Last Writes Upon Request for the school year

Today is the last Writes Upon Request for the school year. It used to be a big deal - making sure to go to bed a little early the night before, have something special for breakfast the morning of. Now it's just another school day.

Two years ago, when 5thgrader was a 3rd grader, he completely shut down when asked to write about anything. Writes Upon Requests were horrible, miserable, anxiety-ridden days. But we're so proud of him because he has worked hard to overcome his anxiety - or at least learned to function within its constraints - and has consistently scored 4.5's (out of possible 6's) this whole year. He has reached deep within himself and lived to tell about it!

Today's assignment is expository. I never even knew what that meant until they started doing WURs. (It means explaining.)

Here's what Writes Upon Request means (I found this on one of the county school pages):
WUR-“Writes Upon Request” Assessment. In an effort to prepare students for the FCAT Writing Assessment, and to provide opportunities for students to improve their writing skills, **** County Schools conducts the “Writes Upon Request” Assessment Program. This program assesses student writing in first through tenth grades at set times during the school year. Students throughout the district are given grade-appropriate prompts (topics) and time limits in which to respond. Trained classroom teachers utilize the same scoring method as the *CAT Writing Assessment to score student papers. Scores are reported to parents.