Using interesting question stems is the best way to engage your students in communicating and thinking about math. These questions stems can be designed to model the item stems of the SBAC item stems. A good question stems requires students to decide what the question is asking and figure out what information they will need to answer that question. After students have decided on the data needed, they can collect and analyze the data. Since the data and solution are personal to them, it is easier to get the students to write about their modeling process or defend their solution. Here are some resources for good ideas connected to the CCSS.
Smarter Balanced Digital Library
Dan Meyers Three-Act Math Tasks