11th Grade English Language Arts and Literacy: Writing Study Guide for the SBAC

Using Information to Write

Generate Information

Whether you are completing the Performance Task portion of the SBAC where you write your own text or analyzing and correcting the writing of others on the CAT part, it is important that you are mindful of using information. Whether it is the details included in a narrative text, the evidence and information provided in an informational or explanatory text, or the arguments set forth in an argument or persuasive text, generating and using information effectively is a powerful tool that impacts the reader. When you are writing and when you are editing the writing of others, evaluate the effectiveness of the information included. How relevant is the information? Does it come from reliable sources? Does it make logical sense? Using information in writing is important, but using the right information for a particular audience will make all the difference in getting the point across. Or not.

Analyze Information

When analyzing information to use in your own writing or when evaluating the information used by another writer, it is important to select information that packs the biggest punch for the reader. Understand audience and purpose, select information, evidence, and examples that are relevant, reliable, and important to the audience. This type of information will be the most convincing and make the most sense to the reader. You may find questions that ask you to evaluate a source for possible use as evidence in a text. You’ll need to analyze the source to determine whether the information it provides will support the text’s claim. You may also be asked to determine which source(s) would provide credible information for a writer’s text, which means you’ll need to analyze what each source is, evaluate its credibility, and determine whether or not it will provide relevant information to support the claim.

Organize Information

Organization of information is important in cohesive, well-written texts. If the information an author is trying to provide for the reader is not clearly or logically organized, it will lose its impact and leave the reader unable to really appreciate it. When you are writing, or editing the writing of another, make sure that information is organized logically and that effective transitions are used to move the reader from one piece of information to the next. Also, make sure that information included in a text is supported and explained. It’s not enough to just stick a piece of information into a text, it must be explained and supported so the reader understands why it’s there and what purpose it serves. Organization methods may include chronological order, cause and effect, or problem solution structures, in addition to a variety of other formats. Regardless of how information is organized, just make sure that it is organized in a way that will make it accessible to the reader and that it is organized appropriately for the writing purpose.

Using Language

“The pen is mightier than the sword.” In this adage attributed to English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton is the understanding that words are more powerful and more effective than physical violence or fighting. Language is especially important in writing because it is the vehicle through which the author communicates with the reader. If the wrong words are used, the reader may not understand or appreciate the author’s message. The reader may be offended by what the author is trying to say and just stop reading the text. Thus, keeping audience and purpose in mind, the author must carefully select the appropriate language. Whether you are reviewing the writing of others or writing your own text, consider the diction carefully and look for places where better words could be used or used in a more effective way.

Vocabulary

The SBAC has vocabulary assessment components built into it. Questions that ask you to select words that would better replace a given word in a text or questions that ask which word might fit logically into a sentence, test your understanding of words and your breadth of vocabulary. While you may not recognize all of the word options given, the expectation is that you can use your vocabulary and decoding skills to determine word meanings and select the best words for the job. Vocabulary understanding includes grade-level appropriate words as well as academic or specialty words. It’s important to consider vocabulary not only when writing the Performance Task response, but also in the short answer responses where SBAC evaluators will be looking for the use of key words in your response.

Language Usage

In addition to vocabulary, the SBAC assesses your use and mastery of language. Can you identify where more specific or appropriate words could be used? Can you identify shifts in voice or tone? Being a master of words means more than having a strong vocabulary, you must also be able to use words thoughtfully and purposefully to share a message with the reader. Below are some common uses of language that you may come across on the SBAC.

Analogy

An analogy is a comparison between two things intended to show in what way(s) they are similar to one another. Using analogies can help readers understand an idea or concept with which they may be unfamiliar by linking it to something they know and have experience with. Metaphors and similes are both tools that are used to create analogies.

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things suggesting one thing is the other, a metaphor helps the reader make a connection between something they know and are familiar with and something with which they may not have much experience or expertise. Metaphors are not meant to be taken literally, but are figurative language. As with any figure of speech, the audience and purpose must be considered before determining if a metaphor will be appropriate to use. An example of a metaphor would be “Courtney is a couch potato.” She’s not literally a potato, but the comparison gives the reader a sense of her energy level.

Simile

Like a metaphor, similes also make comparisons between things, but they use the word like or as in the comparison. “That baby’s as cute as a button” does not mean to actually compare the baby to a button—those aren’t usually all that cute, but is a figure of speech used to suggest that the baby is pretty darn cute. “Mark runs like lightning” suggests Mark runs fast and is a simile.

Tone

Although not a figure of speech itself, tone is affected by the language used by an author. Tone refers to the attitude a writer takes toward a subject or an audience and that tone is created based on the author’s word choice (diction) and syntax (how he or she puts the words in order to create sentences). So, understanding language usage and its impact on the tone of a text will be a concept you are likely to come across on the SBAC.

Style

When you are writing, or editing the writing of others, it is important to consider style. Style refers to the way a writer writes. Some writers have a very informal style, and their texts sound like you would imagine the writer would speak. Others use a more formal style with elevated language and formal word choice. When determining what style to use in their writing, authors must consider their audience and purpose. Who you are writing for and why will determine the best style for delivering the message. For example, if you are writing about a serious subject and you want the reader to appreciate its importance and take it seriously, you probably don’t want to be cracking jokes in your writing. When editing a text for style, consider the audience and purpose for which it was written and determine if the tone and diction are a match for the audience and purpose.

Note: When writing for an academic purpose, such as the writing required for this test, you need to always use a formal writing style.

Editing

All good writers edit their writing. Unlike revising, which is looking at a piece of writing and evaluating the clarity and delivery of the main ideas and the “big picture” overall, editing refers to the rereading and examination of a piece of writing sentence by sentence and looking for problems with spelling, grammar, punctuation, or word choice. Editing requires a critical eye for detail and is done to polish the text before publication. Whether you are writing your own text or reviewing the writing of others, editing is the last step to ensure that a text is the best it can possibly be.

Grammar

Grammar refers to the “rules of writing”. It is the accepted way that words and ideas are to be put together so that they may be commonly understood by a reader. It is a system that has been put in place to ensure uniformity in delivery of ideas, so it’s important that your writing, or any writing that you are editing, follows the prescribed system.

Punctuation

Punctuation mistakes are easy to make when you’re writing. Especially with online tests like the SBAC, your fingers get going across that keyboard and sometimes they can’t keep up with your brain or they hit the wrong key in the flurry of getting ideas typed into the boxes. As a result, it’s important to carefully proofread and edit for punctuation mistakes. Often these mistakes come from missing punctuation, such as commas within a sentence or the period at the end of a sentence. In addition to missing punctuation, be on the lookout for the correct use of all types of punctuation, including commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, hyphens, and dashes. They can be tricky to use, so make sure you review their rules. On the SBAC, you may be asked to identify which sentence has been correctly punctuated, and your use of punctuation in your written responses will be considered in the scoring.

Spelling

“I before E, except after C” and other spelling rules can be handy to keep in mind when you are editing a written text.

Try reading this paragraph for more information, but also with editing in mind:

“Our brains can play tricks on us and have us ‘see’ spelings that are not, in fact, there. Transposed or missing letters create misspelled words, but in the pressure of getting through an assessment like the SBAC, testing fatigue or stress can cause u to miss identifying words that are mispelled.”

Did you find the three misspelled words we snuck into this paragraph? (speling instead of spelling, u for you, and mispelled instead of misspelled). The use of u for you is a common mistake because of the increase in texting and abbreviated forms of communication. Make sure that, in all of the written responses on the SBAC, you spell out words you might otherwise abbreviate (u for you, cuz for because, 4 for for, etc.) and use standard rules of spelling.

Included in the misspelled words category may also be misused words. For example, to/too, their/they’re/ there, and where/were are commonly misused words. Check the spelling and the use of words in the text.

Capitalization

So. many. rules. Capitalization requires thoughtful consideration of what kind of word is being used and how. For example, all sentences begin with a capital letter, but what about the first word after a colon? You capitalize days of the week and months of the year, but do you capitalize a season? There are a lot of rules for capitalization, so make sure that you review the most common ones and are ready to find capitalization mistakes in your writing and the writing of others.

Sentence Structure

Sentences come in all shapes and sizes, but you must edit writing to make sure they are all complete sentences. To be complete, a sentence must have a subject and a verb, and it must express a complete thought. The SBAC may ask all sorts of structural questions, including whether a sentence is complete or incomplete, whether it contains parallel structure, or whether it’s written in active or passive voice. So, be sure that you can identify a variety of types and structures of sentences.

If you still feel unsure of your competence in any of the above areas or you just want some extra practice, try our study materials. There are sections on the writing process, capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, sentence structure, word usage, and “cleaning up English.” Check it out here:

Free Help with English Basics

Tackling Differently Formatted Test Items

There is important information about differently formatted test items on the SBAC exam. Go to our home page for the SBAC to read it as you prepare. Scroll down to “Tips and Tricks.”