STAAR Grade 7 Writing April 2019 Released

1 STAARS tate of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness Grade 7 Writing Administered April 2019 Released Copyright 2019, Texas Education Agency. All rights reserved. Reproduction of all or portions of this work is prohibited without express written permission from the Texas Education Agency. Writing Writing Page 3 Writing Page 4 WRITTEN COMPOSITION Writing Page 5 WRITTEN COMPOSITION: Expository READ the following quotation. Other people may be there to help us, teach us, guide us along our path, but the lesson to be learned is always ours. Anonymous THINK carefully about the following question. Is it better for people to learn from others, or is it better for people to learn on their own? WRITE an essay explaining the best way to learn new things. Be sure to clearly state your controlling idea organize and develop your explanation effectively choose your words carefully use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences Writing Page 6 USE THIS PREWRITING PAGE TO PLAN YOUR COMPOSITION.

2 MAKE SURE THAT YOU WRITE YOUR COMPOSITION ON THE LINED PAGE IN THE ANSWER DOCUMENT. Writing Page 7 USE THIS PREWRITING PAGE TO PLAN YOUR COMPOSITION. MAKE SURE THAT YOU WRITE YOUR COMPOSITION ON THE LINED PAGE IN THE ANSWER DOCUMENT. Writing Page 8 REVISING Writing Page 9 Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question. Then fill in theansweronyouranswerdocument. In the following paper, Thomas wrote about a place that is very important to him. Read Thomas s paper and look for revisions he should make. When you finish reading, answer the questions that follow. My Own Special Place (1) A tiny stream trickles around my toes, and old live oak trees lean over the rock I am sitting on. (2) No one knows I am here except for the blue jay that caws at me from his perch on a branch.

3 (3) I am in my favorite place on Earth, the mountain basin and basalt cliffs behind my house. (4) I am only a couple of miles from a shopping mall, but it feels like I am surrounded by a forest far from civilization. (5) This basin wasn t always such a natural paradise. (6) A few years ago, when my family moved to this neighborhood, the canyon was like a garbage dump. (7) Stinky, stagnant pools had formed in the stream. (8) It was clogged with trash left behind by visitors exploring the area. (9) Somehow, as ugly as it was, my family saw its potential. (10) Our family walked door-to-door in our neighborhood and met people who had never been in the basin or climbed the cliffs. (11) Some of them had lived right next to it for decades but had never hiked down the trails. (12) We met families like Writing Page 10 ours that wanted to claim their own place in nature.

4 (13) like us, they didn t need to climb Mount Everest or go to a national park. (14) They just wanted a place to call their own. (15) Best of all, they were willing to work as hard as they could to make things better. (16) We worked with all of them to organize basin cleanups in order to get rid of the trash. (17) We climbed down the cliffs into the basin with shovels, trash bags, and spades to remove the trash left by irresponsible explorers. (18) We also used rocks to raise the banks of the stream so that water could flow through the basin once again. (19) Once we were finished, we waited for nature to get to work. (20) The first year after we cleaned out the bed of the stream, the basin was bare and ugly. (21) But something strange happened. (22) By the end of the year, grass and plants that were hidden by trash began to grow.

5 (23) I ve always loved the smell of freshly cut grass. (24) The stream began to flow after winter rains, and more animals began to wander into the area to nibble in the clean, grassy basin. (25) My brother and I went to the stream. (26) My brother was walking at a steady pace, but suddenly he stopped and held up his hand. (27) Shh, he whispered. (28) Up ahead about 10 yards, I could see a doe drinking from the creek, her head bent down. (29) I must have stepped on a dry leaf, because suddenly her ears popped up, and she looked right at us. (30) Then she sprang off into the woods. (31) A multitude of animals are now making their home in the basin. (32) In late spring, the sides of the cliffs echo with the music that is the music of tiny tree frogs. (33) I like to think they are celebrating, saying, Hooray for our home with every croak.

6 (34) Now, whenever I can, I hike on my own down the cliffs and into the basin. (35) Even though the land doesn t belong to me it belongs to the whole city it feels like my basin. (36) I saved it, look after it, and to love it. Writing Page 11 1 Thomas needs to add a sentence to the end of the second paragraph (sentences 5 9) to bring the paragraph to a more effective closing. Which of the following should be added after sentence 9 to help close this paragraph? A The basin is very different from anything I had seen before. BWe knew it was wrong to leave trash in the basin. CThe basin was a place that deserved to be saved. D I wanted to explore the basin the first time I saw it. 2 The meaning of sentence 16 is unclear. What change should Thomas make to improve the clarity of this sentence?

7 F Change all of them to our neighbors GChange organize to plan HChange get rid of to cancel J Change the trash to it 3 Thomas has included an extraneous sentence in the fifth paragraph (sentences 20 24). Which sentence should be deleted from this paragraph? A Sentence 20 BSentence 21 CSentence 22 DSentence 23 Writing Page 12 4 Thomas would like to provide a better transition between the fifth paragraph (sentences 20 24) and the sixth paragraph (sentences 25 30). Which of the following should replace sentence 25 to achieve this goal? F One day my brother and I hiked down the cliffs into the basin to explore the stream. GThen my brother and I hurried to visit the stream to see the flowing water. HAfter a while my brother and I decided to go hiking, and we traveled to the stream.

8 JIn the meantime my brother and I thought it would be fun to explore the stream. 5 What is the most effective way to revise sentence 32? A In late spring the sides of the cliffs echo with the music of tiny tree frogs. BIn late spring the sides of the cliffs echo with the music of tiny tree frogs, and it is music. CIn late spring the sides of the cliffs echo with the musical echoes of tiny tree frogs. DIn late spring the sides of the cliffs echo music, and it is the music of tiny tree frogs. 6 What is the best way to revise sentence 36? F I saved it, looking after it, and I love it. GI saved it, to look after it, and love it. HI saved it, looking after it, and to love it. JI saved it, I look after it, and I love it. Writing Page 13 Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.

9 Then fill in theansweronyourdocument. Akina wrote a paper about how sounds in movies are made. Read Akina s paper and look for the revisions she needs to make. Then answer the questions that follow. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/Corbis A Foley Artist Making Sounds with a Shoe The Art of Making Noise (1) A gust of wind whooshes through the trees, and footsteps crunch across leaves on the ground. (2) These are just a few of the sounds filmgoers hear when watching a movie. (3) Most people assume all of the sounds they hear during movies were recorded during filming, but that isn t always the case. (4) They are usually made after filming by special artists. (5) The microphones used during the filming of a movie focus primarily on the actor s voices. (6) Background noises and sound effects cannot be adequately recorded during filming.

10 (7) These include such things as roaring cars, galloping horses, or the gentle tapping of pencils on desks. (8) A Foley artist must recreate those sounds and then add them to the film at the appropriate moments. (9) Without these talented professionals, movie action would be noticeably quiet and bland. (10) The pioneer in adding realistic sounds to film was a man named Jack Foley. (11) Foley was working in California when filmmakers introduced sound into movies in the late 1920s. (12) At that time sounds in movies consisted primarily of the music and the voices of the actors. (13) Foley believed that if viewers could hear Writing Page 14 other sounds, the on-screen story would feel more genuine. (14) He met with some film producers and proposed his ideas to them. (15) Soon Foley was working to make films more realistic and by improving the background sounds with moviemakers.