1. North Carolina Writing
Assessment
Tenth Grade
Presentation by Nicole L. Winsley

2. What?
We have to take a writing test?
And it counts?

3. What is the NC Writing Test?
The NC Writing Test is a writing examination you
take during your 4th, 7th, and 10th Grade Year.
Your 4th Grade year you write an original story.
But......
Your 10th Grade year you must write a persuasive 5-
pargraph essay.

5. Where do I begin?
First, lets look at the 2 types of writings prompts
you might see this March.
First, lets look at the 2 types of writings prompts
you might see this March.

6. 10 Grade Writing Test
Problem/Solution Definition Writing
Cause/Effect
Must give List specific Must give
detailed causes or detailed Define a set
Must give detailed effects examples using
examples using List specific causes or examples using term, moral
your own life regarding a your own life belief, or
your own life effects regarding a
specific topic experiences specific topic experiences concept
experiences

7. Now lets look at the features
of narrative writing.

8. Focus
Answers the question: “So What?”
Focus means setting the goal/purpose of your paper:
BEFORE YOU EVEN START WRITING!
Establish a SINGLE focus and SUSTAINS it throughout the
ENTIRE paper.
Focus is the “ANGLE” of your paper.
1. What is the most important piece in
your story?
2. Are there any ideas or events in your
story that are not important to the main
event?
3. What is your paper’s goal?

9. Organization
The structural framework for your writing.
The logical progression and completeness of ideas in
your writing.
Two types:
Text Structure: Beginning, Middle, End
Cohesion elements: The Glue that holds it all
together.
1. Does your writings have a clear beginning, middle
and end?
2. Can your reader follow your story logically from
beginning to end?
3. Does your story make sense and feel finished?

10. Specific details and Info you use to E
S develop your topic.
L
U Must be SUFFICIENT & RELATED.
Sufficiency: Amount of detail A
P Relatedness: Quality of detail B
P O
1. Does all of the information support the R
O main topic?
A
R 2. Do you have enough info to persuade
your reader?
T
T I
3. Are you writing at the reader’s level of
intelligence? O
N

11. Style is the use of language that is appropriate to
the topic.
Style is how you write
S
3 Elements of Style:
Word Choice T
Sentence Fluency
Voice
1. Does your story flow from start to finish?
Y
2. Are you using precise words, power
verbs, concrete nouns, specific
L
adjectives, and appropriate prepositions?
3. Can you writing be read aloud to an
E
audience?

12. C Conventions…
using the correct sentence
O formation, usage, mechanics, and
N spelling.
V
E 1. Are your sentences complete?
N 2. Is there subject-verb agreement?
T 3. Is there consistency in verb tense?
I 4. Have you punctuated correctly?
5. Have you capitalized everything that you are suppose
O to?
N 6. Have you checked your spelling?
S

13. Now lets starting
writing the
“WRITE” way!

14. Created by:
Nicole L. Winsley
Thomasville High School
2009-2010
Features and guiding questions based on
information found at LearnNC.
www.learnnc.org