A Tas Com-Tech Product: Jesse and Tess

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Thomas A. StewartLiteracy Test (OSSLT)Prep
Guide2013 Writing Questions Series of
Paragraphs
A Tas Com-Tech Product Jesse and Tess
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To help you navigate the guide, the TAS Logo is a
link to the Table of Contents
Introduction
This guide is intended to be a resource for
students, teachers and parents. It has several
sections covering what to expect, how these
questions are marked, examples of good and bad
answers with explanations for why. Throughout
the guide there are suggestions, tips and
hints. You can jump from section to section or
go through the guide in order. We recommend
visiting this guide more than once.
A Tas Com-Tech Product Jesse and Tess
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Table of Contents
Overview
Sample Question
How to Write a Series of Paragraphs
What to expect
How its Marked
Topic Development
Writing Conventions
Sample Answers
Topic Dev. 10-60
Writing Con. 10 - 40
OSSLT -speak
Other Guides
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OSSLT-speak
Decoding the OSSLT
The OSSLT has its own special terminology. Its
important to know what their terms
mean. Selection A selection is the thing
they have you readit might be part of a book,
a story from a magazine, something from a
website, but basically its the thing you
need to base your answers on. Prompt The
prompt is basically the question. For a Series
of Paragraphs Expressing an Opinion the
prompt will be the topic they want you to
write about. Response Your response is your
answer what you write about the selection in
answer to the prompt. Scoring
Scoring is the word they use for marking or
grading. Your score on each question is
called a Code. So if you get 30 they call it a
Code 30. Conventions Spelling, grammar, sentence
structure and punctuation.
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Writing Series of Paragraphs
Overview
The Series of Paragraphs expressing an opinion
is one of the two major (Long) writing tasks you
will see on the OSSLT. It is marked out of 100
60 for Topic Development and 40 for Writing
Conventions. This makes it one of the two most
important questions in the OSSLT. Do well on the
Long writing tasks this and the News Report,
and youre well on your way to passing the test.
Bomb them, or worse, blow them off and your
chances of passing arent good. An example of a
Series of Paragraphs question and what good and
bad answers look like follows. There are a couple
of basic things to keep in mind
The Series of Paragraphs expressing an opinion
is one of the two major (Long) writing tasks you
will see on the OSSLT. It is marked out of 100
60 for Topic Development and 40 for Writing
Conventions. This makes it one of the two most
important questions in the OSSLT. Do well on the
Long writing tasks this and the News Report,
and youre well on your way to passing the test.
Bomb them, or worse, blow them off and your
chances of passing arent good. An example of a
Series of Paragraphs question and what good and
bad answers look like follows. There are a couple
of basic things to keep in mind
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Series of Paragraphs
The OSSLT is designed to test you on what they
call the three writing skills 1 developing a
main idea with sufficient supporting details
2 organizing information and ideas in a
coherent manner 3 using conventions
(spelling, grammar, punctuation) in a manner
that does not distract from clear
communication.
- coming up with an idea and doing a good
job backing it up with proof. - putting your
ideas and proof together in a way that makes
sense and helps get your point across. -
showing you understand and can handle spelling,
grammar, and punctuation. They are looking for
evidence that you have come control over the
language and you understand how to put things
together.
So far so good. Lets look at a question.
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This is an example of a Series of Paragraphs
task or question.
You will get two lined pages (about 50 lines) to
answer this question.
Series Of Paragraphs
Task Write a minimum of three paragraphs
expressing an opinion on the topic below.
Develop your main idea with supporting details
(proof, facts, examples, etc.). Purpose
and Audience an adult who is interested in
your opinion Length The lined space
provided for your written work indicates the
approximate length of the writing
expected. Topic Are cellphones necessary in
teenagers lives?
A Series of Paragraphs is basically an essay.
Its really important to follow the instructions
here. They are looking for minimum of three
paragraphs, which includes an introduction, proof
and a conclusion.
Its pretty basic but Make sure you give them 5
paragraphs.
Write your series of paragraphs on the lines
provided on the following two pages. Rough
Notes Use the space below for rough notes.
Nothing you write in this space will be scored.
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Series of Paragraphs
What to expect
The topic will be current and familiar to
teenagers. Are cell phones necessary? do Video
Games hurt your ability to do well in school?
Is social media (Facebook) dangerous? Do music
videos promote violence? The student must
write a minimum of three paragraphs, which
include an introduction, development and a
conclusion. Students are given two lined pages
for their written work. We recommend five
paragraphs an introduction, three paragraphs
for your proof/argument and a conclusion. This
will pretty much guarantee your answer fills
more than one page. Which is a factor in the way
its marked. The student must express an
opinion and support it with details. The opinion
must be stated clearly at the beginning or end of
the response. Pick a side and stick to it. Dont
try to give both sides of the argumentthen you
dont have an OPINION.

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Series of Paragraphs
What to expect

The student must adequately support the opinion
with reasons, examples or facts. Its not
enough to just make statements. You have to back
them up with examples. Students need cell
phones. isnt good enough. Students need
cell phones in school because they might have to
phone their parents. These days most families
have both parents working and being able to get
in touch through a cell phone is important. Also
many students have jobs and bosses often insist
on being able to contact them. is much better
because it gives reasons why students need cell
phones. This is where a lot of students come
up short on these questionsthey put down three
reasons but they dont adequately support
back up their opinion with reasons and
examples.
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Series of Paragraphs
What to expect

You need to make sure that your opinion is
clearly stated - put it in the first paragraph
and again in the last paragraph. you have
provided enough specific detail to support it -
use examples from your life of things you know
about. the response is coherent and organized
and - take a couple of minutes to play what you
want to say. Start with your best argument
back it up, than your next best back that up
and finish with your third best back that up.
the grammar, spelling, punctuation and
sentence structure are correct. - Make sure all
your sentences start with capital letters and
finish with some punctuation ( . ? ! ).
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How its Marked
The Series of Paragraphs is scored marked
out of 100. 60 for Topic Development 40 for
Writing Conventions
Topic Development is basically what you
write. They are looking for you to express a
clear opinion on one side an issue. They also
looking for support for that opinion (reasons,
examples) and for you to state the opinion
clearly at the beginning and the end of your
work. Basically you have to have an introduction
and a conclusion. Writing conventions are
basically how you write. Spelling, sentence
structure, punctuation and grammar.
Topic Development
Writing Conventions
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Writing Series of ParagraphsScoring Topic
Development
There are three (3) ways to get a zero (0)
Blank The page is blank with nothing written or drawn in the space provided. (If you dont write anything theres nothing to mark.)
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Writing Series of ParagraphsScoring Topic
Development
There are three (3) ways to get a zero (0)
Blank The page is blank with nothing written or drawn in the space provided. (If you dont write anything theres nothing to mark.)
Illegible The response is illegible or irrelevant to the prompt. (Your answer is too hard to follow or isnt a News Report)
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Writing Series of ParagraphsScoring Topic
Development
There are three (3) ways to get a zero (0)
Blank The page is blank with nothing written or drawn in the space provided. (If you dont write anything theres nothing to mark.)
Illegible The response is illegible or irrelevant to the prompt. (Your answer is too hard to follow or isnt related to the question)
Off topic The response is off topic. (Whatever you wrote didnt answer the question.)
Here are some examples of Series of paragraph
answers taken from past tests. Well start with
the ones that werent that good.
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Series Of Paragraphs
This is a Code 10
Which is an Epic fail!
CODE 10
There are no details and nothing to back the
opinion up. Its one line, not a series of
paragraphs, and because its so short there is no
evidence of organization. Basically you cant
write one line instead of five paragraphs and
expect to pass.
About the only good thing about this answer is,
it does state an opinion (It is very important
that a teenager have a cellphone.) But, basically
thats all there is.
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Series Of Paragraphs
This is a Code 20
Which better than an Epic fail, but its still a
fail.
CODE 20
Hows this for irony??
It there are many reasonswrite them down!
But this is not a series of paragraphs. Its one
sentence that covers four lines. Theres just
not enough here to get a passing mark.
The good news is It does state an opinion (Yes
I believe that a cellphone is completly necessary
in a teenagers life). And, there is a little
support to back it up.
The response is related to the prompt, and
expresses and supports an opinion (Yes I believe
that a cellphone is completly necessary in a
teenagers life). There are insufficient
supporting details.
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Whats Good The answer is related to the
question (its about students and cell phone,)
and there are three paragraphs which shows signs
of some organization.
More evidence of organization Some paragraphs
have concluding sentences (Thats silly!, This to
me is wasting money.). There is no conclusion to
the response.
Series Of Paragraphs
CODE 30
Were heading in the right direction but were
not where we want to beyet.
This is a CODE 30
Whats Good Theres a clear opinion (No, they
arent.)
Were got some supporting details which is good,
but there arent enough of them and theyre just
listed and not developed.
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So 40 out of 60 for Topic Development is a solid
pass. This is the minimum you should be shooting
for
Whats good about this it has a clear opinion -
Cell phones are necessary thats consistent all
the way through.
They start with it in the first paragraph and end
with it in the last paragraph.
Series Of Paragraphs
CODE 40
This is a Code 40
Each reason here contacting parents is
supported with some example or detail.
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There are 5 Paragraphs which are are clearly
indented and obvious.
The organization is obvious. They start each
paragraph with a word that lets you know the
order.
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3
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Having the right format five paragraphs an
introduction, three different points - one per
paragraph and a conclusion is huge. Do that
and a couple of spelling mistakes, or repeating a
point wont hurt you.
Series Of Paragraphs
Code 40 (part 2)
Heres the opinion again. This is a good way to
wrap up the story.
But thats not really a bad thing. Unless you are
really confident in your writing ability its
better to be mechanical so they know you
knowyknow?
Still with the obvious organization. When they
mark this they will say the organization is
mechanical which holds it back from being a
Code 50 or 60
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Series Of Paragraphs
Code 50 and Code 60 The next two examples are
the best two scores you can get for Topic
development. They both fill two pages and they
are both, basically exactly what the OSSLT is
looking for They are organizedtheres a clear
opinion which is backed up all the way through
the five paragraphs. There is an obvious
Introduction and Conclusion Couple of mistakes
here and there but nothing that holds them back
from getting a good mark. Ideas are connected
with linking words like also, because, Another
reason why, So that is why Were not going to
go into great detail analyzing them, but theyre
here to look over.
Click on the 50 or 60 button again.
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CODE 50
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CODE 50
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CODE 50
This is right out of the Marking Guide A clear
and consistent opinion is developed with
sufficient specific supporting details (e.g.,
contacting family, contact each other, contact
peers to make plans, emergency call for help).
Reasons are developed with examples and
explanations. The organization is logical. There
is a clear introduction, body and conclusion.
Ideas are clustered into paragraphs. Each
paragraph includes a clear topic sentence. Links
between ideas are indicated (also, because,
Another reason why, So that is why).
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CODE 60
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CODE 60
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CODE 60
This is right out of the Marking Guide A clear
and consistent opinion is developed with
sufficient specific supporting details that are
thoughtfully chosen (e.g., distractions, cost,
misuse). Each reason is well developed with
specific details (e.g., going on Facebook, eight
hours a day, 95 a month, store cheat notes).
The organization is coherent and demonstrates a
thoughtful progression of ideas. The argument
builds from less important to more important
reasons (The most immense disadvantage). The
introduction hooks the reader and the conclusion
goes beyond a restatement of the main points.
Rhetorical questions are used effectively to
emphasize the argument (when do teens have time
to focus on school work and their families?
Imagine how many uses one thousand dollars could
pay for. Why spend so much moneywhen you could
just use your home...phone?).
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
This is the second way answers are marked
(scored) Writing Conventions
Code Descriptor
Code 10 There is insufficient evidence to assess the use of conventions. OR Errors in conventions interfere with communication.
OR You get a Code 10 a Fail if Errors in
conventions interfere with communication. Which
means There are so many mistakes they cant
figure out what youre trying to say.
You get a Code 10 a Fail if There is
insufficient evidence to assess the use of
conventions. Which means You left it blank
(didnt answer the question) or you didnt write
enough.
Writing Conventions? OMG, WTH are Writing
Conventions?
Chill. Basically theyre talking about spelling,
grammar, sentence structure and things like that.

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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
This is a CODE 10
This is a CODE 10 because There is insufficient
evidence to assess the use of conventions.
Which means in this case The student didnt
write enough. Well Duuuh. They were looking for
five paragraphs, four words isnt going to get it
done.
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
Code Descriptor
Code 10 There is insufficient evidence to assess the use of conventions. OR Errors in conventions interfere with communication.
Code 20 Errors in conventions distract from communication.
Errors in conventions distract from
communication. means Youve made so many
mistakes (spelling, grammar) that its hard to
follow what youre trying to say.
Basically, youre making them work too hard to
try to understand your News Story.
A Code 20 isnt a pass either, although its
better than a 10 as every mark counts in the end.
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
This is a CODE 20
This is a CODE 20 because Errors in conventions
distract from communication
This is just the first three paragraphs. The
actual answer is twice his long. Were just
showing this to give you an example of what a
CODE 20 looks like.
There are 10 mistakes in the first three
paragraphs. Its just too hard to follow.
This is a CODE 20 because There are too many
mistakes to follow the story, (Theres almost no
punctuation, some capitals are missing (if,
these), they messed up the possessive (teenagers
use) and there are more than a few spelling
mistakes (comunicate, now, your, witch, there
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
Code Descriptor
Code 10 There is insufficient evidence to assess the use of conventions. OR Errors in conventions interfere with communication.
Code 20 Errors in conventions distract from communication.
Code 30 Errors in conventions do not distract from communication.
Youre allowed to make some mistakes and still
pass as long as those mistakes dont get in the
way of following your story.
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
This is a CODE 30
This is a CODE 30 because Errors in conventions
do not distract from communication.
Just like before this is the first half of an
Were showing this to give you an example of what
a CODE 30 looks like.
The difference between this CODE 30 and the CODE
20 is even though there are a fair number of
mistakes they dont get in the way of following
the argument.
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
You get a Code 40 when your story follows the
News Report format without any significant
mistakes and shows you understand the
format. Basically that You own it.
Code Descriptor
Code 10 There is insufficient evidence to assess the use of conventions. OR Errors in conventions interfere with communication.
Code 20 Errors in conventions distract from communication.
Code 30 Errors in conventions do not distract from communication.
Code 40 Control of conventions is evident in written work.
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Scoring Guide for Long Writing Conventions
This is a CODE 40
This is a CODE 40 because Control of conventions
is evident in written work.
There are a couple of spelling mistakes but
because its obvious they know what they are
doing the mistakes dont matter.
Control is the key idea here. Theyve used
apostrophes properly for the possessive and not
thrown them down on any plurals. Theyve used
commas to break up their sentences and to make a
list.
There should be a Capital C on cellphone in the
second paragraph. But there are so many things
right here it doesnt stop the student from
getting 40 out 40. Its all about the Control.
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Thomas A Stewart OSSLT Guide
TAS OSSLT Guides
How the test is marked and why this matters
Reading Questions Open Response
Reading Questions Multiple Choice
Writing Questions Series of Paragraphs
Writing Questions Open Response Short Writing
Writing Questions News Report
How to prepare for the OSSLT
Overview of the OSSLT