Due to the unique nature of writing, there really isn’t any way to provide an answer key for writing activities. There are countless appropriate ways students could respond to a writing task.
For example, if asked to paraphrase a section of text, 10 different students could all paraphrase it differently, and each of their responses could be correct.
All of the Top Score Writing lessons contain numerous examples of appropriate ways to demonstrate each skill, along with specific characteristics of what a proficient response would look like.
In a fourth-grade introduction lesson, for example, there is detailed information about different ways to construct an appropriate introduction. The lessons also clearly explain that an introduction paragraph must:
-be at least three sentences in length
-include a hook -include a “3 topics” sentence
-include a closing statement
The introduction lessons go on to define these three types of sentences and give several examples of each. The lessons also include numerous examples of entire proficient introduction paragraphs written in this structure.
From here, the teacher will need to use their professional discretion to grade students’ writing. Based on the lessons the teacher just taught, they would evaluate students’ paragraphs and decide on the level of proficiency each student is currently demonstrating. The teacher is prepared to evaluate the students’ paragraphs because of the examples in the lessons and the clear, explicit structure that was taught.