Book excerpt: This workbook is specifically designed to develop Common Core writing skills. Students will write in response to passages, as well as write narratives, opinion pieces, and essays. Students will gain experience completing research projects and edit and revise their work. This workbook will develop the Common Core writing skills that students need, while preparing students for the more rigorous reading and writing tasks on the New York Common Core English Language Arts Test. Provides Ongoing Skill Development and Practice - Ten convenient practice sets allow for ongoing skill development - Each practice set contains two reading comprehension tasks focused on writing in response to passages - Each practice set contains two writing tasks where students write a short story, personal narrative, opinion piece, or essay - Guided writing tasks include hints, planning activities, and review checklists to guide students and encourage strong skill development - Each set includes additional core skills exercises that focus on key writing skills Key Benefits of this Workbook - Flexible format allows practice sets to be completed to suit any schedule - Helps students transition to the more rigorous New York Common Core ELA Test - Develops the writing skills that are emphasized by the new Common Core standards - More rigorous tasks encourage deeper understanding and more advanced thinking - Format allows for review after each set to provide feedback and promote improvement Preparation for the New York Common Core English Language Arts Test - Provides extensive experience providing written answers to reading comprehension questions - Develops the skills that students need to write effective essays - Gives students practice completing rigorous reading and writing tasks - Has a strong focus on using evidence from texts - Builds higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing and evaluating texts Full Coverage of the Common Core Standards - Covers all the types of writing in the Common Core standards, including opinion pieces, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives - Includes exercises for additional Common Core skills, including completing research projects and gathering information from sources - Reading comprehension tasks develop strong Common Core reading skills