gr4pun
Punahou Grade 4 Admission Preparation

In previous years for Grade 4 admission testing, Punahou has:
  • conducted a teacher-directed group activity. Your child may be asked to get to know and then introduce another applicant of the same gender. 
  • observed (and scrutinized) your child’s demeanor and peer interaction during recess breaks between test sections, though your child may not notice this.

Punahou's Timed WRITING SAMPLE
It is my understanding that Punahou will administer their own in-house Writing Sample that is different from the ungraded SSAT Elementary "Look at the picture and tell a story about what happened" writing sample. In the past, applicants were asked to choose from among 3 or 4 prompts, at least one of which was a creative writing prompt (e.g. "My friends and I went to this new park and...").

In my experience, there is a likelihood that one or more of the following writing prompts (or some variation of the prompt) will be administered to your child on the Punahou “Test Day”.  Parents may want to discuss at least a few of these writing prompts with their child PRIOR to this day to best prepare for the all-important timed writing sample. A good essay should be at least 3/4-page, but preferably one page in length. Quality essays that go over one page in length (especially with a time constraint) can really STAND OUT before a Punahou staff member, possibly a grade-appropriate language arts teacher.

Actual past PUNAHOU Writing Prompts for Admission to Grade 4
(Applicants have been scored on a Scale of 1 to 5.)
  • Tell us about the best or worst day in your life. Give lots of details!
  • Name something you do very well and describe it in detail.
  • Tell us about a place you’ve visited in as much detail as possible. 
  • Describe a person who has changed your life and why.
  • If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for? Explain your choices!
  • If you had nothing to do on a weekend, what would you do and why?
  • If you were principal, what would you do to make your school better?
  • What is your favorite time of day? Give as much details as possible!
  • Describe something you are proud of. Explain and give details.
  • If you had to plan a field trip, where would you go? Explain.
  • The perfect place in the whole wide world is… 
  • Describe your favorite hobby. Explain in as much detail as possible.
  • If you could be an animal, what would you be and why? 
  • You are governor. What would you do to make Hawaii better?
  • If you had your own planet or island, what would you do? Explain.
  • If you could have a super power, what would you want and why?
The Timed Writing Sample may be the most overlooked and underestimated aspect of the private school admissions process, especially by an eight- or nine-year-old. It is perhaps the one and only “assignment” required and graded by Punahou faculty. As a result, penmanship, paragraph structure, idea formulation, spelling, grammar and syntax are scrutinized. Understandably, many applicants are exhausted from months of intense standardized test drill-and-practice, laborious homework assignments and school projects, and energy-sapping extracurricular activities. But the time to relax is after the Timed Writing Sample is completed. Essayists should spend as much time as permitted (usually about 20 minutes) working on the Writing Sample. An applicant who finishes the Timed Writing Sample in five minutes could see years of hard work go down the drain. Needless to say, a lazily written essay can eliminate an already longshot candidate from contention.
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