Day 10 — Meet the Writing Section + Build a Sentence

Phase I · Writing · Day 10 (Writing Day 1 of 3) · ⏱ ~2 hours

📍 You are here: Day 10 – Writing Orientation + Build a Sentence → Day 11 – Write an Email → Day 12 – Academic Discussion

Writing 🖊️ In 2026 the whole section is just three tasks in 23 minutes — no more 300-word essays, no more Integrated Writing. Today is your map, and you'll knock out the first (and lightest) task: Build a Sentence.

The 3 Writing tasks — "Task" only ever means these:

Task 1 – Build a Sentence (~6 min): drag scrambled words into a correct sentence that fits the context.
Task 2 – Write an Email (7 min): a scenario + 3 required points, ~100–150 words.
Task 3 – Academic Discussion (10 min): a professor's question + two student posts; you add a new contribution.

Everything you do each day is a numbered Step.

🎯 Today's goal: Know what each task looks like and how it's scored, then master Build a Sentence.

✅ You're done when: you've studied one ETS sample of each task and scored 9/10 on a scrambled-sentence drill.

⏰ Step 1 — Daily Warm-Up: Word-Order Fix

Build a Sentence rewards the one correct word order. Pick the correct sentence.

👉 Open the Warm-Up Exercise
4 items · auto-graded

📺 Step 2 — Understand the section & scoring

Take active notes — these 3 tasks in 23 minutes are the most time-pressured part of the test.

🎥 Writing section overview — full task walkthrough

Study the official ETS samples — one of each task type (pages 13–16):

📄 Official ETS TOEFL iBT Overview (PDF)

Build a Sentence (p. 13)
Email (p. 14)
Academic Discussion (pp. 15–16)

➕ Optional scoring guide: ETS official Writing rubrics (Email + Discussion) · 🎥 Scoring walkthrough by Amir Ebrahimi.

📝 Step 3 — Take your baseline diagnostic

👉 Writing Diagnostic — FluentPrep

🧩 Step 4 — Build a Sentence: strategy · ~20 min

🎥 Build a Sentence — strategy video
📄 Build a Sentence — Challenges, Tips & Checklist PDF

Key habits:

check the end punctuation (? → Auxiliary+Subject; . → Subject+Verb even with a "wh-" word) · attach prepositions to their nouns · put adverbs (always, only, just) right before the main verb · and above all, move first, polish second — drag the subject and verb in immediately.

🎯 Step 5 — Build a Sentence: drill · ~30 min

Target: 10 scrambled sentences · 9/10 — track which patterns trip you up (relative clauses, perfect tense, conditionals).

🎮 learnhip.com — scrambled sentence practice
🎮 english-4u.de — grammar & word-order exercises
🎥 Scrambled sentences with answers & explanations (pause and do along)
🎮 mytoefl.io — TOEFL-style Writing practice

➕ Extra (optional): Perfect English Grammar — targeted drills on relative clauses, perfect tenses, and word order.

💡 Pro Tips

The scrambled words must form a sentence that FITS the context, not just any grammatical sentence.
Writing rewards consistent practice more than any section — small daily reps compound fast.
Don't over-stare at the chunks; drag the subject + verb in first and the pattern reveals itself.

📁 Portfolio Entry — log Day 10

📅 Date · ✅ Steps completed (Y/N) · ⏱️ Time spent
📊 Warm-up score: ___ / 4
🎯 Build a Sentence accuracy: ___ / 10
🎯 My instinct on the hardest Writing task: ___
🎯 Confidence today (1.0–6.0)
🏆 One Win + 🤔 One Challenge

➡️ Next: Day 11 — Write an Email