Revising & Editing Name Directions Date The exercises in this booklet will help you practice writing skills in preparation for the revising and editing portion of the TAKS test. You will do four types of exercises. Your teacher will give you specific directions for each type. Do not begin working until your teacher tells you to do so. For each exercise: 1. Listen as your teacher explains the target strategy and gives you specific instructions. 2. When your teacher tells you to begin, read the exercise directions given in this booklet and begin. For most exercises, you will write only in this booklet. 3. Stop working when your teacher calls time. Quick Review Grade 4 4. Score each exercise, or evaluate your work as your teacher directs. 5. Your teacher may direct you to use the exercise in another writing activity. ECS Learning Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 440, Bulverde, TX 78163-0440 Tel: 1 800 688 3224 Toll-Free Fax: 1 877 688 3226 Web site: www.educyberstor.com Student Booklet Organization Sentence Construction Usage and Word Choice Proofreading Copyright infringement is a violation of Federal Law. 2003 by ECS Learning Systems, Inc., Bulverde, Texas. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from ECS Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction of any part of this publication for an entire school or for a school system, by for-profit institutions and tutoring centers, or for commercial sale is strictly prohibited. TAKS MASTER is a registered trademark of ECS Learning Systems, Inc. Printed in the United States of America
Contents The TAKS Writing Test....................................... 3 How to Use TAKS MASTER Quick Review, Revising & Editing....... 4 Section One: Objective 3..................................... 5 Section One: Objective 4..................................... 6 Section One: Objective 5..................................... 8 Section One: Objective 6..................................... 9 Section Two: Synthesizing the TAKS Objectives................... 10 Basic Editing/Proofreading Marks.............................. 11 Answer Key............................................... 12 ISBN 1-57022-430-7 Author & Editor: Darna McGinnis Page Layout & Graphics: Andrea Harris, Pramilla Freitas Copyright infringement is a violation of Federal Law. 2003 by ECS Learning Systems, Inc., Bulverde, Texas. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from ECS Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction of any part of this publication for an entire school or for a school system, by for-profit institutions and tutoring centers, or for commercial sale is strictly prohibited. TAKS MASTER is a registered trademark of ECS Learning Systems, Inc. Printed in the United States of America.
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), the state-mandated test, has six specific writing objectives to guide educators in preparing students for assessment. Objectives 3, 4, 5, and 6 are assessed within a multiple-choice format. Objective 3 tests the student s ability to recognize appropriate organization of ideas in written text. Objective 4 tests the student s ability to recognize correct and effective sentence construction within written text. Objective 5 tests the student s ability to recognize standard usage and appropriate word choice in written text. Objective 6 requires the student to proofread for correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling within written text. The chart below itemizes the student expectations within each objective. Test Format For the multiple-choice portion of the TAKS test, students will be presented with passages that contain multiple errors. The passages are written to mimic student writing (formal, not conversational), so that revising and editing skills are evaluated in a peer-editing context. Each passage is followed by a series of questions that requires students to determine what, if any, revising or editing changes should be made to specific sentences or sections within the passage. In some instances, the option to make no change is given. To answer the multiple-choice questions, students should be familiar with the terms revise, edit, organize, rewrite, improve, combine, complete sentence, delete, add, and insert as they apply to composition. The TAKS Writing Test Objective 3 Objective 4 Objective 5 Objective 6 Questions assess Questions assess Questions assess Questions assess rules organization of ideas effective sentence standard English commonly taught in construction and usage and appropriate fourth-grade language word choice word choice arts texts Adding elaborative Fragments Subject-verb Capitalization sentences agreement Deleting irrelevant Run-on sentences Pronoun referents Possessives sentences Combining Adverbs and adjectives Commas in a sentences (including comparative and series superlative adjectives) Improving the wording Double negatives Commas in direct of awkward sentences address Homonyms (including their/there and it s/its) Replacing indefinite referents (including they and it) with specific nouns Replacing vague words with precise words Sentence punctuation Spelling of rule-based and sight words within fourthgrade experience Apostrophes in contractions TAKS MASTER Quick Review, Teacher Guide 3
This page may not be reproduced. 12 Section 1 Objective 5, Exercise 3 Read the paragraph below. Think about what corrections or changes you would make to improve it. Then answer the multiple-choice questions that follow. (1) Like people, sea turtles breathe with lungs. (2) They can hold there breath for hours! (3) They can stay below the water s surface for protection. (4) Their hard shells also protects them. (5) It can pull its legs and head inside its shell when danger is near. (6) Fewer animals in the sea try to eat or hurt turtles. (7) People are the most dangerous to turtles, both in and out of the water. 1. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 2? 0 A Change They to Them 0 B Change for to fore 0 C Change there to their 0 D Make no change 2. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 4? 0 A Change Their to They re 0 B Change protects to protected 0 C Change protects to protect 0 D Make no change 3. The meaning of sentence 5 can be improved by 0 A changing danger to dangerous 0 B changing It to A sea turtle 0 C changing near to nearly 0 D changing can pull to can be pulling 4. What change should be made in sentence 6? 0 A Change Fewer to Few 0 B Change sea to see 0 C Change hurt to hurts 0 D Change turtles to them TAKS MASTER Quick Review Score
This page may not be reproduced. 22 Section 2 All Objectives, Exercise 5 Read the paragraph below. Use what you know about revising and editing to improve it. Make editing marks directly on this page. Then write your new version of the paragraph on the lines provided. Mary didn t feel very hopeful about the sceince project her teacher assigned. It would mean long hours in the librery. When she got home, she slumped down in a chair. She sat there to watch television. Mary usually watched cartoons after school. She sighed every other minit. Marys mother came home from work and joined her to watch. It didn t take no time for her to see that she was unhappy. TAKS MASTER Quick Review Scores / Student Teacher