The following tips will help you improve your score on the SOL test or the Henrico County Assessment Test!
General Tips -
This test requires an essay answer. You will probably be asked to answer a question in your essay. DO NOT write a story. This is NOT a story writing test.
Ideal length and format- You should write 5 paragraphs. The total length should be no more than two pages.
Handwriting - Although handwriting is not scored on this test, you will want to make sure that your handwriting is NEAT and LEGIBLE. You do not want to slow down the reader, because he/she will catch more mistakes. Make sure that your handwriting is not too small. This is another thing that will slow the reader down.
Margins - Margins should be neat and straight.
Indenting - Be sure to indent each time you start a new paragraph. Indenting too much is almost as bad as not indenting at all. A finger space is the best measure.
Do NOT give your paper a Title. It is not required. Many times students give the paper a title and misspell a word in the title. This will give the reader a negative impression of your paper from the beginning.
Do NOT use slang. Remember you are writing for an audience that is not your peers. Write as if your paper is being read by a room full of grandmothers with blue hair. Don't use terminology they might not understand. It will confuse them and slow them down.
Do NOT skip lines on your final draft. (not even between paragraphs) This gives your paper the appearance of an elementary school student.
Do NOT start your paper with "Hi, My name is...." Do NOT end with "...and now you know why ........"
Do NOT say "Now I'm going to tell you about...."
Do NOT write "The End" at the end of your paper.
Composing-
Be sure to stay on topic. You want to give details on your topic, but don't go off on another topic entirely. For example: If your assignment is to write about your favorite season, you might say summer is your favorite season since that is when you play baseball. You might want to include one or two sentences about baseball----but if the rest of your paper is about baseball---then you went off topic. This could cost you BIG TIME.
Organize your paper into 5 Paragraphs-
1. Introduction
2. First important point
3. Second important point
4. Third important point
5. Conclusion
Introduction - Try to come up with a interesting first sentence. It is important to mention the topic of the paper in the first or second sentence. Remember that these readers are reading THOUSANDS of these papers. If everyone starts his/her paper the same way, they get very bored. They will really appreciate your style if you start with an interesting sentence that catches their interest and allows them to read quickly and smoothly through your paper.
Conclusion - As with the introduction, after reading so many papers, you reader will appreciate an interesting conclusion to your paper. (Not the same old sentence--- And that's why summer is my favorite season!)
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS! This will improve your score on Composition.
Written Expression -
USE A SIMILE - Unbelievable!---but I have been told----If you use a simile in your paper--you are more likely to get a superior score for Written Expression!
Usage and Mechanics -
Circle 5 words on EACH page of your rough draft and look them up in the dictionary. If you do this, you will probably catch every spelling error and some usage mistakes as well.
Do not say ---- "All of the sudden....." The correct way to say this is--- "All of a sudden...."
Steps of the Writing Process-
Prewriting - Notetaking, thinking, planning for your paper. Be sure to take a few minutes to think and plan in the same way you do quickwrites in class. Just get your thoughts on the paper. Then you can decide which thoughts you actually want to use.
Writing - Just get your ideas in sentence form on the paper. It's a good idea to skip lines so that when you go back to revise and proofread, you will have room to add details or make corrections.
Revision - Ask yourself if your paper is interesting. Does it say what you want it to say? Is there another way of saying something that would make it more interesting? Did you add enough detail? Is there a simile or a metaphor that would help get your point across or help your reader understand what you are trying to say?
Proofreading - Check for misspelled words, complete sentences, errors in punctuation and capitalization.
Publishing - Re-write your paper NEATLY. Read back over your final copy several times to make sure that you are not leaving out any words. Your reader will not have your rough draft. If you leave out a few words here and there, your paper will not make sense to the reader.
Good Luck!
