Kids arrive, you do your thing, and BAM-curriculum starts! Have you ever thought, "It's got to be better than this!" especially in writing. Well, you can start your year with a writing pretest and still have FUN! And, you can do it for FREE!
Why Pretest?
It is extremely important to start your year with a writing pretest. First, it gives you the opportunity to learn about you students as writers. Where are they starting out, what are they good at, what are their weaknesses can all be gathered in a pretest!
Another reason you need to start your year with a writing pretest is to save this sample to show to your students at the end of the year! Yes, you read that right. Store that baby away in a place that students can't see it again until...TEST WEEK! Many times State Writing Tests are on a Tuesday. On Monday, pull these papers out and show the students how they have grown! Many times, it is a total surprise to students to see how much they have grown as a writer! So, keep this one hidden till then!
What's in the Pretest?
Print and Go ready materials are what you will find! First, you get a FREE copy of the "Write to Inform" student notebook page! This page is great to use now or into the future! This page gives tips and ideas for your students to keep in their notebook! You can use it full size or you can shrink it down to fit their notebooks!
Also, you get a full writing prompt that guides students through the writing process. Plus two fully written articles for students to gain the information they need to paraphrase and provide evidence from. Now, this being the writing pretest to start your year, they may not use these articles the way you would like them too. That's ok, provide them anyways. This way, you get another look into their writing experiences and abilities. In these articles, student's first days of school are explained with a personal narrative and a newspaper article.
In addition to this, a Back-to-School Notes page is included in this download! Students can access this page to jot ideas and thoughts, getting them ready to practice this process for the rest of their writing year. Planning pages are also included-again, give this to them as a way to gain insight into their writing ability! And, finally, you will find formal writing pages to provide the students the opportunity to write on "formal" writing paper, again, gaining you insight into what they can do on a predesigned page. Can they work within parameters that they are given? There are so many hidden gems in this activity-giving you real insight into their abilities!
What Do I Need for the Pretest?
You will need to choose a great Back-To-School book to read to our students! The ideas for this is that in some State Writing Tests, students are given three pieces to read. But, look at this as this is where the fun comes in! You can pick a truly fun Back-to-School book that you can read together to tie into the theme of student feelings and how most students feel the same way! My go-to favorite-The Teacher from the Black Lagoon! And, the kids love it!
How Do I Get this FREE Pretest?
That's super simple! Click HERE to head to my store and follow me! Once you are there, the Writing Pretest freebie is on the right! Click the red DOWNLOAD button to grab this Writing Pretest and you will be starting your year right!
Then, start your year with a writing pretest! And, let me know what you think here in the comments or over on Instagram or Facebook! I'd love for you to follow my journey there!
Pin it for Later!
Want to try more Writing Products? Click here!