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Test Prep - TDA Writing with Writable


We are within a three week window of our state testing here in South Carolina and the test most teachers are worried about is the writing portion of the ELA test. The ELA test is divided into two days with the writing test on the first day and the reading test on the second day. The writing test has a text dependent analysis question (TDA) which requires a lot of higher order thinking/writing for our students (many of whom are taking it for the first time...on a computer).

I am super sympathetic, having taught writing. That is why I got SUPER EXCITED when I ran across the Writable site at conference in February. The site has a lot of TDA type questions and passages already put together in a format that mimics what students will see in May. It is not an exact match (the site corrects spelling and has a read-to-me option...which they won't see on the state test) but for the most part it is a way to give students the opportunity to see a writing passage on one side and a TDA on the other side for practice purposes.

The site offers a 60 day free trial (which activates as soon as the first student joins your class so you can make an account and look around for a bit to see if it is something you might use). You can use their prompts or (and this is what made me excited) you can make your own. I made several, which I will link below. I love that you can make prompts and then share them with anyone with a link.

Another exciting feature is that you can see revisions. Things that are removed from the first version are highlighted in red and things that are add are highlighted in green.




I have barely scratched the surface of this site...but for test prep practice I am loving it! I made a short overview video (again focusing on test prep ONLY). If you want more detailed training their YouTube channel is a good place to start. 

Here are links to the TDA's I put together on the Writable site:

Paper Bag Princess - https://app.getwritable.com/p/66f8bd88-320e-4428-b49b-8c481cc8caf0
Spring Discovery - https://app.getwritable.com/p/dc4eeb05-2a43-4a31-b34a-39a83ce470ec?fbclid=IwAR1EdustSTYcL3VWtJakr4sit8vxjnshlH-V2kpxyxHAMHQyurh1_cDECAQ
Elephant Talk - https://app.getwritable.com/p/a9e354b4-77d3-4d17-b5ef-723fe161f9eb
Alyssa Wears a Bow Tie - https://app.getwritable.com/p/89de1ffe-504e-43d6-a336-39d6de7c6e04
The Noisiest Cat - https://app.getwritable.com/p/d342008a-5eb6-44bf-b809-69799d2b582f
Mo, Bow Tie Designer - https://app.getwritable.com/p/c4af12bc-7085-4658-bdc4-771aff72cdcc (this has a link to the YouTube video and the text is the transcripts)
Competitive Double Dutch - https://app.getwritable.com/p/cea95d4d-b7b9-4aef-9514-e27aa980f97b (this has a link to the YouTube video and the text is the transcripts) 
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