Do your 4th graders struggle with STAAR revising questions? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. The 8 revising questions are the most difficult questions on the STAAR Writing Test, but if you are teaching the right STAAR revising strategies then your students won’t have a problem with these questions!
The Fourth Grade STAAR Writing Test is broken into three parts.
The parts are not weighted equally in a student’s score. It is broken down like this: 16 editing questions, 8 revising questions, and 8 points for the expository essay (scored by two people 0-4).
The revising questions on the STAAR Writing Test equal 25% of the student’s total score. This proves it is extremely important for the students to understand these questions and get them RIGHT!
One of the things that makes revising questions hard is students have never seen questions like them before! Sure, they have revised and edited their own papers, but that knowledge doesn’t transfer directly to the questions being asked on STAAR.
In order for students to be successful on the revising questions on STAAR Writing they have to use strategies and have repetitive practice on these types of questions.
I have broken down the types of revising questions that appear on the 4th grade STAAR Writing Test and listed the strategies that I have my students use with each particular question.
Transition Words
The question asks students to add or replace a transition word at the beginning of a sentence. Students will need background knowledge on when certain transitions should be used.
For example, First of all, Next: are pretty easy and most fourth graders can figure out when they are needed. However, Nonetheless, As you can see: these can be tricky and 4th graders need to know when to use these transition words.
- Student will read the sentence before where the transition word is being inserted
- Plug each answer choice in the blank
- Then read the rest of the sentence
- Which transition word takes you from one sentence to the other the best?
Combining Sentences
When students are combining two sentences, they must think about the grammar rules for combining sentences.
Students will:
- Read the two sentences the way they are in the paper
- Read each answer choice carefully.
- Ask themselves:
- Does this sentence sound right?
- Is it punctuated correctly? *Think commas and FANBOYS
- Pick the BEST choice
Replacing a Word
In this type of question, students will be asked to replace a word to clarify the sentence.
- Read the sentences before to understand the main idea of the paragraph.
- Plug each answer choice into the blank.
- Which sounds the best and makes the most sense?
Adding a Sentence
When adding a sentence, students must first identify if the sentence they are going to add is a MAIN IDEA or DETAIL sentence.
If the question is asking to add an introduction or conclusion, then a main idea sentence is needed.
If it is a main idea sentence that is needed then students must:
- Read the whole paragraph and think about the main idea
- Plug in each answer choice
- Which sentence tells the main idea of the passage the best?
- Look for specific word choice
- (NOT: stuff, things, items)
If it is a detail sentence then:
- Read the sentences before and after the place where you will insert the sentence.
- Plug in each answer choice
- Which sentence is a detail that adds to the paragraph?
*Pay particular attention to sentences before and after where you will plug in the new sentence (so you are not repeating information).
In order to understand revise and edit questions, students need to practice, practice, practice!
Practicing in groups help students listen and learn from others. Independent practice is important as well. I always go over student’s independent practice immediately, so they can get feedback on their mistakes.
Once the revising questions are mastered, your students are sure to do well on the Fourth Grade Writing STAAR Test!
Revising Resources:
STAAR Resources Round Up Blog Post
Teaching Revising Strategies (activities in the pictures)
