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STAAR Writing:
Understanding the Narrative Prompt

Jacob M. Lightbody © 2012

Dear Teacher,
Your students will be taking the new
STAAR Writing Test this year. This
test can be very tricky. The secrets
found in this file should make the
test less confusing for your students
and help them pass the test. Use this
information wisely.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
Anonymous
Some Basics to get you started:
∙The STAAR Writing Test will be administered
over two days.
∙On each testing day, students will have a
total of four hours to answer the questions
in the multiple choice portion of the test
and to complete their writing sample.
∙Students will be provided with a blank page
to use for prewriting and to generate a
rough draft. Students are not expected to
begin composing their final drafts without
preparation.
Now let’s get to the really
important stuff.
really important stuff #1:
Students will fail the writing test if
their personal narratives are NOT
personal narratives. A narrative is a
story. It should have a beginning, a
middle, and an end. A student’s
personal narrative must be an
autobiographical story about something
that happened to the student.(It may
be okay to fake a few details, but it
wouldn’t be wise to turn the story
into a fantasy.)
really important stuff #2:
To complete each writing sample,
students will be provided with a single
page on which to record their responses.
The page will have twenty-six lines.
Students are expected to fill up most of
the page, but their work must not exceed
the twenty-six lines provided on the
answer document. Any writing that
students try to squeeze onto the bottom
of the page will not be scored. It can
be tricky to learn how to write just the
“right amount” for the test. Practice is
recommended.
Now we’re ready to get to the
really, really important stuff.
You are about to be shown a sample of a
STAAR-Style
Personal narrative writing prompt.
Study it very closely.
Look at the picture below.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work.

Write about a time when you did something that was difficult.
Be sure to:
∙ Write about a personal experience.
∙ Organize your writing.
∙ Develop your ideas in detail.
∙ Choose your words carefully.
∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and
sentences.
Did you notice that the Look-Think-
Write model was being used? The
Look-Think-Write model can be a
good way to get a writer’s creative
juices flowing, but it can also be
confusing for someone who doesn’t
know what to focus on. Fortunately,
we have a little trick to share
with you that might help your
students who don’t know much about
the Look-Think-Write model.
Are you ready to learn the trick?
Here’s what you need to do:
1.)Put your right index
finger on the tip of your

nose.
2.)Stick out your tongue.
3.)Squint your eyes.
-Are you ready
to continue?
Please do not be
alarmed by what you
see.
Look at the picture below.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work.

Write about a time when you did something that was difficult.
Be sure to:
∙ Write about a personal experience.
∙ Organize your writing.
∙ Develop your ideas in detail.
∙ Choose your words carefully.
∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and
sentences.
It’s easy for the “real”
directions to get lost in
all of the text that is used
in a STAAR-style prompt. It
might be helpful to teach
your students the trick so
that they can use it to stay
focused on the prompt.
Of course, it’s still a good
idea to try to understand the
Look-Think-Write model.
Let’s start with the “Look”
component.
 Look at the picture below.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work.

Write about a time when you did something that was difficult.
Be sure to-
Whatabout
∙ write to do:a personal
Look at the picture and think about it. Ask
experience
yourself your
∙ organize if the picture reminds you of any of your own
writing
experiences.
∙ develop your ideas in detail
∙ choose your words
What NOT carefully
to do: Do not write about the picture.
∙ use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and
sentences.
Now Let’s move on to the “think”
component.
 Look at the picture below.
What to do: Think about the “truism” (or “think” statement.)
Try to recall any personal experiences that this statement
might remind you of.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work.

Write about a time when you did something that was difficult.
Be sureNOT
What to- to do: Do not write about the truism.
∙ write about a personal experience
∙ organize
You shouldyourbe
writing
able to make mental connections between the
∙ Develop yourthe
truism and ideas in detail.
prompt that follows it. These connections will
∙ Choose your words carefully.
help you generate ideas for your composition.
∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and
sentences.
Now Let’s move on to the “Write”
component.
Look at the picture below.

What to do: Write a personal narrative about the topic provided

in the prompt. Also, be sure to follow all of the good advice
that is offered beneath the prompt.

Mowing a lawn can be hard work.

Write about a time when you did something that was difficult.
Be sure to:
∙ Write about a personal experience.
∙ Organize your writing.
∙ Develop your ideas in detail.
∙ Choose your words carefully.
∙ Use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and
sentences.
Let’s wrap this up by taking a look at
how connections can be made
between each component of the Look-
Think-Write model.
Look
You can see that mowing a
lawn looks like hard work.

Think
The prompt tells you that
Mowing a lawn can mowing a lawn can be
be hard work. hard work.

Write
Write about a time when
It’s hard to do things that
you did something that are difficult.
was difficult.

It shouldn’t be hard to figure out what the connection is here.

You should now have a
better understanding of
the personal narrative
component of the STAAR
Writing Test. n
M i s s i o
p li s he d
Acc o m
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