Are you a new 4th grade teacher? Perhaps, you have been teaching 4th grade for years, but stress over preparing your 4th graders for the 4th Grade STAAR Writing Test. You are not alone! Many teachers avoid teaching 4th grade in Texas because preparing your 4th graders for the STAAR Writing Test can be a struggle.
It is my hope that after you read this post, you will better understand the STAAR Writing Test. In addition, you will be able to successfully prepare your 4th graders for it.
To begin, the STAAR Writing Test is broken down into 3 parts and each of these parts are weighted differently. Read on to learn more about the 3 parts of the 4th Grade STAAR Writing Test.
Expository Writing
The expository writing portion of the 4th Grade STAAR Writing Test is worth 25% of the total score.
Students are given a prompt and have to answer the prompt from their own unique point of view, using as many details as possible. Of course, students are expected to use correct grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
Easier said than done! There is a lot of instruction that goes into guiding students on how to write an expository essay. Many 4th graders have never written this type of composition before reaching 4th grade.
If you are interested in learning Expository Writing tips, check out my STAAR Expository Writing Blog Post.
Revising Questions
The STAAR Writing Test includes 8 Revising Questions (25% of the total score). These questions take much longer than the editing questions! The student must make a complete change to a sentence. They do this by adding, removing, or moving a sentence or word to clarify the meaning of the sentence.
Teaching revising strategies and practicing with hands on activities are key in helping prepare students for the STAAR Revising questions.
Check out my STAAR Revising Strategies Blog Post for a more detailed look at the STAAR Writing Revising Questions.
Editing Questions
There are 16 Editing Questions on the 4th grade STAAR Writing Test (50% of the total score). These multiple choice questions are basic grammatical errors that need to be recognized and corrected by the student.
The editing questions make up 50% of the total STAAR Writing Score. Therefore, it is imperative that grammar skills are taught and reinforced throughout the year.
Check out my Grammar Blog Post to learn more about teaching grammar in fourth grade.
Many 4th grade teachers struggle to fit in all the grammar lessons.
I created a FREE Grammar Pacing Guide to help Texas 4th Grade teachers with fitting all their grammar lessons in at the beginning of the year. Sign up below to receive my FREE Grammar Pacing Guide:
Changes on the Horizon
Keep in mind the STAAR Writing test will be gone by 2022. Luckily, fourth grade teachers will be able to use their revise and edit knowledge. Starting in 2022 revise and edit questions will now be included in the STAAR Reading Test!
Actually, fourth grade teachers will have an advantage because we are familiar with the strategies to tackle revise and edit questions.
Our friends who teach 3rd and 5th grade will have to implement revise and edit strategies into their daily teaching as well. The 2022 STAAR Reading Test will include revise and edit questions on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade versions.
If you’re looking for specific resources that you can use in your classroom for a STAAR Writing Review, check out my blog post: STAAR Writing Resources Round Up
Knowing all the facts about the 4th grade STAAR Writing Test will help us prepare our students for the 2021 Test and be ready for the test in 2022!
