1. HOW IS IT SCORED? FCAT Writes

2. Just like this… FCAT writes is scored by a writing superstar that works for the wonderful Sunshine State. After you “show off” all your talents, BPA will seal your writing in a special envelope and mail it directly to the writing superstar. Once it arrives, the superstar’s servant will deliver the envelope to the royal writing desk where she works. The writing superstar will use a rubric developed by the most intelligent writers in the country. Your writing will also be compared to writing from previous years to ensure that your paper is scored fairly. Check out the rubric and see how your writing measures up…

3. Here’s the kid friendly version… Focus – Completely addresses the prompt with no extra stuff. Organization – Clear BME; writing is complete; transitions are used correctly Support – More than enough details and elaboration; strong vocabulary is used correctly. Conventions – Almost NO mistakes in spelling/grammar/capital letters/punctuation; variety of sentences is used. Focus – Completely addresses the prompt with no extra stuff. Organization – Clear BME; writing is complete; transitions are used correctly Support – Enough elaboration and details; strong vocabulary is used, but may sometimes be incorrectly used. Conventions – Very few mistakes in spelling/grammar/capital letters/punctuation; variety of sentences is used. Focus – Clearly addresses the prompt, but may have a few places that it gets slightly off topic. Organization – Clear BME; writing is complete; transitions have been used Support – Details and elaboration are attempted; some strong vocabulary is used minimally. Conventions – Capital letter and punctuation is mostly correct. Common words are spelled correctly; sentence variety has been attempted. 3 Focus – Clearly addresses the prompt, but may have a few places that it gets slightly off topic. Organization – organization has been attempted; some transitions used; paper may not be complete. Support – Details and elaboration are attempted; some strong vocabulary is used minimally. Conventions – Capital letter and punctuation is mostly correct. Common words are spelled correctly; sentence variety has been attempted. 2 Focus – Kind of addresses the prompt; may have some details and information that is not related to the prompt Organization – not very organized; no transitions; paper may not be finished Support – a few details are included but may not be enough and may not make sense Conventions – lots of mistakes with capital letters and punctuation; Common words are usually spelled incorrectly; sentences sound like a 1 st grader wrote them. 1 Focus – paper hardly addresses the prompt and has a lot of off topic information. Organization – not very organized; no transitions; paper may not be finished Support – very few, if any, related details are used; may sound like a list; 1 st grade vocabulary is used. Conventions – lots of mistakes with capital letters and punctuation; Common words are usually spelled incorrectly; sentences sound like a 1 st grader wrote them.

4. What does all that hoop-lah mean? Let’s investigate!

5. Focus Read the prompt and figure out what your TOPIC is and what TYPE of writing it is asking you to write. Use “key words” from the prompt in the first and last paragraphs of your writing. Don’t talk about junk that has nothing to do with the topic. (If the topic is about living in FL, don’t tell me about driving to China.) Make sure that if the prompt says to “explain” that you write expository and if it says “tell” you write narrative. Believe it or not, this can take a 6 to a 3.

6. Organization Make sure your paper is FINISHED!!!! It must have a CLEAR beginning, middle and end. Make sure that the order of your writing makes sense. In other words, don’t tell me the middle before you tell me the beginning. Use those fancy transition words to move the reader from one idea to the next. But for goodness sake, don’t use expository transitions if the prompt is narrative!... Unless, of course, you WANT me to have an aneurism.

7. Support LISTEN UP, BECAUSE THIS IS A BIGGIE! Use SPECIFIC details to help the reader understand. (Don’t say, “I bought a lot of stuff and spent all my money.” Tell me exactly what “stuff” you bought and exactly how much money you spent.) Use examples, definitions, and mini stories to show the reader what your saying. Use vivid verbs, sensory words, Onomatopoeia, vivid color words, strong adjectives, dialogue and similes to develop basic ideas into STRONG ideas… but by all means, use them correctly!!!!! SHOW, DON’T TELL!!!

8. Conventions Make sure you have capital letters at the beginning of EVERY sentence and a correct punctuation mark at the end of EVERY sentence. Capitalize all proper nouns: names of people, places, and things. For example: Candice enjoys driving her new Mazda CX7 to Pier Park every Saturday. (Don’t forget that YOU are important, so capitalize the words, “I, I’m, and “I’ll”.) Make sure all common words (that means words that every intelligent 4 th grader should know) are spelled correctly. Use a variety of sentences or your paper will sound like this: “blah, blahblah, blah blah blah”. Don’t repeat yourself. Start each sentence with different words, combine sentences to make some longer and some short, ask questions, use exclamations and dialogue. And if you really, really LOVE me, make sure you have NO run-ons or fragments!

9. Ummmmmm….. Excuse me, crazy lady? This sounds like a whole bunch of rediculous stuff to do in a mere 45 minutes. What’s in it for me?

10. I’m so glad you asked! If you do all of these simple tasks, you could: make a on FCAT Writes! And, man, wouldn’t that rock! get a letter of recognition from one of those important guys that work in our state capitol. make your hard working teacher and yo’ momma and yo’ daddy PROUD! make all your friends envy you. “Yeah, you’re the top dog!” and more important than all those other reasons, you can hold your head up high and take PRIDE in your great achievement.