NYSTCE ATAS Student Writing Process Support 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student is writing an opinion essay but struggles to distinguish facts from opinions. What should the teaching assistant do?
- Tell the student to only use opinions since it is an opinion essay
- Model how to identify fact-based evidence that supports an opinion (Correct answer)
- Rewrite the student's opinion statements as facts
- Remove all fact-based sentences from the essay
Correct answer: Model how to identify fact-based evidence that supports an opinion
Effective opinion writing uses factual evidence to support claims; modeling this distinction strengthens the student's argument.
Question 2: When helping an ELL student during the drafting stage, a teaching assistant should prioritize:
- Correcting all grammatical errors before the student continues writing
- Encouraging the student to express ideas fully, noting language issues for editing later (Correct answer)
- Requiring the student to draft in their home language first
- Limiting the student's writing to short sentences only
Correct answer: Encouraging the student to express ideas fully, noting language issues for editing later
During drafting, ELL students should focus on expressing ideas; language corrections are more effectively addressed in the editing stage.
Question 3: A student's essay has strong ideas but poor paragraph organization. Which revision activity is MOST effective?
- Cutting the essay apart by paragraph and physically reordering the sections (Correct answer)
- Adding a new introductory paragraph
- Correcting spelling in each paragraph
- Removing the weakest paragraph entirely
Correct answer: Cutting the essay apart by paragraph and physically reordering the sections
Physically cutting and reordering paragraphs allows students to see how ideas flow and experiment with structure without rewriting.
Question 4: Which behavior indicates that a student understands the purpose of the editing stage?
- The student rewrites the introduction to strengthen the thesis
- The student proofreads for comma placement and capitalization errors (Correct answer)
- The student adds a new supporting paragraph
- The student changes the overall topic of the essay
Correct answer: The student proofreads for comma placement and capitalization errors
Editing focuses on surface-level corrections like punctuation and capitalization, not on content changes.
Question 5: A student's writing consistently lacks voice and sounds flat. Which strategy should a teaching assistant recommend?
- Have the student read their writing aloud and ask 'Does this sound like you?' (Correct answer)
- Tell the student to use longer sentences
- Ask the student to copy sentences from a published book
- Reduce the length of the assignment so less voice is needed
Correct answer: Have the student read their writing aloud and ask 'Does this sound like you?'
Reading aloud and comparing the writing to the student's natural speech helps the student recognize and develop their authentic writing voice.
Question 6: A student refuses to share writing during peer review because they fear criticism. What should the teaching assistant do FIRST?
- Excuse the student from all peer review activities
- Discuss the purpose of feedback and model giving kind, specific comments (Correct answer)
- Share the student's writing with the class without permission
- Grade the student on participation in peer review
Correct answer: Discuss the purpose of feedback and model giving kind, specific comments
Explaining the purpose of constructive feedback and modeling respectful commenting helps build a safe environment for peer review.
Question 7: A student asks whether they should use 'a lot' or 'many' in their essay. This is an example of a question about:
- Prewriting strategies
- Revision for content
- Word choice during drafting or editing (Correct answer)
- Publishing format
Correct answer: Word choice during drafting or editing
Choosing between synonyms like 'a lot' and 'many' is a word choice decision that typically occurs during drafting or editing.
NYSTCE ATAS Student Writing Process Support 4
A student is writing an opinion essay but struggles to distinguish facts from opinions.
What should the teaching assistant do?