New Jersey GEPA Language Arts Literacy Assessment Tutorial
Sample Prompts
WRITING SITUATION:
The first few weeks of school are an adjustment for teachers, parents, and students. Routines need to be reestablished as the lazy days of summer turn into the busy fall back to school season. Many children spend seven hours or more in academic situations only to be rushed around by crowded carpools to soccer practice, music lessons, church activities, and even part-time jobs. Sometimes, in our efforts to do more than enough, we create a stressed out society. Run here, do this activity, be on this team! Are the children today going to be known as the "stressed out generation"? Or, is it a good idea to keep teens as busy as possible so they don't fall into troubling situations?
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING:
Your school newspaper will be including articles and letters written by teens in the next issue that discusses this controversial issue. Write a letter to the editor of your school newspaper that includes your opinion concerning whether you think that teens today are over-booked with activities therefore leading to a stressed out generation. Do you think that after-school activities are beneficial to teens? Do you think that too many teens participate in so many activities that this jam-packed cycle cannot be broken? Support your opinion with facts, examples, or anecdotes.
Begin your letter with:
Dear Editor,
Use this space for prewriting
