they put sentences and paragraphs together is the organization of the passage. The organization can also be called the structure.

How is text organized? Common text structures
Video from Flocabulary on YouTube Common text structures Description Describes something Look for: adjectives, details, such as, for example Sequence (or Chronological Order) Tells a story, has a beginning, middle, and end Look for: dates, next, then, before, first, second, finally Cause and Effect Tells what happened and why Look for: because, then, therefore, as a result, so, for this reason, due to Compare and Contrast Describes similarities and differences Look for: both, like, but, however, while, instead Problem and Solution Describes a problem and how it was fixed or how to fix it Look for: since, question, problem, solution, solve Click to watch a video with a song about text structures

Organization Practice
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Definition from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary The following is a sample question about the organization or structure of a passage from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. Try to identify the text structures described in each answer option and answer the question before you click Next. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at their nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own. Which statement best describes the organization of the passage as a whole? A problem is presented, and then two solutions are given for that problem. A phenomenon is described, and then the effects of the phenomenon are provided. A statement is presented, and then a contrasting new theory is offered with examples. A phenomenon is given, and then three explanations for that phenomenon are given. DEFINITION: phenomenon (n). something (such as an interesting fact or event) that can be observed and studied THINK: Can you name the text structures described in each answer?

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide The following is a sample question about the organization or structure of a passage from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. Try to identify the text structures described in each answer option and answer the question before you click Next. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at their nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own. Which statement best describes the organization of the passage as a whole? A problem is presented, and then two solutions are given for that problem. A phenomenon is described, and then the effects of the phenomenon are provided. A statement is presented, and then a contrasting new theory is offered with examples. A phenomenon is given, and then three explanations for that phenomenon are given. Which describes this passage? PROBLEM AND SOLUTION CAUSE AND EFFECT COMPARE AND CONTRAST DESCRIPTION

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide The following is a sample question about the organization or structure of a passage from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. Try to identify the text structures described in each answer option and answer the question before you click Next. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at their nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own. Which statement best describes the organization of the passage as a whole? A problem is presented, and then two solutions are given for that problem. A phenomenon is described, and then the effects of the phenomenon are provided. A statement is presented, and then a contrasting new theory is offered with examples. A phenomenon is given, and then three explanations for that phenomenon are given. (C) is correct. The passage tells us about one way of thinking, then tells us about a different way of thinking. The author signals the contrast with the word however. COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Fluency and Organization Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. Which organizational method does the writer use in the first paragraph of the selection? Comparison and contrast Topical order Chronological order Cause and effect

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. Which organizational method does the writer use in the first paragraph of the selection? Comparison and contrast Topical order Chronological order Cause and effect The first paragraph is organized chronologically. There are words and phrases to mark time throughout the passage. The best answer is C.

Thesis Statements Thesis Statements at UNC Writing Center Example thesis statements from Purdue OWL A thesis statement is usually a single sentence near the beginning of an essay (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents the writer’s argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence to support the writer’s thesis. The thesis statement: is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the essay. is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis provides a way to understand the war or the novel. may make a claim that others might dispute. EXAMPLES… An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds. The paper that follows should: Explain the analysis of the college admission process Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers. Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

Thesis Statement Practice
Thesis statements should: Answer a question completely. Be specific. Be clear and connect to the rest of the essay. Indicate the point of the essay or passage, but avoid phrases like “In my opinion…” or “The point of this essay is…” PRACTICE REVISING THESIS STATEMENTS at University of Richmond Writing Center PRACTICE WRITING THESIS STATEMENTS at Pennington Publishing Tip… Use the essay prompts from Pennington Publishing to practice writing short, timed essays. Ask someone you trust to read your essays.

Supporting Details SUPPORTING DETAILS PRACTICE
Supporting details make up the body of a paragraph and most of the content of an essay. They develop and support the main idea of the paragraph, which in turn supports the thesis statement of an essay. Details may include: examples statistics facts anecdotes, or stories observations Details should be appropriate and interesting for the audience, purpose and tone. They should also connect to each other and to the essay as a whole. SUPPORTING DETAILS PRACTICE at highered.mheducation.com UNSUPPORTIVE DETAILS PRACTICE at laflemm.com

Transitional Words and Phrases
Transitional words and phrases are used to connect ideas within and between paragraphs. Transitions between sentences and paragraphs help readers understand the relationships between ideas and the organization of the writing. For example, My son likes peanut butter. However, he doesn’t like peanut butter sandwiches. The word however indicates that the second sentence contrasts with the first sentence. EXAMPLES OF TRANSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center TRANSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES PRACTICE at Miami Dade College

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover Think… What relationships between sentences does each transitional word indicate? Which one doesn’t make sense in the context of this passage?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover More recently marks time and indicates a chronological sequence.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover Yet indicates a contrast. It connects the ideas in the first paragraph to the second by preparing the reader for information that is different from what we might have expected.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover Rather also indicates a contrast. This time, it’s between sentences rather than paragraphs. People don’t often remember many major earthquakes. They do remember the one in 1906.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which underlined word or phrase should be replaced by a more appropriate transitional word or phrase? Sentence 3: More recently Sentence 6: Yet Sentence 7: Rather Sentence 8: Moreover Moreover connects two similar ideas. However, Sentence 9 contrasts with the idea that the destruction of the city was the reason the 1906 earthquake is so well remembered. A better choice for a transition is however, of course, actually or another transition word that indicates contrast. D is the best answer.

Effective Communication
WEST-B Objective: Recognize writing that effectively communicates intended messages. In this section… Paragraphing Well-developed paragraphs Extraneous information

Click here to read more about paragraphs at Purdue Online Writing Lab
What is a paragraph? Video from Adam Teaches English on YouTube Click to watch a video about paragraphs. “A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Good paragraphing greatly assists readers in following a piece of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those ideas aren't presented in an organized fashion, you will lose your readers (and fail to achieve your goals in writing).” – Purdue OWL Click here to read more about paragraphs at Purdue Online Writing Lab

What makes a good paragraph?
It has unity: It’s about one primary idea only. It may have a topic sentence that states the main idea. The main idea is supported by details that give us information on the topic. It is coherent: It makes sense. Every sentence is connected and relevant to the main idea. Sentences are connected with transition words. It ends when the topic changes. Paragraph breaks—ending one paragraph and starting a new one—indicate the beginning of a new topic. The WEST-B will test your knowledge of the characteristics of a good paragraph by asking you to identify errors and irrelevant information or add supporting details, a topic sentence, and paragraph breaks.

Paragraph Practice Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Click a button to practice applying your knowledge about paragraphs. mdc.edu GrammarBank.com Identifying the main idea Identifying irrelevant sentences. EngVid.com SaidSimple.com Learn about some rules for when to start new paragraphs. Practice with the characteristics of a paragraph

Topic Sentence Practice
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide The following question is from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. It is intended for practice. How to Teach Your Dog to Sit First hold a dog biscuit so the dog pays attention. Say, “Sit!” When you say it, use a loud and firm voice. Move the hand holding the biscuit over the dog’s nose, but don’t let him grab it. You may have to give a light backwards tug on the dog’s leash. When the dog sits down, give him the treat and lots of praise. Repeat this a few times, and he’ll probably understand the command. Which would be the best introductory or topic sentence for the paragraph? Dogs are naturally very intelligent and obedient. Your dog probably likes some biscuits better than others. It is easy to teach your dog the command, “Sit!” Nobody likes a dog that can’t play catch. Think… Are there any responses we can eliminate right away?

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide The following question is from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. It is intended for practice. How to Teach Your Dog to Sit First hold a dog biscuit so the dog pays attention. Say, “Sit!” When you say it, use a loud and firm voice. Move the hand holding the biscuit over the dog’s nose, but don’t let him grab it. You may have to give a light backwards tug on the dog’s leash. When the dog sits down, give him the treat and lots of praise. Repeat this a few times, and he’ll probably understand the command. Which would be the best introductory or topic sentence for the paragraph? Dogs are naturally very intelligent and obedient. Your dog probably likes some biscuits better than others. It is easy to teach your dog the command, “Sit!” Nobody likes a dog that can’t play catch. We can eliminate (B) and (D) right away. They are not relevant to the paragraph. (B) is a minor detail. Who cares what kind of biscuit? (D) has nothing to do with teaching a dog to sit.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide The following question is from the ParaPro exam for paraeducators. It is intended for practice. How to Teach Your Dog to Sit First hold a dog biscuit so the dog pays attention. Say, “Sit!” When you say it, use a loud and firm voice. Move the hand holding the biscuit over the dog’s nose, but don’t let him grab it. You may have to give a light backwards tug on the dog’s leash. When the dog sits down, give him the treat and lots of praise. Repeat this a few times, and he’ll probably understand the command. Which would be the best introductory or topic sentence for the paragraph? Dogs are naturally very intelligent and obedient. Your dog probably likes some biscuits better than others. It is easy to teach your dog the command, “Sit!” Nobody likes a dog that can’t play catch. (A) is related to the paragraph because it’s about teaching your dog a command—which requires your dog to be both intelligent and obedient. However, the sentence is too general. (C) is a better choice because it’s specifically about teaching your dog. All of the paragraph’s details support this one idea.

Effective Communication Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. To improve the structure of the selection, it would be most effective to begin a new paragraph starting with which sentence? Sentence 4 Sentence 5 Sentence 6 Sentence 7

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. To improve the structure of the selection, it would be most effective to begin a new paragraph starting with which sentence? Sentence 4 Sentence 5 Sentence 6 Sentence 7 Think… How is Sentence 4 related to the sentences that come before it? What about Sentence 5? 6? 7? Where is there a change in topic?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. To improve the structure of the selection, it would be most effective to begin a new paragraph starting with which sentence? Sentence 4 Sentence 5 Sentence 6 Sentence 7 Sentence 4 is about the book mentioned in sentence 3. Sentence 6 is about the topic in sentence 5. Sentence 7 is about the publisher in sentence 6. Sentence 5 changes the topic so it’s the best place to start a new paragraph. B is the best answer.

Extraneous Details Clear, concise writing has enough details to support the main idea, and only details that support the main idea. Extraneous details are unnecessary. They don’t contribute to our understanding as readers and, in fact, may make us miss the point of the paragraph. The WEST-B may ask you to choose revisions to written work that eliminate extraneous details or better connect ideas.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change would best improve the development of ideas in the second paragraph of the selection? Delete sentence 8. Reverse the order of sentences 9 and 10. Delete sentence 11. Reverse the order of sentences 12 and 13.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change would best improve the development of ideas in the second paragraph of the selection? Delete sentence 8. Reverse the order of sentences 9 and 10. Delete sentence 11. Reverse the order of sentences 12 and 13. Look at the answer choices first. Try reading the sentences in the order suggested in the answer options. Which don’t make sense?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change would best improve the development of ideas in the second paragraph of the selection? Delete sentence 8. Reverse the order of sentences 9 and 10. Delete sentence 11. Reverse the order of sentences 12 and 13. Deleting sentence 8, reversing 9 and 10, and reversing 12 and 13 make the passage more confusing. Deleting sentence 11 has no effect on the paragraph except to make it more concise. The names of the major publications of the time are an extraneous detail. C is the best answer.

Writing Conventions WEST-B Objective: Recognize the use of standard writing conventions. In this section… Parts of speech Subject-verb agreement Punctuation Capitalization Pronouns Commonly confused words and spelling Sentence fragments and run- ons Parallel structures

Reminder about Standardized Tests
The WEST-B and other standardized tests test your skills in Standard English—the English that is used in college and most formal school settings. The grammar and writing conventions discussed in this study guide apply to Standard English compositions. You may use different conventions or dialects depending on your purpose and audience. You may also use different conventions in speaking. For example, It’s fine in certain contexts to say out loud, “That’s a whole nother issue.” Generally speaking, people will understand what you mean. However, in Standard written English, even in the most informal contexts, it’s rare to see the word another split as though it’s two separate words.

Parts of Speech DEFINITION:
Definition from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary The WEST-B will test you on your knowledge of the conventions of Standard English. Although you probably won’t be asked to identify parts of speech, you may see parts of speech vocabulary on the test, so we’ll review it here. There are 9 parts of speech in Standard English: Noun Verb Pronoun Adjective Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection Article DEFINITION: Part of speech (n): a class of words (such as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs, etc.) that are identified according to the kinds of ideas they express and the way they work in a sentence

Parts of Speech Video from Learn English NOW on YouTube Click to watch a video review of important parts of speech with examples

Definitions and Examples
Definitions from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary Parts of Speech Noun: A word for a person, place, thing, or idea, such as dog, Seattle, house, and happiness Verb: A word for an action, occurrence, or state of being, such as jump, think, happen, and exist Pronoun: A word that is used instead of a noun, such as I, you, we, it, they, them, she, and her Adjective: A word that describes a noun or pronoun, such as blue, deep, and tired Adverb: A word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence, such as early, slowly, and there Preposition: a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object, such as on (the table), in (the box), and at (12pm). Conjunction: A word that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words, such as and, but, and although Interjection: A spoken word, phrase, or sound that expresses sudden or strong feeling, such as wow and oh

Practice Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright ©2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. Think and write… Find examples words in this passage that are Verbs Prepositions Adverbs Nouns Pronouns Adjectives Click here to check your ideas in the Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Capitalization Sentences have to begin with a capital letter. Proper nouns should also begin with a capital letter. Proper nouns are the names of specific things. For example, Brand names (Ford, Pepsi) Companies (Google, Amazon, Microsoft) Days of the week and months of the year (Monday, March) Holidays (Labor Day, New Year’s Eve) Institutions (Highline College, Green River College, the Juilliard School of Music) Organizations (American Civil Liberties Union, Girl Scouts) Planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) Special occasions (the Olympic Games, the Cannes Film Festival) CAPITALIZATION RULES at grammarbook.com CAPITALIZATION PRACTICE at Frankfurt International School and more…

Writing Conventions Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Born in 1940, Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up in a California neighborhood surrounded by people from her father’s native village. 2During her childhood, she would listen for hours to stories that they and her mother told of China. 3Later, as an undergraduate at the university of California, Berkeley, she switched her major from engineering to English so that she could develop her own storytelling skills. 4Kingston brings an understanding of three cultures to her work: the Chinese culture of her parents, the American culture in which she lives, and the Chinese American culture of her personal experience. 5In her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), she combined autobiography and fiction to relate the story of a daughter of Chinese parents growing up in America. 6Her second book, China Men (1980), adopted the perspective of males in her family to celebrate their achievements while chronicling the exploitation and prejudice they faced. Which underlined word in the selection contains and error in capitalization? Sentence 3: university Sentence 3: major Sentence 3: engineering Sentence 3: English University in sentence 3 should be capitalized because it’s part of the proper noun University of California, Berkeley, an institution. A is the best answer.

Parts of a Sentence Parts of speech are the names for the individual words in a sentence. Parts of a sentence is related to the groups of words that make up a complete sentence. Correcting mistakes is an important skill tested on the WEST-B and used in the classroom, and understanding the parts of a sentence will help you correct mistakes such as incomplete sentences or run-on sentences. Think… What is a sentence? Is “Go!” a complete sentence? Why or why not? What about “To the store.”? Why or why not?

Parts of a Sentence Video from Lindsay Anderson on YouTube A complete sentence has two parts, a subject and a predicate. The subject is a noun or noun phrase that answers the question, “Who or what is doing the action?” The predicate is the rest of the sentence, starting with the verb. It answers the question, “What is the subject doing or feeling?” Click to watch a video about identifying subjects and predicates.

Examples SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball.
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go!

Examples Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! To find the subject, ask yourself “Who or what is doing the action?” In the first two sentences, it’s pretty simple.

Examples Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! In the next two sentences it’s more difficult because there are extra phrases that add more information. Those extra phrases are not part of the subject. Ask yourself, “Who or what is doing the action?”

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! This one is tricky because the subject is not a person or thing. It’s an idea, understanding. Some people think of the whole phrase, understanding the parts of a sentence, as a subject, and some people think the subject is just the main noun in the phrase. The “simple subject” is understanding.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! The last one is really tricky because the subject appears to be missing. In fact, the subject is there but in English we don’t have to say it out loud or write it—it’s understood. We understand the subject of the sentence to be you, as in (you) Go! We can leave out the subject and it’s still a complete sentence because it’s a command that we say directly to a person or group of people.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! The last one is really tricky because the subject appears to be missing. In fact, the subject is there but in English we don’t have to say it out loud or write it—it’s understood. We understand the subject of the sentence to be you, as in (you) Go! We can leave out the subject and it’s still a complete sentence because it’s a command that we say directly to a person or group of people. Think… If you also speak a language other than English, can you leave out the subject in sentences in that language? Why or why not? In Spanish, for example, Soy maestra. Or ¡Ándale!

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go!

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! To identify the predicate, ask yourself, “What is the subject doing or feeling?” to find the verb. In the first sentence, what is Marta doing? She’s enjoying watching baseball. Some people think the predicate is just the verb. Others think it’s the verb plus everything else in the sentence. The “simple predicate” is the verb by itself.

Examples Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide SUBJECT PREDICATE Marta enjoys watching baseball. The old man and the little girl were playing cards in the park. My cat, who doesn’t usually like fish, ate a can of tuna. When she gets up in the morning, her mom makes breakfast. Understanding the parts of a sentence will be very helpful for taking the ParaPro. Go! The tricky thing about finding the predicate is that sometimes verbs have helping words, like were, will, will have, has been, etc. All of those helping verbs are part of the predicate.

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE PRACTICE
Click the button to go to a website to practice identifying subjects and predicates. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE PRACTICE At KhanAcademy.org

Sentence Fragments If a sentence doesn’t have a subject and a verb, it’s not a complete sentence. It’s called a fragment. If it’s missing some important part of the predicate it’s also not a complete sentence. A sentence must be a complete thought. Think… Here are some sentence fragments. Why are they incomplete sentences? How can we fix them? Abdi to the store. Asked him for an apple. He bought.

Sentence Fragments If a sentence doesn’t have a subject and a verb, it’s not a complete sentence. It’s called a fragment. If it’s missing some important part of the predicate it’s also not a complete sentence. A sentence must be a complete thought. Abdi to the store. This is a fragment because it’s missing a verb. How can we fix it? Abdi went to the store. Abdi will go to the store. Abdi is walking to the store.

Sentence Fragments If a sentence doesn’t have a subject and a verb, it’s not a complete sentence. It’s called a fragment. If it’s missing some important part of the predicate it’s also not a complete sentence. A sentence must be a complete thought. Asked him for an apple. This is a fragment because it doesn’t have a subject. How can we fix it? I asked him for an apple. His wife asked him for an apple. The guy down the street asked him for an apple.

Sentence Fragments If a sentence doesn’t have a subject and a verb, it’s not a complete sentence. It’s called a fragment. If it’s missing some important part of the predicate it’s also not a complete sentence. A sentence must be a complete thought. He bought. This is a fragment because it’s missing part of the predicate. It’s not a complete thought. Abdi has to buy something, he can’t just buy. How do we fix it? He bought an apple. He bought one. He bought a banana instead.

Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
Video from Smrt English on YouTube If a sentence has more than one subject and predicate and it’s not separated by a period, semi-colon, or a conjunction (such as but, so or and), it’s a called a run-on sentence. In other words, if two complete sentences are stuck together, that’s a run-on sentence. If two complete sentences are stuck together with a comma in between, that’s called a comma splice. Click to watch a video with an explanation and examples.

Fixing Sentences Video from Howcast on YouTube You can fix run-on sentences and comma splices with punctuation and adding words. Use a period to make two good sentences. Use a semi-colon between the complete ideas to make one good sentence. Use a comma and a conjunction like and, but, or so to make one good sentence. Click to watch a video for examples how to fix sentences. TIP: Be careful with the last one. Some conjunctions, like therefore and however, need a semi-colon instead of a comma.

Fixing Sentences Examples
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide This sentence is a comma splice. Let’s fix it. The dog was barking, it was really loud. Use a period The dog was barking. It was really loud. Use a semi-colon The dog was barking; it was really loud. Use a comma and a conjunction The dog was barking, and it was really loud. OR Use a semi-colon and a conjunction The dog was barking; therefore, it was really loud.

Sentence Error Practice
Click a button to practice. FINDING PROBLEMS PRACTICE At ChompChomp.com FIXING SENTENCES PRACTICE At ccc.commnet.edu FINDING PROBLEMS PRACTICE At KhanAcademy.org

Subject-Verb Agreement
The subject and verb in a sentence must agree. That is, you have to use the right form of the verb that makes sense with who or what and how many are doing the action. The basic idea is that singular subjects (one person or thing) need singular verbs and plural subjects (more than one person or thing) need plural verbs. For example, I usually go to the grocery store after work. My friend, Angela, sometimes goes shopping on Saturdays. Angela and Abdi go shopping together, so they choose a time that works for both of them.

Regular Subject-Verb Agreement
Regular verbs like go, choose, and work are pretty simple. In sentences like the examples, the only time we have to change the verb at all is when the subject is in the third person singular. That means that the subject is one person or thing that is not you or me. For example, Angela goes A time that works Both of those verbs need an –s or –es ending because we’re talking about one person or thing other than you or me—Angela and a time. For example, I usually go to the grocery store after work. My friend, Angela, sometimes goes shopping on Saturdays. Angela and Abdi go shopping together, so they choose a time that works for both of them.

Irregular Subject-Verb Agreement
For example, the verb be… Regular verbs are predictable. They follow rules… I go, you go, we go, they go He goes, she goes, it goes Irregular verbs are unpredictable. They don’t follow the usual rules. You can’t guess; you have to memorize them. Singular Plural I am We are You are He/She/It is They are Click here to read more about regular and irregular verbs at oxforddictionaries.com

Subject-Verb Agreement
If you speak English as a native language, you may not know how to describe subject- verb agreement, but you probably recognize when sentences don’t sound or look like you expect them to. However, if you speak a language other than English, or if you speak an English dialect, it can be more challenging. The rules for other languages and dialects such as such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE, sometimes called Black English or Ebonics) or some Southern American English dialects are different. For example, in AAVE, it is perfectly fine to say “He go” in certain situations. Think… What are some differences in the rules for subjects and verbs in another language or dialect of English compared with Standard English? What are some similarities?

The Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement
Video from CateDurhamCollege on YouTube Even if you speak English as a native language, you may have difficulty with subject-verb agreement. For example… Five hours is a long time to take a test. Why not Five hours are? Click to watch a video about the rules Click here to read about the rules for subject-verb agreement at grammar.yourdictionary.com

Practice Subject-Verb Agreement
Click the button to practice subject-verb agreement at Purdue Online Writing Lab. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT PRACTICE At Purdue OWL

Verb Tense Consistency
Definition from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary Subjects and verbs have to agree based on who or what and how many are doing the action. Two verbs in the same sentence have to agree based on when the action takes place. That’s called verb tense agreement or verb tense consistency. DEFINITION Tense (n.): a form of a verb that is used to show when an action happened

Example from Purdue OWL When two verbs in the same sentence aren’t the same tense, it can be confusing for readers who won’t know when the action happened. For example, The instructor explains the diagram to students who asked questions during the lecture. Think… When does the teacher explain the diagram? When do the students ask questions?

Example from Purdue OWL When two verbs in the same sentence aren’t the same tense, it can be confusing for readers who won’t know when the action happened. For example, The instructor explains the diagram to students who asked questions during the lecture. It’s possible that the instructor is explaining the diagram now, after class, to the students who asked about it earlier during the lecture. It’s also possible that the teacher explained it earlier to the people who asked. It’s also possible that the teacher always explains the diagrams whenever the students ask. We don’t know which is correct because the second verb in the sentence shifts in tense from present to past. It’s confusing.

Video from CII GSU on YouTube To write clearly, you need to keep verb tenses consistent. To do well on the WEST-B, you’ll need to be able to recognize when verb tenses are not consistent and correct the problem. Click to watch a video about verb tense consistency Click here to read about verb tense consistency at Purdue Online Writing Lab

Practice with Verb Tenses
Click the button to practice verb tense consistency. There are four different exercises. Start with the first one for practice identifying errors. Then move on to practice fixing the problems. Verb Tense Consistency Practice at Purdue Online Writing Lab

Parallel Structures Definition from Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary Parallel structure is similar to verb tense consistency. Parallel structure means that a writer uses the same part of speech or phrase structures throughout the sentence to keep the sentence clear and consistent. DEFINITION Parallel (adj.): to be similar or equal to something

Parallel Structures Example from Purdue OWL Well-written lists have parallel structure. For example, Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling. Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bike. Think… What’s the problem with the following sentence? Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bike.

Parallel Structures Example from Purdue OWL Well-written lists have parallel structure. For example, Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling. Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bike. The problem with Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bike is that hiking and swimming are both –ing words (called gerunds) but to ride is another form of a verb—an infinitive. It doesn’t match.

Parallel Structures Click here to read examples
Video from Smrt English on YouTube You might also find errors in parallel structures in sentences with: Multiple prepositional phrases Adverbs, adjectives, and noun phrases Active and passive voice Click to watch a video with examples of the types of parallel structures to pay attention to… Click here to read examples at Purdue Online Writing Lab

Practice with Parallel Structures
Click the button to practice parallel structures. Parallel Structures Practice at Khan Academy

Pronouns Example from Purdue OWL Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in sentences. Some examples of pronouns are: She, her, hers, herself I, me, my, mine, myself We, our, ours, ourselves We use different pronouns depending on who or what the pronoun refers to and its function in the sentence.

Pronouns Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in sentences. Some examples of pronouns are: She, her, hers, herself I, me, my, mine, myself We, our, ours, ourselves For example, I know John. I know him. He knows me.

Pronouns Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in sentences. Some examples of pronouns are: She, her, hers, herself I, me, my, mine, myself We, our, ours, ourselves For example, I know John. I know him. He knows me. I is the subject. John is the object.

Pronouns Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in sentences. Some examples of pronouns are: She, her, hers, herself I, me, my, mine, myself We, our, ours, ourselves For example, I know John. I know him. He knows me. I is the subject. Him is the object.

Pronouns Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in sentences. Some examples of pronouns are: She, her, hers, herself I, me, my, mine, myself We, our, ours, ourselves For example, I know John. I know him. He knows me. He is the subject. Me is the object.

SUBJECT AND OBJECT PRONOUN PRACTICE at KhanAcademy.org
Pronouns Video from Khan Academy on YouTube Click to watch a video about subject and object pronouns. Click the button to practice identifying subject and object pronouns. SUBJECT AND OBJECT PRONOUN PRACTICE at KhanAcademy.org

Possessive Pronouns Video from Khan Academy on YouTube We use different pronouns, called possessive pronouns, when we talk about something that belongs to someone or something. For example, The book is mine. It’s my book. It’s not her book. Click to watch a video about possessive pronouns. Click here to read more about possessive pronouns at yourdictionary.com

Practice with Possessive Pronouns
If you speak Standard English as a native language, you may already be able to recognize errors in possessive pronouns. However, if you speak another language or dialect, it may be more difficult. For example, in some dialects of English, it’s perfectly fine to say, “They have they books” when speakers of Standard English would say “They have their books.” Click the button below to practice possessive pronouns. POSSESSIVE PRONOUN PRACTICE at KhanAcademy.org

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
The noun that a pronoun refers to is called the antecedent. In the example on the right, John is the antecedent of him and he because both pronouns refer to John. Him and he mean John. For example, I know John. I know him. He knows me.

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Video from J Perron on YouTube Subjects and verbs in a sentence have to agree based on who or what is doing the action and how many are doing it. Pronouns and antecedents are similar. They have to agree with each other in order for us to understand the sentence. Click to watch a video about pronoun/antecedent agreement. Click here to read about pronoun/antecedent agreement At Purdue Online Writing Lab

Practice PRONOUN/ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT PRACTICE #1 At KhanAcademy.org Click a button to practice. You can do either set of questions first, but you should do both if you need the practice. PRONOUN/ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT PRACTICE #2 At KhanAcademy.org

Grammar Review and Practice
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Verb Tense Consistency problem Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. The first verb about what dinosaurs did is in the past, laid. But the other verb, abandon, is in the present tense. Laid and abandon must agree because both took place in the past.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Verb Tense Consistency problem Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Let’s fix it… Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The first verb about what dinosaurs did is in the past, laid. But the other verb, abandon, is in the present tense. Laid and abandon must agree because both took place in the past.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement problem Young is plural, but itself is singular. They have to agree in number. Both should be plural or both should be singular.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement problem Young is plural, but itself is singular. They have to agree in number. Both should be plural or both should be singular. Let’s fix it… The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Subject/Verb Agreement problem Discovery is singular, but have challenged is plural. Even though there are plural words in between (a group of nests) the discovery is the subject of the sentence and the verb has to agree with it.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Subject/Verb Agreement problem Let’s fix it… However, a recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. Discovery is singular, but have challenged is plural. Even though there are plural words in between (a group of nests) the discovery is the subject of the sentence and the verb has to agree with it.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Cared for and fed both have –ed endings, but were protecting has a helping verb were and an –ing ending. They should all be the same. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Parallel Structure problem

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Let’s fix it… The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and protected their young. Cared for and fed both have –ed endings, but were protecting has a helping verb were and an –ing ending. They should all be the same. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Parallel Structure problem

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. They is a plural pronoun that is used as a subject in Standard English. In this sentence it is as a possessive pronoun indicating that the nest belonged to the babies. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Possessive pronoun problem

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. They is a plural pronoun that is used as a subject in Standard English. In this sentence it is as a possessive pronoun indicating that the nest belonged to the babies. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. Let’s fix it… For some time after birth, the babies would stay at their nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. Possessive pronoun problem

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. The young and the pronoun they are both plural, but the possessive pronoun his in his own is singular. They must all agree. Pronoun Agreement problem with a possessive pronoun

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Text Copyright © 2014 Educational Testing Service. Used with permission. DIRECTIONS: Identify the grammatical errors in the following sentences. Rewrite the sentences correctly on a piece of paper. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandon their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of itself. However, a recent discovery of a group of nests have challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that some dinosaur parents actually cared for, fed, and were protecting their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at they nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on his own. The young and the pronoun they are both plural, but the possessive pronoun his in his own is singular. They must all agree. Let’s fix it… The young stayed home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own. Pronoun Agreement problem with a possessive pronoun

AT PURDUE ONLINE WRITING LAB
Punctuation The WEST-B primarily tests your ability to recognize or correct errors with: Commas Semi-colons Apostrophes Quotation Marks Click a button to read about and practice using punctuation, then go on to the next page for sample test questions. PUNCTUATION AT PURDUE ONLINE WRITING LAB TIP… Scroll down and click the links on the main punctuation page at Purdue OWL for help and practice with several types of punctuation.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which change is needed in the selection? Sentence 1: Delete the comma after than Sentence 2: Insert a comma after France Sentence 3: Delete the apostrophe in book’s Sentence 6: Insert a comma after eighteenth-century

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which change is needed in the selection? Sentence 1: Delete the comma after than Sentence 2: Insert a comma after France Sentence 3: Delete the apostrophe in book’s Sentence 6: Insert a comma after eighteenth-century Think… Look at the answer options. Why would there be an apostrophe in book’s? Do we need to add punctuation or take an unnecessary comma out?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which change is needed in the selection? Sentence 1: Delete the comma after than Sentence 2: Insert a comma after France Sentence 3: Delete the apostrophe in book’s Sentence 6: Insert a comma after eighteenth-century The comma after than in Sentence 1 is unnecessary and interrupts our reading. Take it out to make the sentence more clear. A is the best option. (Book’s has an apostrophe to indicate a possessive—the cover of the book, the book’s cover.)

Commonly Confused Words
Video from English Lessons with Adam on YouTube You might see questions on the WEST-B about commonly confused words, such as affect and effect. These words are similar but they don’t have the same meaning and they’re used in different contexts. Make flashcards with the word on one side and the definition or an example on the other. Click to watch a video explaining some commonly confused words. Click here to see a list of commonly confused words at Grammarly.com

Homophones Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Homophones are tricky for lots of people, regardless of whether they speak English as a native language. Below are some homophones you might see on the WEST-B. Homophones How to Use Them you’re your You’re is a contraction of you + are. You’re studying right now. Your is a possessive pronoun. You’re studying for your test. they’re their there They’re is a contraction of they + are. They’re studying too. Their is a possessive pronoun. They’re studying for their tests. There is an adverb of location. They’re studying for their tests over there. two to too Two is a number. Two people are studying for their tests. To is a preposition and it’s used with verbs. Two people are going to the library to study. Too means also or as well. You’re going to the library to study too.

Word Usage Practice I am taller then my sister.
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned.

Word Usage Practice then  than I am taller then my sister.
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. then  than I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned. Then is used to show time or sequence. Than is used to compare two things.

Word Usage Practice it’s  its I am taller then my sister.
Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. it’s  its I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned. It’s is a contraction made of two words: it + is. Its—without the apostrophe—is a possessive pronoun.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned. countries  country’s Countries is the plural form of country. It’s more than one country. The singular possessive form is country’s—with an ‘s—to show the the flag belongs to one country. If we were talking about the flags of multiple countries, we would put an apostrophe at the end—the countries’ flags.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned. excepted  accepted Except means not including or other than. Accept means to receive or take. He took her offer and signed the papers that evening.

Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide DIRECTIONS: Find the error in word usage in each of the following sentences. There is only one error per sentence. Rewrite the sentence using the correct word if you want to. Affect/effect is one of the most commonly confused word pairs in English. Affect means to act on or to change (something) and is most often used as a verb. Effect means the change that happens as a result of (something) and is most often used as a noun. Here we are talking about what happened when he took medicine—the effects of the medicine. For more on the differences between affect and effect, see the Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary. I am taller then my sister. The breed is known for it’s gentleness with children. The countries flag has changed with each regime. He excepted her offer and signed the papers that evening. The affects of the medicine wore off quickly, and his fever returned. affects  effects

Spelling English spelling is tricky for a few reasons: Words don’t always look how they sound. For example, though, which sounds like thō Words that are spelled similarly are not pronounced the same way. For example, Though (sounds like /thō/) Through (sounds like /thro̅o̅/) Rough (sounds like /rûf/) Trough (sounds like /trôf/) Words come from many languages and have spelling that makes sense for those languages. For example, zucchini is an Italian word that is pronounced /zookeenee/ The habit of misspelling words can develop over time so it may be hard to recognize when you haven’t spelled something correctly, even when you can easily read the word in its correct spelling Lots of people have trouble spelling English words, even people who speak, read, and write English as a native language. It does not mean you are stupid or that you can’t learn common spelling rules and mistakes.

Spelling Study Tips Unfortunately, learning better spelling takes memorization and building good habits. Here are some tips for how to study spelling. Practice resources and videos are on the next page. SPELLING STUDY TIPS Learn rules and exceptions to rules. There a lots of videos on YouTube to learn English spelling rules. Write or type a lot. Training your hands to write or type correctly helps build the habit of good spelling. Study sight words. Sight words are little words like are and like that you can read as a whole word rather than letter by letter. Spell out loud. Saying the word and then guessing each letter based on the sound can sometimes be helpful. Recognize prefixes and suffixes. Learning prefixes like anti- and ante- can help you remember how to spell certain words when you know their meanings. Read a lot. The ParaPro will ask you to recognize when words are spelled incorrectly, and reading a lot can help you with that.

Spelling Resources Adapted from the ICCB Paraprofessional Test Preparation Curriculum Guide Click a button to practice spelling skills or watch videos. YouTube SightWords.com Videos about spelling rules Printable flashcards for studying sight words. AAASpelling.com TV411.org Spelling lists and practice by grade level or make your own lists. Videos and practice with prefixes and suffixes.

Revision WEST-B Objective: Apply revision strategies to written works.
In this section… Revision strategies Practice

Editing and Revising It’s important to proofread our own writing to find mistakes in grammar, spelling, organization, and so on. Then it’s important to edit your work to correct those mistakes. It’s equally important to revise your writing to improve the clarity, fluency, and cohesion of an essay. Everything you’ve reviewed so far in this study guide will help you with answering revision questions on the WEST-B. REVISING is making your writing better. EDITING is making it correct.

EDITING AND REVISING CHECKLIST
Strategies Key points to remember: Sentences should be complete and grammatically correct. Paragraphs should be organized logically around one main point. Supporting details should connect to the main idea and purpose of the writing. Transitional words and phrases organize writing and help the reader understand. Writing should be concise and as clear as possible. Avoid using too many words. Ask yourself key questions like those listed in the editing and revising checklist at UNC Writing Center. TIPS FOR REVISING at UNC Writing Center EDITING AND REVISING CHECKLIST at UNC Writing Center

Revision Strategies Question
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which underlined word in the selection should be replaced by a more appropriate word? Sentence 2: originated Sentence 4: beginning Sentence 6: largely Sentence 8: satirical

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which underlined word in the selection should be replaced by a more appropriate word? Sentence 2: originated Sentence 4: beginning Sentence 6: largely Sentence 8: satirical This revision question is about word choice. Which word seems misused in this context?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which underlined word in the selection should be replaced by a more appropriate word? Sentence 2: originated Sentence 4: beginning Sentence 6: largely Sentence 8: satirical Check the meanings and usage conventions of these words at MERRIAM-WEBSTER LEARNER’S DICTIONARY This revision question is about word choice. Which word seems misused in this context?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is a sample of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1Adults have been reading the stories and verses of “Mother Goose” to children for more than, 400 years. 2The collection originated in France in 1697 with eight fairy tales published as Stories and Tales of Past Times with Morals; or Tales of Mother Goose. 3The book’s cover showed an engraving of an elderly woman sitting by the fireside next to a sign that read: “stories of my mother the goose.” 4Considered the beginning classic of children’s literature, the book includes stories such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” 5Today, “Mother Goose” is more closely associated with nursery rhymes than fairy tales. 6This is largely a consequence of the business practices of an eighteenth-century English publisher. 7In 1768 he published a translation of the original tales under the title Mother Goose’s Melody. 8Most of the verses were traditional folk songs, tavern ballads, and satirical poems written to entertain adults. 9They have since become the delight of young children, who enjoy them for their silliness and lyricism. Which underlined word in the selection should be replaced by a more appropriate word? Sentence 2: originated Sentence 4: beginning Sentence 6: largely Sentence 8: satirical Beginning is usually used as a noun meaning the start, but in this passage it’s used somewhat awkwardly as an adjective to mean first. A better word choice would be first. B is the best answer.

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change in word choice is needed to improve the effectiveness of the second paragraph? Sentence 6: change “when asked” to “if questioned” Sentence 7: change “much more likely” to “more inclined” Sentence 8: change “large areas” to “major parts” Sentence 10: change “a whole lot” to “much more”

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change in word choice is needed to improve the effectiveness of the second paragraph? Sentence 6: change “when asked” to “if questioned” Sentence 7: change “much more likely” to “more inclined” Sentence 8: change “large areas” to “major parts” Sentence 10: change “a whole lot” to “much more” This revision question is also about word choice, but not in the sense that words are used incorrectly. Instead, it’s about choosing more appropriate words for the tone, purpose, and audience. Which answer options change the tone or style of the writing?

WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Question Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. The following is another example of the kind of question you might see on the WEST-B. This question was on your pre-test. 1In 1811 and 1812 a series of three earthquakes took place near Madrid, Missouri, all of which are though to have registered 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale. 2Large areas of the region sank, new lakes formed, the Mississippi River changed course, and about 150,000 acres of forest were destroyed. 3More recently, a 1976 earthquake on the east coast of China killed over 240,000 people. 4In 1985 an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale his Mexico; a slightly less powerful aftershock struck 6 hours later. 5Between 5,000 and 10,000 people died in the disaster. 6Yet, when asked about earthquakes, people in the United States rarely recall any of these seismic disturbances. 7Rather, they are much more likely to mention the San Francisco earthquake of It was, to be sure, a major earthquake that registered 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed large areas of the city. 9That is not the only reason why it so well remembered, moreover. 10Its lasting place in U.S. history owes a whole lot to the fact that it was the first large earthquake to be extensively covered in the media. 11Major periodicals of the period included The Nation, Harper’s Weekly, and the Saturday Evening Post. 12Pictures of the panic and destruction appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and there were numerous eyewitness accounts. 13As a result of this coverage, the quake soon entered the realms of both legend and history. Which change in word choice is needed to improve the effectiveness of the second paragraph? Sentence 6: change “when asked” to “if questioned” Sentence 7: change “much more likely” to “more inclined” Sentence 8: change “large areas” to “major parts” Sentence 10: change “a whole lot” to “much more” Options A, B, and C don’t do much to change the tone or improve the second paragraph. The revision options are pretty much the same as the original phrases in terms of level of formality and appropriateness. Only D improves the paragraph by changing a casual, wordy phrase, to a more concise formal one.

Composition WEST-B Objective: Prepare an organized, developed composition in response to instructions regarding content, purpose, and audience. In this section… Scoring criteria Prewriting strategies, especially outlining Tips for Essay Questions Essay prompts

Scoring Criteria Essays are scored on 4-point scale, with specific criteria for each point level. Before you practice writing, look at the characteristics of essays at each level. SCORING OVERVIEW

Do’s and Don’ts for Timed Essays
Think about what the question is asking you to do. Panic. Leave time to proofread and revise. Start writing right away. Respond to the question in your thesis statement. Flesh out your response with supporting details – data, anecdotes, observations, examples – so that your essay fully answers the question. Be creative. It’s more important to structure your essay logically and make your points concisely than to come up with interesting ways of saying something. Write an outline or use another prewriting strategy to organize your ideas before you start writing. Use big words without a good reason. It’s more important to be clear than to “sound smart” Revise your thesis statement to reflect what your essay turned out to be. We often make changes and discoveries while we’re writing. The result may be different from what you originally intended. Write as much as possible. More does not always mean better and you have a short amount of time. It’s better to fully develop a page or two. Think quality over quantity.

PREWRITING STRATEGIES
Click the button below to read about prewriting strategies such as clustering, freewriting, and “Journalists Questions.” Think… What are some ways to organize your thoughts before you start writing? What are some ways to generate ideas? How do you find information about a topic? What tools or resources do you use? PREWRITING STRATEGIES AT KU Writing Center

Outlining Video from Dan Ferreira on YouTube Click to watch a video about outlining. Outlining is one of the most common prewriting strategies for organizing academic essays. Review outlining first, then practice making outlines as you practice writing timed essays. Click here to read about outlines and see samples at Purdue Online Writing Lab

Writing Prompts WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Prompts 1 and 2 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Practice writing using the following prompts. What are the characteristics of a good friend? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, explain your ideas about what makes someone a good friend. Include details to support your views. Some people believe that voter turnout in local, state, and federal elections would increase if election day were a national holiday, while others disagree that this would help significantly. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. There is a strong parent-led campaign in your city to decrease or eliminate homework assignments given to students. However, some people have argued that homework supports learning. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. Some people believe that mobile phones should never be used by high school students in the classroom, while other believe that mobile phone use in the classroom can be beneficial to those students. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. There has been a concentrated campaign in your school to curb bullying. While the campaign has been largely successful within schools, bullying is now prevalent in online communities. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, describe how online bullying is different from in-person bullying, and what steps can be taken to curb it. Is learning a foreign language important in a globalized world? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. What are the qualities of a good leader? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, explain your ideas about what makes someone a good leader. Include details to support your views. TIP… Practice writing a few essays using these prompts. Allow yourself 45 minutes for each essay. Give yourself a score based on the scoring criteria or have someone you trust give you a score. Don’t forget to organize your writing first using an outline or other prewriting strategy and leave time to revise.

Writing Prompts Practice writing using the following prompts.
WEST-B Writing Sample Questions Prompts 1 and 2 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Practice writing using the following prompts. What are the characteristics of a good friend? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, explain your ideas about what makes someone a good friend. Include details to support your views. Some people believe that voter turnout in local, state, and federal elections would increase if election day were a national holiday, while others disagree that this would help significantly. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. There is a strong parent-led campaign in your city to decrease or eliminate homework assignments given to students. However, some people have argued that homework supports learning. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. Some people believe that mobile phones should never be used by high school students in the classroom, while other believe that mobile phone use in the classroom can be beneficial to those students. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. There has been a concentrated campaign in your school to curb bullying. While the campaign has been largely successful within schools, bullying is now prevalent in online communities. In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, describe how online bullying is different from in-person bullying, and what steps can be taken to curb it. Is learning a foreign language important in a globalized world? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, express your opinion on this issue. Defend your position with reasoned arguments and supporting examples. What are the qualities of a good leader? In an essay to be read by a general audience of educated adults, explain your ideas about what makes someone a good leader. Include details to support your views.

In this section, did you….?
Learn about the Writing subtest of the WEST-B Take a pretest Review purpose, audience, and tone Review Point of View Look at the impact of text features such as word choice, punctuation, and sentence structure Review organizational text structures Write and revise thesis statements Identify supporting details and extraneous details Review transitional words and phrases Review paragraphing Review Standard English writing conventions such as Parts of speech Capitalization Sentence fragments and run-ons Subject-verb agreement Pronouns Parallel structures Punctuation Commonly confused words and spelling Think about revision strategies Learn tips for writing timed essays Review prewriting strategies, especially outlining Practice writing essays using essay prompts

In this section, did you….?
Learn about the Writing subtest of the WEST-B Take a pretest Review purpose, audience, and tone Review Point of View Look at the impact of text features such as word choice, punctuation, and sentence structure Review organizational text structures Write and revise thesis statements Identify supporting details and extraneous details Review transitional words and phrases Review paragraphing Review Standard English writing conventions such as Parts of speech Capitalization Sentence fragments and run-ons Subject-verb agreement Pronouns Parallel structures Punctuation Commonly confused words and spelling Think about revision strategies Learn tips for writing timed essays Review prewriting strategies, especially outlining Practice writing essays using essay prompts TIPS: Practice and review the topics you’re still unsure about. Review your pretest and take it again. Take other practice tests online or in books. Do the WEST-B tutorial to get an idea of what it will be like to take the computer-based test.

Help Getting Started This study guide can help you:
Make a plan to study for the WEST-B Learn about the reading, writing, and math sections of the test Practice answering test questions Click here to go to the next page. Click here to go to the first page, the home page. Click here to go to the previous page.

How much time will this take?
You can use this study guide for any amount of time, but it’s a good idea to study for at least an hour a day. The first section, “Make a Plan,” will take two hours or more to finish. The other sections will take longer. You can go as fast or as slow as you want. Skip sections you don’t need to study. Don’t spend time on things you already know. In each section, you will be able to: Review the skills and topics you need to do well on the test by watching videos, reading, thinking, and practicing. Go to other websites to practice and get information Practice taking test questions and learn about the answers

WEST-B Test Preparation Study Guide

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