writing process TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process. The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and uses appropriate conventions.

The following is one example of how to assess proficiency of this student expectation (SE) or a portion of the SE. More examples coming soon.
 

A teacher may wish to pair SE 4.11.D.vii with SE 4.12.A and assess both SEs at the same time. With SE 4.12.A, students compose literary texts, such as personal narratives and poetry, using genre characteristics and craft. Task students with composing a personal narrative to include genre characteristics such as character descriptions, dialogue, description of a personal experience, and first-person point of view. Within their personal narratives, students should incorporate multiple examples of pronouns, including reflexive pronouns. After students have written their personal narratives, have them trade with a classmate to read the other student's personal narrative and locate the reflexive pronouns.
 

Further Explanation

Students are expected to know how to correctly use pronouns to refer to or in place of previously used nouns or noun phrases. Additionally, students should be able to review their drafts and evaluate the use of indefinite pronouns in their compositions. Students should be able to identify indefinite pronouns that create ambiguity and replace them with a more specific word or phrase. They should understand how pronouns help make sentences smoother and clearer.

During the editing stage of the writing process, students further improve their drafts and often prepare them for publication by correcting conventions errors. Ensuring that the standard rules of the English language have been correctly applied helps readers more easily comprehend the information because they are not having to interrupt their thinking to determine what the writer intended to say.
Students are expected to know how to use pronouns correctly to refer to or in place of nouns or noun phrases. Students should know that pronouns are useful in writing because they help make sentences smoother and clearer. In grade 4, students should be able to review their writing and identify opportunities to avoid repetition when the subject and object of sentences are the same. For example, in the sentence “Kelsey trusted herself to do the right thing,” Kelsey is both the subject and the object, so the reflexive pronoun herself is used to avoid unnecessary repetition. Students should understand that reflexive pronouns should not replace personal pronouns (e.g., I, him, me, she) when a sentence includes compound subjects or compound objects. For example, it would not be correct to write “Matt and myself will mow the yard” because myself is not referring to anything previously established in the sentence. The correct way to write this sentence with compound subjects is “Matt and I will mow the yard.”
standard rules of the English language, including written mechanics such as punctuation, capitalization, spelling, paragraphing, etc. and written/oral grammar such as parts of speech, word order, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure