Strategies
Strategy of crossing out the answers you know are wrong to cut down on the number of choices to consider
What is the process of elimination?
An essay that requires your opinion.
What is an argumentative essay?
The total number of points you can earn for either essay you write on the state test.
These are the days that students are taking the ELA II state test this year.
What are Tuesday April 15 and Wednesday April 16?
This is something you should be sure to do if the piece you're reading has an introductory paragraph or an explanation before the actual text begins.
What is read it?
What you do when the question prompt explicitly states the paragraph number where an event or a quote is mentioned.
What is go back and read that portion of text?
A good way to incorporate evidence into your essay.
What is quote blending, OR TLQ using a transition, a contextual lead-in, then quote?
The total number of points you can earn in the "evidence and elaboration" section of the essay rubric.
What is 4?
The thing that will make Mrs. Hill throw up if she sees it when she walks into the testing rooms.
What is people with their heads down and laptops closed very early in the testing session?
What you should do if the text has footnotes at the bottom of the page.
What is read them?
A way to decide the answer of part one of a two-part question in which the second part supports the first.
What is trying to find a match for the available answers from the second part?
What is a counterclaim?
The number of points you receive for a 2-part question if you get part A wrong but part B correct.
What is zero?
What you should be sure to bring with you on test day.
What is a fully-charged Chromebook?
What Shakespeare and other writers from previous centuries mean when they use the words "thee" and "thy"
What is "you" and "your"?
A way to organize your thoughts on paper before beginning your essay.
What is creating a quick and dirty outline?
What is the thesis or the claim?
The number of points you'll receive in a category if you use "adequate" progression of ideas or "adequate" expression of ideas.
What is 3?
The subject of the classrooms most of my students are taking the state test in.
What is Social Studies / History / Government, etc.?
This is the genre/type of literature that the state loves to put on the exams.
What are myths and / or fables?
A good rule of thumb when your essay is finished to ensure that you have few errors (to keep you at a "2" for Conventions).
What is proof-reading?
A way to ensure that my evidence is explained thoroughly.
What is "Show your work" OR be sure to explain HOW you know that your evidence supports your topic sentence and thesis?
Includes "A strongly maintained controlling idea with little or no loosely related material" and "skillful use of a variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas".
What are two of the requirements for achieving 4 points for "Purpose Focus and Organization"?
This is what you should do if you aren't sure of the answer but still have plenty of time.
What is either going back and reading the passage again, or flagging the question and coming back to it?
What you should do if the text you're reading is difficult and you're completely lost.
What is:
take a deep breath and/or
read it again and/or
read small chunks of it at a time and/or
type out notes summarizing the section and/or
don't give up?