State of Texas
Assessments of
Academic Readiness
STAAR
®
Grade 4 Writing
Expository
Scoring Guide
April 2021
Copyright © 2021, Texas Education Agency. All rights reserved. Reproduction of all
or portions of this work is prohibited without express written permission from Texas
Education Agency.
Grade 4 Writing
Expository Prompt
WRITTEN COMPOSITION: Expository
READ the following quotation.
Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.
—Charles Kuralt
THINK carefully about the best teacher you know.
WRITE about the best teacher you know. Tell who it is and explain the
characteristics that make this person a good teacher.
Be sure to —
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● clearly state your central idea
● organize your writing
● develop your writing in detail
● choose your words carefully
● use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentences
STAAR Grade 4 Expository
Texas Education Agency
Student Assessment Division
April 2021
Score Point 1
The essay represents a very limited writing performance.
Organization/Progression
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q The organizing structure of the essay is inappropriate to the purpose or the specic
demands of the prompt. The writer uses organizational strategies that are only
marginally suited to the explanatory task, or they are inappropriate or not evident
at all. The absence of a functional organizational structure causes the essay to lack
clarity and direction.
q Most ideas are generally related to the topic specied in the prompt, but the central
idea is missing, unclear, or illogical. The writer may fail to maintain focus on the
topic, may include extraneous information, or may shift abruptly from idea to idea,
weakening the coherence of the essay.
q The writer’s progression of ideas is weak. Repetition or wordiness sometimes causes
serious disruptions in the ow of the essay. At other times the lack of transitions and
sentence-to-sentence connections causes the writer to present ideas in a random or
illogical way, making one or more parts of the essay unclear or difcult to follow.
Development of Ideas
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q The development of ideas is weak. The essay is ineffective because the writer uses
details and examples that are inappropriate, vague, or insufcient.
q The essay is insubstantial because the writer’s response to the prompt is vague or
confused. In some cases, the essay as a whole is only weakly linked to the prompt.
In other cases, the writer develops the essay in a manner that demonstrates a lack of
understanding of the expository writing task.
Use of Language/Conventions
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q The writer’s word choice may be vague or limited. It reects little or no awareness
of the expository purpose and does not establish a tone appropriate to the task. The
word choice may impede the quality and clarity of the essay.
q Sentences are simplistic, awkward, or uncontrolled, signicantly limiting the
effectiveness of the essay.
q The writer has little or no command of sentence boundaries and age-appropriate
spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions. Serious and
persistent errors create disruptions in the uency of the writing and sometimes
interfere with meaning.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 1
Score Point 1
The writer provides the unclear central idea that “mrs smith is the best teacher because I love writeing.”
Repetition of the idea that Mrs. Smith is “the best teacher” and has “the best class” because the writer
enjoys writing essays causes serious disruptions in the ow of the essay and weakens the progression of
ideas. The example about how upon rst entering Mrs. Smith’s class the writer could “smell an [essay]”
and knew the class was “going to have fun anddo faste [essays]” is inappropriate as it does not explain
why Mrs. Smith is the best teacher. Additionally, persistent errors in spelling (“writeing,” “faste”) create
serious disruptions in the uency of the writing and interfere with meaning. For these reasons, this
response represents a very limited writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 2
Score Point 1
In this response the writer provides the central idea that “Ms. jones is my favert teacher because she
helps us when we need it.” However, rather than explain how Ms. Jones is helpful, the writer contradicts
the central idea and explains that Ms. Jones “is not my favert teacher” because she becomes upset
“when kids are being rude.” The essay is ineffective with a weak development of ideas as the writer’s
contradictory examples of how Ms. Jones “is very nice” but is not the writer’s favorite teacher when
she becomes upset and assigns a test are inappropriate to explain how Ms. Jones is helpful. An absence
of sentence boundaries (“I Do she is my fouth grade teacer Ms. jones is her name she helps us whth for
Math and since”; “Ms. jones is my favert teacher because she helps us when we need it when we are
dismist I run away alot I saw Ms. jones in the distice I don’t run away alot”), along with serious and
persistent errors in spelling (“fouth,” “Math and since,” “favert,” “dismist,” “in conclshone”), further
impede the quality and clarity of this very limited writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 3
Score Point 1
The writer presents the unclear central idea that “do I like learning? I would say yes, and that’s when you
need to get a mean teacher.” The writer uses a compare-contrast structure to demonstrate the different
outcomes of being taught by a nice or mean teacher. However, the structure is ineffective as it is not
sustained long enough to progress this idea. The writer’s statement that “mean teachers could bring
smart students” is vague and does not explain how being mean is a characteristic of a good teacher.
The writer demonstrates a lack of command of sentence boundaries (paragraph two is one long run-on
sentence). Additionally, the writer demonstrates a partial command of punctuation with the inconsistent
use of commas after “well” as well as unwarranted question marks that interrupt sentences within the rst
paragraph. Furthermore, the writer has little command of age-appropriate capitalization and capitalizes
only the letter “I” throughout the response. Overall, this response demonstrates a very limited writing
performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 4
Score Point 1
The writer establishes the central idea that Mrs. Lopez is “the coolest teacher ever.” However, the
absence of a functional organizational structure causes the progression of ideas to be random as the
writer abruptly shifts focus from liking Mrs. Lopez to listing facts about her son (“. . . he was getting
merred”; “He got merred to a girl name jane”), and this weakens the coherence of the essay. The
development of ideas is weak because the writer uses examples that are inappropriate (“Mrs. Lopez
has a son and he came to visit us it was cool & fun”) and do not explain what characteristics make
Mrs. Lopez an example of a good teacher. The writer has little command of sentence boundaries as
paragraphs one and two are run-on sentences, and this creates serious disruptions in the uency of this
very limited writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4 Expository
Texas Education Agency
Student Assessment Division
April 2021
Score Point 2
The essay represents a basic writing performance.
Organization/Progression
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q The organizing structure of the essay is evident but may not always be appropriate
to the purpose or the specic demands of the prompt. The essay is not always clear
because the writer uses organizational strategies that are only somewhat suited to
the expository task.
q Most ideas are generally related to the topic specied in the prompt, but the writer’s
central idea is weak or somewhat unclear. The lack of an effective central idea or the
writer’s inclusion of irrelevant information interferes with the focus and coherence of
the essay.
q The writer’s progression of ideas is not always logical and controlled. Sometimes
repetition or wordiness causes minor disruptions in the ow of the essay
. At other
times transitions and sentence-to-sentence connections are too perfunctory or weak
to support the ow of the essay or show the relationships among ideas.
Development of Ideas
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q The development of ideas is minimal. The essay is supercial because the writer uses
details and examples that are not always appropriate or are too briey or partially
presented.
q The essay reects little or no thoughtfulness. The writer’s response to the prompt is
sometimes formulaic. The writer develops the essay in a manner that demonstrates
only a limited understanding of the expository writing task.
Use of Language/Conventions
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q The writer’s word choice may be general or imprecise. It reects a basic awareness of
the expository purpose but does little to establish a tone appropriate to the task. The
word choice may not contribute to the quality and clarity of the essay.
q Sentences are awkward or only somewhat controlled, weakening the effectiveness of
the essay.
q The writer demonstrates a partial command of sentence boundaries and age-appropriate
spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions. Some distracting
errors may be evident, at times creating minor disruptions in the uency or meaning of
the writing.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 5
Score Point 2
The writer provides the central idea that “My teacher is Mrs. Rodriguez. She is kind, clever, and gorgaus.”
The progression is not always controlled because the writer’s transitions (“Secodly,” “To start with,”
“Also,” “Lastly”) do not connect ideas logically. Additionally, the writer develops the three ideas in the
central idea minimally (“She is gorgaus because her hair is shiny, brown, and red . . .”; “Clever because
she teaches kids to learn . . .”; “. . . kind because she lets us use her school supplies”) before simply
repeating the same information. Furthermore, awkward sentences (“She knows what college I am going
to long horns college”; “My favorite fruit too it is watermelon”) weaken the effectiveness of this basic
writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 6
Score Point 2
In this response the writer presents the central idea that Ms. Johnson “has been the nicest and happest
teacher ever this is why Ms. Johnson is the most enjoyable person in the world.” Perfunctory transitions
(“One reason,” “Another reason,” “As you can see”) list instead of connect the writer’s ideas about why
Ms. Johnson is “the most enjoyable person.” The repetition of the idea that Ms. Johnson is nice, happy,
and enjoyable causes minor disruptions in the ow of ideas. Partially presented details and examples about
how Ms. Johnson is nice, happy, and enjoyable (“. . . nicest person in the world”; “. . . nice to her fellow
workers”; “. . . Ms. Johnson [helped] her student in the nicest way”; “. . . she is always happy when around
her students”) do not explain why being “the most enjoyable person in the world” makes Ms. Johnson the
best teacher. Moreover, the writer’s partial command of sentence boundaries (paragraphs one and four are
lengthy run-on sentences) creates minor disruptions in the uency of this basic writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 7
Score Point 2
In this response the writer offers the central idea that Mrs. White is the best teacher because “she
incurages her students” and “makes learning fun.” Formulaic transitions (“The reason why . . .”; “The
second reason why . . .”; “That is all of the reasons why”) list rather than connect the ideas within the
essay. The development is minimal because the writer’s details (“The way she incurages me is by telling
me to try agin when I want to give up on a problem”; “The way that she makes learning fun is that she
picks some games but adds learning to the games”) are too briey presented to explain how Mrs. White
encourages students and makes learning fun. Word choice is general (“students like me,” “makes learning
fun,” “she picks some games,” “adds learning to the games”) and does not establish a tone appropriate
to the expository task. While the writer demonstrates adequate command of sentence boundaries and
conventions, the minimal development of ideas demonstrates a basic writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 8
Score Point 2
In this response the central idea is that Mrs. Brown is the writer’s “favorite or best teacher” because she
is funny, “breaks it down” for her students, and is kind. Perfunctory transitions (“First,” “Second,” “The
last”) list instead of connect the different characteristics that make Mrs. Brown a good teacher. The ideas
of the essay are only minimally developed as partially presented examples (“. . . she can always cheer
someone up”; “. . . she’ll help you When you need help”; she “always wants to help”) that do not fully
explain why Mrs. Brown is the writer’s favorite teacher. The writer demonstrates a partial command of
sentence boundaries and punctuation (“When they have a bad day”; “and always wants to help”) that, at
times, creates minor disruptions in the uency or meaning of the writing. Overall, this response represents
a basic writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4 Expository
Texas Education Agency
Student Assessment Division
April 2021
Score Point 3
The essay represents a satisfactory writing performance.
Organization/Progression
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q The organizing structure of the essay is, for the most part, appropriate to the purpose
and responsive to the specic demands of the prompt. The essay is clear because
the writer uses organizational strategies that are adequately suited to the expository
task.
q The writer establishes a clear central idea. Most ideas are related to the central idea
and are focused on the topic specied in the prompt. The essay is coherent, though it
may not always be unied due to minor lapses in focus.
q The writer’s progression of ideas is generally logical and controlled. For the most part,
transitions are meaningful, and sentence-to-sentence connections are sufcient to
support the ow of the essay and show the relationships among ideas.
Development of Ideas
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q The development of ideas is sufcient because the writer uses details and examples
that are specic and appropriate, adding some substance to the essay
.
q The essay reects some thoughtfulness. The writer’s response to the prompt is
original rather than formulaic. The writer develops the essay in a manner that
demonstrates a good understanding of the expository writing task.
Use of Language/Conventions
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q The writer’s word choice is, for the most part, clear and specic. It reects an
awareness of the expository purpose and establishes a tone appropriate to the task.
The word choice usually contributes to the quality and clarity of the essay.
q Sentences are varied and adequately controlled, for the most part contributing to the
effectiveness of the essay.
q The writer demonstrates an adequate command of sentence boundaries and age-
appropriate spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions.
Although some errors may be evident, they create few (if any) disruptions in the
uency of the writing, and they do not affect the clarity of the essay.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 9
Score Point 3
In this response the central idea is that the writer will be “secussful” because Mrs. Martinez is a great
teacher who “gives all her effort.” The progression of this idea is generally logical and controlled as
sentence-to-sentence connections (“Mrs. Martinez is sometimes strict to us because she wants us to be
prepared for 5th grade. She also wants us to be mature and orginized”) show the relationship between
Mrs. Martinez’s dedication and how it inuences her students. The writer sufciently develops specic
examples (“. . . she would show us videos or give us practice so we can understand it a lot better”;
“. . . wants us to be mature and orginized”; “. . . she sents us to her table and corrects us and tells us
to read it”) that explain how much Mrs. Martinez does to ensure her students comprehend the lessons
taught. The essay reects some thoughtfulness because the writer uses the details (“. . . gives us her
time”; “. . . tries to teach us everything so we get passing grades”; “I would not give up my teacher for
any other teacher”; “I think I will be secussful all because of my teacher”) to explain how Mrs. Martinez
made the writer feel condent in the ability to succeed. Although some errors in sentence boundaries
are evident, including a run-on sentence to begin the second paragraph, they do not detract from the
effectiveness of this satisfactory writing response.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 10
Score Point 3
The writer presents the clear central idea that the best teacher is Ms. Gray because she “is really funny
and really good at making math seem fun.” The response is organized around the two characteristics that
make Ms. Gray the best teacher: Ms. Gray uses creativity and humor to design engaging, interactive lesson
plans, and Ms. Gray is knowledgeable in math. The relationship between Ms. Gray’s humor and her ability
to make math fun are demonstrated by the writer’s use of sentence-to-sentence connections (“Ms. Gray is
really funny and tells the greatest jokes. Every morning she tells us four jokes and of course there funny”).
Specic details about Ms. Gray’s lessons (“One time we got to make lemonade. . .”) and her willingness
to make mistakes (“Like one time she wrote ten times two equals two hundred. . .”) not only sufciently
explain the central idea that Ms. Gray is funny and good at making math fun, but they also reect some
thoughtfulness because they show how much the writer admires Ms. Gray. Although there are some minor
spelling errors (“actives,” “exspearemints,” “mined”), they do not disrupt the uency or affect the clarity
of this satisfactory writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 11
Score Point 3
The writer uses a problem-solution approach to organize this essay around the central idea that Ms.
Black demonstrates characteristics of a great teacher. The writer’s sentence-to-sentence connections
(“Ms. Black will keep teaching no matter what. Ms. Black would keep everyone awake with interesting
lessons. When the electricity went out in our classroom we still studied cursive”) sufciently support
the ow of the essay and show the relationship between Ms. Black and her dedication to her students.
Ideas are sufciently developed through specic examples (“If somebody was behind or misbehaving
she would be patient and talk it out”; “To make us feel better about the staar Ms. Black made her
classroom into a campsite”; “Ms. Black somehow manages to talk us into studying”) that explain Ms.
Black’s compassion and effectiveness. The clear and specic word choice (“Kapesh,” “misbehaving,”
“Kahoot,” “cursive”) highlight the positive qualities of Ms. Black’s classroom. For these reasons, this
essay demonstrates a satisfactory writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 12
Score Point 3
The writer begins with a central idea (“Kind, peppy, funny, they all describe one of my favorite teachers
ever, Mrs. Green”) and focuses the essay on the teaching strategies Mrs. Green uses to facilitate student
success. Sentence-to-sentence connections (“One time when we where learning how to divide I was
confused, so she came to me with a kind heart and tought me a strategy I will use for the rest of my life.
There is no doubt that Mrs. Green is one of the kindest people I know”) demonstrate the correlation
between Mrs. Green’s “peppy” personality and its effect on the writer. Specic and appropriate details
about the characteristics of Mrs. Green (“. . . to her smart or dumb every student is the same”; “always
very peppy and exciting with her work”; “. . . poped ballons with confetti inside them as we walked in”)
are sufcient to explain how much Mrs. Green cares about her students and how much fun it is to be in
her class. Varied and adequately controlled sentences (“Sometimes math can be really boring, but with
her it never is!”; “When it’s the end of the day and it’s time to go home she walks us out side and gives us
to our moms”) contribute for the most part to the effectiveness of this satisfactory writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4 Expository
Texas Education Agency
Student Assessment Division
April 2021
Score Point 4
The essay represents an accomplished writing performance.
Organization/Progression
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q The organizing structure of the essay is clearly appropriate to the purpose and
responsive to the specic demands of the prompt. The essay is skillfully crafted
because the writer uses organizational strategies that are particularly well suited to
the expository task.
q The writer establishes a clear central idea. All ideas are strongly related to the central
idea and are focused on the topic specied in the prompt. By sustaining this focus,
the writer is able to create an essay that is unied and coherent.
q The writer’s progression of ideas is logical and well controlled. Meaningful transitions
and strong sentence-to-sentence connections enhance the ow of the essay b
y
clearly showing the relationships among ideas, making the writer’s train of thought
easy to follow.
Development of Ideas
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q The development of ideas is effective because the writer uses details and examples
that are specic and well chosen, adding substance to the essay.
q The essay is thoughtful and engaging. The writer may choose to use his/her unique
experiences or view of the world as a basis for writing or to connect ideas in
interesting ways. The writer develops the essay in a manner that demonstrates a
thorough understanding of the expository writing task.
Use of Language/Conventions
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q The writer’s word choice is purposeful and precise. It reects a keen awareness of the
expository purpose and maintains a tone appropriate to the task. The word choice
strongly contributes to the quality and clarity of the essay.
q Sentences are purposeful, varied, and well controlled, enhancing the effectiveness of
the essay.
q The writer demonstrates a consistent command of sentence boundaries and age-
appropriate spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions.
Although minor errors may be evident, they do not detract from the uency of the
writing or the clarity of the essay. The overall strength of the conventions contributes
to the effectiveness of the essay.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 13
Score Point 4
The writer presents the clear central idea that “If you’re looking for that fun kind of teacher, you can always
look for Mrs. Hall.” Strong sentence-to-sentence connections (“When she knows we can’t understand
questions, she shows a million ways to solve it! She doesn’t go on untill we all understand it”) clearly
show the relationship between Mrs. Hall’s enthusiasm for teaching and its effect on her students. The
writer effectively develops the response with specic examples (“a game called Quizzel”; “Quizzel helps
us memorize our denitions”) that demonstrate the writer’s understanding of Mrs. Hall’s effort on behalf
of her students. Purposeful and precise word choice (“talent of making learning fun”; “knows what a kid
loves most”; “sure does have the brains”) conveys Mrs. Hall’s dedication to her students. Holistically, this
essay represents an accomplished writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 14
Score Point 4
The writer provides the clear central idea that “the best teacher out of the eight billion people living is
my mother.” The writer organizes the response by rst dening “Teachers” in a non-traditional way and
then providing personal anecdotes as examples. Strong sentence-to-sentence connections (“When you
think about the word teachers you most likely think of school but to me the best teacher that anyone can
have is a parent. Moms and dads all over the world are teachers. My mom is the best teacher I could
ask for . . .”) clearly show the relationship between the writer’s view that parents are the best teachers
and how the writer benets from her own mother’s guidance. Specic, well-chosen details (“Everyday
when I awake I go to comb my hair but I didn’t learn how to do so by myself. My mom used to guide
my hand with the brush into my straight hair so I could get all the knots out off my head. After I brush
my hair I usually I go cleanse my teeth and that didn’t come naturally either”) engage the reader and add
thoughtfulness to the essay, clearly showing how the writer’s mom has helped her master daily tasks.
Purposeful, varied, and well-controlled sentences (“My mom can tell if I need help and will ask, ‘what’s
wrong?’ and whatever I said she’d understand”; “My mom was there for every move I’ve made in my
nine years of living on planet Earth”) further enhance the effectiveness of this accomplished writing
performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 15
Score Point 4
The writer presents the clear central idea that while there are many good teachers, “none of them can
compete with mistakes.” The writer organizes the response around the cause-and-effect relationship
between making mistakes and learning lessons. Strong sentence-to-sentence connections (“They can teach
you many things, like to not step on the concrete bare-foot, to be careful of when you use your money,
and to not put your nger in the doorway when you’re closing the door. After you make your mistake,
you always learn something important that you can take a mental note of what you need to do and what
you don’t”) clearly show how mistakes can be benecial. Meaningful transitions (“After you make your
mistake,” “I think you can agree with me,” “I’ll never forget the time,” “The rest of the day”) clearly show
the relationship among ideas. The writer effectively develops the essay with specic details in a well-
chosen, humorous anecdote that is engaging to the reader and supports the writer’s unique viewpoint that
mistakes are the best teachers. The writer’s purposeful and precise word choice (“cut off by my startled
shriek”; “my nger nudgged up on the switch”; “fruits spluttered and splashed onto the walls of my
house,” “nished with a disapointed sigh”) illustrates how mistakes “always teach me an unforgettable
lesson” and contributes to the quality of this accomplished writing performance.
STAAR Grade 4
April 2021
Expository — 16
Score Point 4
In this response the clear central idea is “Mrs. Garcia is the best teacher I know.” Progression of ideas is
logical and well-controlled with meaningful transitions (“Without a doubt,” “Unlike any other teachers,”
“Besides the reason that she lets us do many science expiriments”), tying ideas back to the central idea
and connecting the ways Mrs. Garcia is the writer’s favorite teacher. Development of ideas is effective
because the writer uses specic and well-chosen details (Mrs. Garcia used “the marshmellow launcher
expiriment” to teach her students how mass affects velocity; while teaching math, “she gave us candy
and we did division practice with it”; Mrs. Garcia asked students to “make a comic strip about erosion,
weathering, and deposition”) that clearly demonstrate the enthusiasm students have for Mrs. Garcia’s
lessons. The writer’s purposeful word choice (“Snap!”; “measuring 32 meters”; “feel boredom going
away”) and varied, well-controlled sentences (“For example, when we did the marshmellow launcher
experiment where you shoot marshmellows, I found out that the large marshmellow is heavyer than the
small one, so it can’t go as far”; “At the end, she even let us eat them!”; “Do you feel excited as the teacher
says, ‘Science expiriment time?’”) enhance the effectiveness of this accomplished writing performance.
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