Warm-Up
Copy down each of the sentences in your warmups, putting brackets around the prepositional
phrase. There may be more than one
prepositional phrase per sentence.
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Ex: [In case of fire,] use the nearest exit.
The flowers in the yellow vase are the first ones
from our garden.
After the play, the teacher praised Gary for his
performance.
In spite of his good intentions, nothing
happened.
Prepositions / Prepositional Phrases
Main parts of sentence (subject or
verb) are NEVER inside
prepositional phrases.
Finding PP's helps to eliminate
details in a sentence to more
easily identify the subject and
verb.
To Find and [bracket] the PP...
Begin with Preposition (as, at, above,
before, between, during, for, of, on,
through, under, within, etc.)
End with object of preposition (Noun
or pronoun that answers the
question whom? Or what?)
Warm-Up
Copy down each of the sentences in your warm-up,
putting brackets around the prepositional phrase.




Ex: [In case of fire,] use the nearest exit.
The flowers in the yellow vase are the first ones
from our garden.
After the play, the teacher praised Gary for his
performance.
In spite of his good intentions, nothing
happened.
Answers
The flowers [in the yellow vase] are the first ones [from
our garden].
[After the play], the teacher praised Gary [for his
performance].
[In spite of his good intentions], nothing happened.
Vocabulary Workshop Unit One /
Prepositional Phrases Quiz Friday!
STAAR Test (End Of Course)
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Year Two – still lots of unknowns
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Really important for graduation
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Taken all 4 years in your 4 core subjects
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Scores from each year are added together
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You may retake any test you want – even
a test from a previous year
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Level 1 – failed
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Level 2 – passed
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Level 3 - commended
English STAAR Test
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Two days (Reading day and Writing day)
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Timed test – four hours each day
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Reading test – 38 multiple choice & 2 short answer
+ field questions / short answer
All reading selections have been previously
published (a change from TAKS)
Short answer questions – single selection (analyzing
one story) and crossover question (comparing two
stories)
Writing test – 30 MC revising and editing questions
+ 2 essays and field questions / field essay
Essay types – Narrative and expository
Narrative Essay
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26 lines
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Can't double up lines
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Students must create an organized
narrative with character development,
conflict, and detail based on a prompt.
Mechanics and grammar conventions are
also a factor in your score
1-4 scoring, read by two people, two
scores added together
Quick Share with a Partner
What makes a good story? When you are
reading a book or watching a movie, what
grabs your attention? What makes you
want to keep reading / watching?
Condensing Your Story
How do I write a whole story with strong
characters and a conflict in 26 lines?
Condensing Your Story
Prompt Format
Take a look at this photo
Don't write about
the picture!!
Write a story about the power of
imagination. Be sure to focus on
organization, character
development, and conflict, as well
as grammar conventions.
What Are Graders Looking For?
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That you are sticking closely to the prompt.
It should be your focus, theme, etc.
Organization (beginning/middle/end,
transitions, flow of ideas)
Character development (protagonist,
antagonist, your character changes or
grows in some way)
Conflict (Man vs Man? Man vs Self? Man
versus Nature? Man vs Society?)
Details (Appeal to the senses, create a
picture in the reader's mind)
Grammar / spelling
STAAR English I Literary – Strong
The hair on the back of Kevin’s neck stood on end. He
could feel the goosebumps go down his arms and legs.
The slightest change in wind made his feet tingle. He
had climed mountains before, but nothing quite like this.
He stood on the edge of a great adventure.
He had been climbing through the dense forest of
trees for six days and seven nights. The journey had
been rough and he was now running on only one
package of dried noodles. He looked out past the clouds
to the small flickering lights that carresed the black
earth down the valley. He thought of his mom back
home, worrying for him. She had given him a giant bear
hug before he left, along with a note about
14
STAAR English I Literary - Strong
being careful. Oh how he missed her. It seemed like
years since he had had one of her famous peanut butter
and banana sandwich’s. This jump was for her.
Cautiously he went up on his toes and felt the breeze in
his hair. And then he fell.
He fell for what seemed like eternity. The wind
whistled past his face and his hands and legs flailed in
the air. He felt totally free, until he hit. He hit the ground
hard. He slowly rose off the ground and looked onto his
own back porch. There his mom stood smiling. “How
was your adventure?” she said calmly. Kevin only
grinned.
Handwritten paper is 26 lines.
15
Tomorrow
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Entire period to plan and write a STAAR
narrative essay
26 line STAAR paper and a planning page will
be provided
Planning page = formative grade
Block day – peer editing of the narrative (along
with plagiarism video / quiz)
Friday – VW / PP Quiz + final edits to essay
Monday – Printed copy to class (must be typed)
+ Turn It In 7:25 am deadline – summative grade