RW6/8 Assessment Prep

**This section will be updated in Fall 2026.** 

Grade 8 students are old enough to know exactly how they will be assessed by teachers during this assessment. Using the Nova Scotia Analytic Writing Rubric, “train” students as though they are the teachers marking the provincial assessments. Have them circle words that are the same throughout the rubric, underline words that are different, and analyse student samples for Ideas, Organization, Language Use, and Conventions (see Nova Scotia Analytic Writing Rubric document if you have never participated in a provincial scoring session). Writing samples from our 2023-2024 regional collaborative assessment work can be used for students to analyse. This is a powerful activity that helps students realize how they will be assessed and what reasonable expectations are for a Grade 8 student to produce in 45 minutes. 

Students often underestimate the importance and value of a completed planner, both when they are writing and when they are being assessed. Provide students with a prompt and 10 minutes to quickly plan a narrative and/or a persuasive essay using a known organizational format (e.g. TIDE/CSPACE) on a blank piece of paper. 

Time management is an executive functioning skill that is still developing for many (most?) middle level students! Provide students with a 45 minute period to complete a practice writing session. During this time, you can periodically guide their time management. For example, at the 10 minute mark, suggest that their planner should be completed and they should begin their writing. At the 20 minute mark, note that they have 25 minutes remaining, and so on. This can be stressful for some students, yes, but so is being unprepared for that feeling on the day of the assessment, during a high school exam, or when facing a work deadline. 

Note: Both of the instructional documents below contain suggested planners that would not be provided to students during the actual assessment. 

These documents were developed by CBVRCE and adapted by TCRCE. They provide sample poetry, visual media, narrative, and informative texts and give selected response questions for each. They provide opportunities to practice gist statements, and have sample informative and narrative writing prompts at the end using the TIDE and CSPACE organizers.