Strategies to Guide Students to Success on the CASAS FWA
on the CASAS FWA
Kristin Berenson & Susan Johnson
Kristin Berenson & Susan Johnson
ATDN/ CREC
Adult Training & Development Network/
Capitol Region Education Council
111 Charter Oak Ave.
111
Charter Oak Ave
Hartford, CT 06011
kberenson@crec.org
sujohnson@crec.org
1 Look
L k att th
i t
1.
the picture.
2. Write as much as yyou can about one or more things
g that are happening
pp
g
in the picture.
3. Use the best English you can.
4
4. You have 30 minutes
minutes. Check your writing when you finish
finish.
How does a student feel when presented with the FWA Picture Task?
H
id our students
t d t to
t success?
?
How
can we guide
Share the rubric.
Review and explain the directions.
Provide plenty of opportunities for practice.
Share the rubric.
Weed
Barely there, brief and difficult to read
Seed
Awkward, confusing, undeveloped, little org
Sp
ou
Sprout
So
eo
g; inadequate
adequa e de
a s, limited
ed co
es o
Some
org;
details,
cohesion
Bud
Satisfactory, general details, somewhat fluent,
many ideas not well stated
Blossom
Developed response, details, strong org,
some ideas not well stated
Full flower
Fully elaborated
elaborated, specific details
details, strong org
org,
effective transitions
Review and explain the directions.
1. Look at the picture.
Which picture?
What
Wh t do
d you do
d when
h you look
l k att the
th picture?
i t
?
Brainstorm or Pre-write
Pre write
-begin developing Content
-think about Word Choice to describe
Review and explain the directions.
2. Write as much as you can about one or more things
in the picture.
Use the brainstorm/pre-write to decide what will be written.
Content
Give structure to the brainstorm/pre-writing.
Organization
How do we organize writing in American English?
Introduction
This is what I will write about.
one paragraph
Body
I will write about and describe it here.
ll consists
i t off att lleastt 3 paragraphs
h
usually
Conclusion
This is what I wrote about.
one paragraph
Source: Boardman, Cynthia A., Writing to Communicate: Paragraphs
Graphic
Organizers
p
g
www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/
Graphic
Organizers
p
g
www.edhelper.com/teachers/general_graphic_organizers.htm
Graphic
Organizers
p
g
www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/
Graphic
Organizers
p
g
www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/
Review and explain the directions.
3. Use the best English you can.
What does this mean?
Word choice
interesting words in English
Grammar
nouns, verbs, prepositions, articles
Boy go swim on water
water.
Sentence structure
complete thoughts vs. fragments,
interesting sentences/varying structure
The boy went swimming in the water.
The young boy snorkeled in the ocean looking for fish.
While the young boy snorkeled in the ocean, others relaxed
on the beach.
Review and explain the directions.
4. You have 30 minutes.
Check your writing when you finish.
Suggested timeline for completing the Functional Writing Assessment:
Pre-writing/Brainstorm
3 minutes
Organize
3 minutes
Write
20 minutes
Revise/edit
4 minutes
30 minutes
i t
4. You have 30 minutes.
Check your writing when you finish.
Grammar
subject/verb agreement,
correct p
prepositions,
p
missing
g articles
Spelling
correctly spelled in English (word choice)
homophones (e.g., to, too, two, there, their, they’re)
Capitalization
capital starts a sentence
capitalize proper nouns
(e.g. New York, Miss Smith, Jonathan, Kennedy School)
Punctuation
at the end of a sentence ((. ? !)
quotations around dialogue
commas separating a list
apostrophes used in contractions
P id plenty
l
i i ffor practice.
i
Provide
off opportunities
Use various types of pictures in all subject areas.
Do timed writing practice in class.
Offer positive, constructive feedback followed by
direct instruction and practice.
CASAS FWA Picture
W iti
F db k Form
F
Writing
Feedback
D
Name: ______________________________
Scale Score: __________________
Teacher Comments
Your ideas
Putting your ideas
together
Words you used
Grammar
Spelling
Capital Letters
Punctuation
Date: ________________________
We can guide our students to success on the
CASAS Functional Writing Assessment by:
g the rubric;;
Sharing
Reviewing and explaining the directions;
and
Providing plenty of opportunities for practice.