PDF Released Writing Exemplars from Texas Education Agency ...

Released Writing Exemplars from Texas Education Agency

Assessment Conference December 2011

Region XIII Literacy Team Stephanie Heinchon 512-919-5344 Stephanie.heinchon@esc13. Susan Diaz 512-919-5305 Susan.diaz@esc13.

The exemplars in this document were compiled from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), December 2011 Assessment Conference PowerPoints titled:

* STAAR 4 and 7 Writing: Getting Ready for 2012 * STAAR English I, II, and III Writing: Getting Students and Teachers Ready

The PowerPoints in their entirety are located at this address:

There has been no adaptation or adjustments to the exemplar essays. The purpose behind this document is to provide districts a compilation of the prompts with the exemplar essays in one easy document.

I learned how to ride a bicycle after being helped. One breezy afternoon, I was blowing bubbles in my front yard, and a man on a bicycle pedalled by. "Daddy, Daddy!" I cried. "I wanna try that!" "Okay. I'll go get the bike and helmet," he said, walking toward the side of the house, where we keep the bikes. Soon enough, there was a helmet strapped to my head, a bike beneath me, and a father beside me.

My legs began circling and I started rolling, my father jogging beside me ready to catch me if I tumble. Forgetting to turn, I skidded to a halt at the curb. A sharp pain stabbed my knee, and I felt something trickle down my leg. I stood up and limped back across the street, while my father rolled the bike next to me. "Maybe we should try again tomorrow," he said gently. I nodded in agreement.

That night I dreamed I was a professional cyclist. I won every race I was a part of. Suddenly my wheel hit a rock and---my eyes jolted open. I tossed clean clothes on, rushed downstairs, had breakfast, and told my dad I was ready. I hopped back on the bike and started moving again, slowly my dad let go of my shoulders. I was doing it! I was riding a bike! I stopped and walked the bike back. I was proud of myself.

One weekend I even begged to go on a bike ride. He finally said yes and off we went.

This exemplar was handwritten on 23 lines.

One person who is important or special in my life is my older sister, Elizabeth. She is fantastically wonderful in very many different ways. Whenever I need advice on something, I can talk to her and she'll be very helpful. If I'm ever upset, she will always try her best to cheer me up and usually Elizabeth will at least make me grin or giggle. If I have homework or need to study but I'm confused and don't understand it, she will explain it and teach it to me even though she normally has a stack of school work or something else she needs to finish. Every once in a while, when I'm dying of boredom, Elizabeth will do something fun with me like play a game or take me to the mall to see a movie with her and some of her friends. If I ever have a contest or competition, she'll get me ready for it, cheer me on, and afterwards congradulate me no matter if I won or not. My sister also shares a lot of things with me. She'll let me use her laptop if my computer isn't working, let me borrow her calculator or other school supplies, let me use her extra chair, borrow one of her backpacks, she gives me any clothes that she's grown out of, and let's me try some food that she made. Elizabeth sort of goes with the flow even if something is bothering her. She is nice, smart, considerate, helpful, caring, patient, and, above all, an awesome sister!

This exemplar was handwritten on 22 lines.

Overwhelming stress, headaches, confusion, and darkness. These are just a few of the memories of the time I made the most difficult decision in my life.

It was five o'clock on a school morning when my mom told me I would have to do my hair, get dressed, and get to the bus stop once she left to go visit my sister in the hospital. The only problem with that, was the fact that did not know how to do my own hair.

As soon as I got dressed, I called my mom on her cell phone. I tried telling her that I could not do my hair so I could not go to school. In her response, she told me that if I did not go to school, I would suffer consequences. I was in a pickle. I did not know whether to stay home or go to school. Since I tried to do my hair and I became late for the bus, I decided not to go to school. Later that day when my mom made it home, she told me I was in deep trouble. When I sat down to tell her about my situation, she sounded like she was frusturated with me, but I was wrong. It turned out that my mom gave me mercy. She told me that all I had to do was to apologize, so I did from the bottom of my heart.

Ever since that morning, I have always seen the mercy in the eyes of my parents. I learned that if I ever had to make a decision like that again, to go through with the hardest decision for me. In this case, it was doing my hair and going to school. The fact is that the most difficult decision turned out to be the decision I should have made.

This exemplar was handwritten on 24 lines.

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