NAME: ______________________ HSPA SCORE: ______________ (Scale 0 to 6)

HSPA SCORING = SCHOOL GRADE

0 = 0

1 = 50

2 = 60

3 = 70

4 = 80

5 = 90

6 = 100

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:

_____ Make first sentence more interesting

_____ Story conflict is unclear

_____ Setting is not clear (time, place, season, year, etc.)

_____ Characters need names

_____ Include descriptions of your characters

_____ Add some dialogue between the characters (conversation)

_____ Use less dialogue, add more description, or sentences that move the plot forward.

_____ Add more imagery (describe sights, sounds, tastes, textures, smells)

_____ Add some similes or metaphors

_____ Add “RISING ACTION” / suspense by making the conflict grow stronger until the story climax.

_____ Add CLIMAX, or make current climax stronger

_____ Story needs to connect more with the picture prompt

_____ ORGANIZE your story so that it has a beginning (intro), middle (rising action),
and end (climax & resolution / denouement).

_____ Use some advanced vocabulary words

_____ WRITE MORE, increase your effort.

GRAMMAR, SPELLING, & PUNCTUATION PROBLEMS:

_____ Learn to punctuate dialogue correctly

_____ When writing dialogue, start a new paragraph whenever the speaker of a direct quote changes.

_____ The direct quotes (words inside the quotation marks) do NOT have to be complete sentences.
In fact, if they are not complete sentences, the dialogue will probably seem more real.

_____ Use complete sentences; avoid SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
(each sentence needs a subject and a predicate)

_____ Fix your RUN-ON SENTENCES by ending a sentence after one or two complete thoughts.

_____ Review APOSTROPHE rules

_____ Review COMMA rules

_____ Review COLON rules

_____ Review SEMICOLON rules

_____ PROOFREAD after writing to check for words you accidentally left out, homonym errors,
misspelled words, etc.

_____ Make a note of the words you repeatedly misspelled and look them up in the dictionary.
Learn to spell them correctly.

_____ Choose words that are more specific, especially nouns & verbs.
(Example: Mansion or cottage instead of house)

PRAISEWORTHY POINTS

_____ Excellent / interesting beginning sentence!

_____ Excellent effort!

_____ Very creative!

_____ Very funny / entertaining!

_____ Very thought provoking! (Gave me new ideas to think about)

_____ Nice use of background knowledge / current events.

_____ Excellent allusion* to a literary character, author, or book.
* Reference / comment about

_____ Excellent imagery

_____ Excellent choice of words / advanced vocabulary

_____ Good use of literary devices such as similes and metaphors, irony.

_____ Would be helpful as an example to the class

_____ Would be great to publish this on our school website