Tips for Testing

  1. On the 1st day of the GA Milestones test, you will have to read 2 passages, answer a few multiple choice questions, write a medium response answer, AND THEN, write the extended response (4 paragraphs).
  2. With the medium constructed response, you need to:
  • Recap: Introduce the title, author, and acknowledge the topic.
  • Answer the question- OR… if they don’t write it like a question, restate what they’re telling you to write about
  • Cite and Explain –Quote directly from the text. This is where you need to introduce the quote- no quote should be a sentence by itself!
  • End – Never underestimate the beauty of the concluding sentence. Be careful to not just repeat yourself

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  1. Don’t sweat about the big essay!!Remember that the extended responsecontains the following elements:
  1. Introduction -Hook…Comment sentence…comment sentence…Thesis (Only need 4-5 sentences!)
  2. Body paragraph- use quotes, transition words & figurative language (6-9 sentences)
  3. Body paragraph- use quotes, transition words & figurative language (6-9 sentences)
  4. Conclusion–begin with thesis sentence, but end with a call to action, question, bold statement, etc. (3-4 sentences)

** REMEMBER- introduce the quote- no quote should be a sentence by itself!**

The big essay will be one of the following styles:

The Compare and Contrast essay – Find 2-3 characteristics/attributes that the two topics have in common. Remember the Halloween & Prom essay?? Use the block or point by point format:

Block Style-

Introduction

BP#1 – All about topic number one and its attributes (Halloween – food, activities, and traditions)

BP #2 – All about topic number two and its attributes (Prom – food, activities, and traditions)

Conclusion

Point by point Style–

Introduction

Bp #1 – Attribute #1 with both topics – (Food of Halloween and Prom)

Bp#2 – Attribute #2 with both topics – (Activities of Halloween and Prom)

Bp #3 – attribute #3 with both topics – (Traditions of Halloween and Prom)

Conclusion

The Argumentative/Persuasive Essay: Remember the articles will be on the same topic, but will vary in opinion and information; therefore, two differing positions or claims will be expressed. You will be asked to pick one side and support it. Remember the food labels??Draw out a chart or “map” to do your prewriting:

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH:Hook, Title, Author, and Topic,Commentsentence, Thesis: the side you are supporting

BODY PARAGRAPHS (2 of these):Remember to include:transition words & figurative language!Your evidence, quotes, stats, data, etc. Counterargument:this is “against” your opinion- typically only one sentenceRebuttal: can be its own sentence, or part of the counterargument (rebuttal brings it back to your opinion)

CONCLUSION – Conclusions are often the most difficult part of an essay to write, and many writers feel that they have nothing left to say after having written the paper. A writer needs to keep in mind that the conclusion is often what a reader remembers best. Your conclusion should be the best part of your paper. Conclude an essay with one or more of the following:Ask a challenging question; a quotation; create a vivid image; call for some sort of action; end with a warning; suggest results or consequences.

Include SPEEDS in your writing! What is SPEEDS, you ask??

  1. Statistics: Who doesn’t love a good statistic?! If your text information has one or more, use them! This adds logical appeal to your essay!
  2. Personal observation: This is where you can add your personal experiences as commentary. They love this stuff! This adds emotional appeal!
  3. Expert Opinion: Cite an expert, professional, or a person affected by your topic that was mentioned in your reading. This adds ethical appeal power to your essay!
  4. Elaborate the Details: The more you explain and give examples, your score goes up dramatically!!
  5. SAT/ high level vocabulary and figurative lang (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, imagery). STAY AWAY FROM DEAD WORDS: kids, stuff, things, nice, bad,good!!

A Few More Writing Tips:

  • Definition Essay- Rememberyour define a hero essay? Use Functions, Examples, and Negation to write a definition essay.
  • Inner Dialogue- You might be asked to write a “narrative”- finish the story; write a scene from another character’s point of view, etc. With internal dialogue, be sure to use quotation marks OR italics and include the words “think” or “thinking” so that the character’s inner thoughts are obvious.
  • Quotes- they are NOT a sentence by themselves. You MUST introduce them!
  • Titles- use quotation marks, “The Homework Revolution”, “Label the Meals”, “Beauty”, etc.
  • Prompt- ALWAYS GO BACK TO THE PROMPT AT LEAST 3 TIMES WHILE YOU’RE WRITING TO BE POSITIVE THAT YOU ARE ANSWERING THE QUESTION & NOT OFF TRACK.

Literary Elements: You may be asked about these in selected response questions or in a literary analysis

  1. Archetypes:repeated symbols and characters in literature and what they represent: black=evil, white= innocence, owl=wise, winter =death, phoenix=rebirth, etc.
  2. Characterization: the method by which an author brings the people of his imagination to life for the reader

Indirect characterization—writer depends on reader to draw conclusions about a character’s traits.

Direct characterization—a writer states the characters’ traitsexplicitly and directly.

  1. Conflict: the struggle between two opposing forces

Internal:Man vs. Self (struggles with own decisions)

External:Man vs. Society / Man vs. Man / Man vs. Technology / Man vs. Nature

  1. Foreshadowing: hints or clues that suggest what is about to happen in the story
  2. Imagery: words that appeal to one or more of the five senses
  3. Mood: the atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work or passage
  4. Plot: the arrangement of events in a story
  5. Exposition: sets up the situation and introduces the characters
  6. Rising action: events that increase the tension
  7. Climax: high point of the story at which the eventual outcome becomes clear
  8. Falling action: events that follow the climax
  9. Resolution: final outcome that is achieved; loose ends are tied up
  10. Point of view: perspective or vantage point from which a story is told
  11. First person: narrator is a character who tells the story as he/she experienced it (character refers to self as I/me)
  12. Third person: action conveyed by a narrator who does not participate in the events
  13. Setting: the background against which the action takes place: time & place
  14. Symbol: an object, person or idea that stands for something beyond itself
  15. Theme: A general statement on a life lesson – “a commentary about life” – “Money does not buy happiness.” “Sometimes the small things in life are the most important things.” “Never underestimate the power of a woman.”
  16. Tone: the writer’s attitude toward the subject. (Often described overall as being formal or informal, and such as - playful, bitter, ironic, nostalgic, tragic, melancholy, depressing, etc.)

~Special 8th Grade Literary Devices:

*Connotation vs. Denotation: Denotation = dictionary definition. Connotation= emotional attachment to a word. Ex:House vs home / cheap vs thrifty/ stubborn vs determined

*Irony: There are three types:

Verbal: Verbal irony is sayingone thing, but meaning the opposite. Ex: “Thank you officer for my speeding ticket. It made my day!” or “I can’t wait to do ten pages of homework!”

Dramatic: It occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not Ex: In a movie, a detective does not know that the criminal is actually his partner.

Situational: When the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens. Ex:Someone takes driver safety classes, and gets into an accident right after they complete it.

*Pun: a joke using the different meanings of a word. Ex: “The pigs were a squeal”, “Insects really bug me”

Poetry Terms & Devices

Meter- the rhythm of a poem made from stressed & unstressed syllables

Speaker- the narrator of the poem

Stanza- “paragraphs” in poems; the groups of lines.

Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sound

Allusion: reference to something well-known in a culture- art, religion, music, literature, people, etc.

Hyperbole: exaggeration for dramatic effect

Metaphor: A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. Onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sound

Oxymoron: a seeming contradiction in two words put together

Personification: A figure of speech giving animals, ideas or inanimate objects human traits

Repetition: The repeating of words, phrases, lines or stanzas

Rhyme: The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words

Simile: A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as “like”, “as”, or “than”

Grammar Concepts

  1. Action verbs = They will have Direct objects (DO) and Indirect objects (IO)
  1. Linking verbs = They will have Predicate nouns (PN) and Predicate adjectives (PA)
  1. Active voice – The artist stirred the paint.
  2. Passive voice – The paint was stirred by the artist.
  1. Verb Mood – Indicative (fact), Imperative (command), Interrogative (question), Conditional (if/then), or Subjunctive (wish, can’t really happen).
  2. Subjunctive & Conditional are USUALLY the ones tested.
  3. Subjunctive- can’t really happen, it’s a wish or hypothetical, so CHANGE WAS TO WERE. I wish I were at the beach; If I were Mary…
  4. Conditional- CAN happen if both conditions are met; cause & effect- When I get paid, I will go shoe shopping.
  1. Verbals – Words that look like verbs, but act as something else:
  1. Participles –adjectives, and if removed, the sentence would still make sense=Therunning shoes are great. The worn shoes had holes in them. Crouched under the table, the kitten was waiting to pounce.
  1. Gerunds –nouns & always end “ing” (Subject, DO, PN, and OP) = Running is fun. I love running. My favorite hobby is running. I am awful at running.
  1. Infinitives – “to” + verb = I love to run. I hate to study. I want to sing. NEVER SPLIT AN INFINITIVE.
  1. Misplaced modifiers – Modifiers always go as close to the word that it modifies.Emma was delighted when Mr. Nguyen returned her perfect project with an ear-to-ear grin.The project was grinning???
  1. Phrase – no subject and verb combination – in the room…during the morning…after school…
  1. Clause – Has a subject and a verb –

Dependent clause – When I get home – CANNOT stand alone as a sentence

Independent clause – I will mow the lawn. – CAN stand alone as a sentence

  1. Simple sentence – subject + verb with some prepositional phrases thrown in – it is 1 independent clause. I like cake with sprinkles.
  1. Complex sentence – One dependent + one independent clause – will have signal words (who, whose, whom, that, which) or AWUUBUS words. I like candy because I love sugar. Although I like cake, I love candy.
  1. Compound sentence – Two independent clauses joined three ways:
  2. With a FANBOY-- I like candy, and I like cake.
  3. With a semi-colon--I like candy; candy is my life.
  4. With a semi-colon and a conjunctive adverb --I like candy; however, I will not turn down a slice a cake either.
  1. Compound-Complex sentence- Two independent clauses plus one dependent clause:
  1. When I went home from school, I had to finish my homework, and I also had to babysit my little sister.
  2. I had to finish my homework, and I also had to babysit my little sister when I got home from school today.
  1. Punctuation- Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break. Know that an ellipsis is used to indicate an omission.