This year the students will have 30 minutes to respond to a persuasive prompt for the ACT Aspire test. My students were so worried when I broke the news that the test would be time and they would need to produce a well written persuasive writing response within 30 minutes. Something I have learned is that it is essential to model and practice DAILY. At this point of the year every morning during their morning work time the students write a 5 paragraph response to a given topic (normally persuasive) and they do it well within their 30 minute time period. In additional, we have a weekly formal writing due on Fridays. I normally model on model and then allow students to brainstorm their ideas on Monday, Tuesdays are rough draft day, Wednesdays are revision/editing days, Thursdays are final draft days, and Fridays are normally illustration/presentation day.
Recently the students finished class election speeches. All students were required to write a 5 paragraph essay (introduction, body, conclusion) with transition words. Along with their required writing students were required to create a campaign poster with a slogan. I had many creative students!
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