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The Pennsylvania Systemof School Assessment

Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of Assessment and Accountability 2006–2007

2006 – 2007Reading Item and Scoring Sampler

Grade 4

Grade 4 Reading Item Sampler 2006–2007 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

General Scoring Guidelines for Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Reading Reporting Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Grade 4 Reading Passage 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Reading Multiple-Choice Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Grade 4 First Open-Ended Item. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Open-Ended Item-Specific Scoring Guideline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Open-Ended Item Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Grade 4 Reading Passage 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Reading Multiple-Choice Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Grade 4 Reading Passage 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Reading Multiple-Choice Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Grade 4 Second Open-Ended Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Open-Ended Item-Specific Scoring Guideline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Open-Ended Item Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27


INTRODUCTION

General Introduction

The Department of Education provides districts and schools with tools to assist in delivering focused instructional programs aligned to the state assessment system. These tools include assessment anchor documents, assessment handbooks, and content-based item and scoring samplers. This 2006–2007 Reading Item and Scoring Sampler is a useful tool for Pennsylvania educators in the preparation of local instructional programs and the statewide PSSA.

What Is Included

This item and scoring sampler contains reading passages with multiple-choice and open-ended items that have been written to focus on and align with the 2007 Assessment Anchor Content Standards (Assessment Anchors). These items are actual examples of those used to assess student performance on the PSSA. These items provide an idea of the types of items that will appear on the operational Spring 2007 PSSA. The passages represent some of the genres approved by PDE for appearance on the PSSA. Each item has been through a rigorous review process to ensure alignment with the Assessment Anchors.

Purpose and Uses

The passages with items in this sampler may be used as examples for creating assessment items at the classroom level, and they may also be copied and used as part of a local instructional program.* Classroom teachers may find it beneficial to have students respond to the open-ended items in this sampler. Educators can then use the sampler as a guide to score the responses either independently or together with colleagues within a school or district.

Item Format and Scoring Guidelines

The multiple-choice items have four answer choices. Each correct response to a multiple-choice item is worth 1 point.

Each open-ended item is designed to take about ten minutes to complete. During an actual testing event, students are given additional time as necessary to complete the test items. The open-ended items in reading are scored with item-specific scoring guidelines on a 0–3 scale. An item-specific scoring guide with examples of responses for each score point is presented with each item.

Also included is the General Scoring Guidelines for Reading used to develop the item-specific guides. The General Scoring Guidelines should be used to develop any item-specific scoring guidelines created for use within local instructional programs.*

* The permission to copy and/or use these materials does not extend to commercial purposes.


GENERAL SCORING GUIDELINES FOR READING

3 Points

• The response provides a complete answer to the task (e.g., a statement that offers a correct answer as well as text-based support).

• The response provides specific, appropriate, and accurate details (e.g., naming, describing, explaining, or comparing) or examples.

2 Points

• The response provides a partial answer to the task (e.g., indicates some awareness of the task and at least one text-based detail).

• The response attempts to provide sufficient, appropriate details (e.g., naming, describing, explaining, or comparing) or examples; may contain minor inaccuracies.

1 Point

• The response provides an incomplete answer to the task (e.g., indicating either a misunderstanding of the task or no text-based details).

• The response provides insufficient or inappropriate details or examples that have a major effect on accuracy.• The response consists entirely of relevant copied text.

0 Points

• The response provides insufficient material for scoring.• The response is inaccurate in all aspects.

Categories within zero reported separately:

• BLK (blank) – No response or written refusal to respond or too brief to determine response• OT – Off task/topic• LOE – Response in a language other than English• IL – Illegible


READING REPORTING CATEGORIES

Reading Scores will be reported in two categories:

A – Comprehension and Reading SkillsB – Interpretation and Analysis of Fictional and Nonfictional Text

Examples of multiple-choice and open-ended items assessing these categories are included in this booklet.

SAMPLE ITEMS

There are three reading passages in this booklet. The first passage is followed by a set of multiple-choice items and one open-ended item. The second and third passages are a paired set. Multiple-choice items apply to only one or to both passages. One open-ended item is shown with this paired set.

The correct multiple-choice answer is indicated by an asterisk (*). Each open-ended item is displayed with an item-specific scoring guideline and examples of student responses with scores and annotations. Each item is preceded by the Assessment Anchor and Eligible Content coding.


READING

Read the following passage about people helping animals. Then answer questions 1–9 in your answer booklet.

Seals Healed Hereby F.C. Nicholson

The baby seals wriggle across the smooth white floor, their dark eyes as big as half-dollars. Their cries—somewhere between a dog’s bark and a kitten’s meow—say, “Feed me!”

It’s almost lunchtime for these babies. Most of them are very sick, or used to be. Thanks to Greg Early and his staff at the New England Aquarium’s marine mammal care center, they’re on their way to recovery. The center is a hospital for sick and injured seals, dolphins, and whales. This part, the room where the baby seals are, is like a hospital nursery.

“We try to take Mom’s place as best we can,” explains Greg. The babies, called pups, are orphans. In spring, when harbor seals give birth, some newborn seals are left to survive on their own. Sometimes a storm at sea will sweep the pups from their mothers’ sides. Some become sick with diseases like pneumonia or parasites. Others may be poor swimmers whose mothers must leave them behind.

The orphaned pups turn up on beaches all along the New England coast. People who find them call Greg at the center, in Boston.

A seal on shore doesn’t always mean trouble. “Sometimes, the mother is around,” Greg explains. “And sometimes the babies haul out onto the beach to keep warm. After all,

when you spend too long in the water, you turn blue and start to shiver. So do the little seals, because they haven’t got that thick layer of blubber that keeps the adults warm.”

The best thing to do is watch the seal from a distance and make sure it isn’t disturbed until someone who can handle wild animals arrives. “Your brain can be the most helpful part of your body,” Greg says.

When baby seals come to the nursery, they get a thorough checkup from the aquarium’s vet, who sets up a medical care and feeding program. Harbor seal pups weigh twenty-five pounds when they’re born. The ones that come to the nursery range from twenty-two pounds down to twelve—about the same as a house cat.

Each seal gets an identification tag—a red plastic circle with a number on it. The tag is stuck to the hair on top of the pup’s head with waterproof rubber cement. The tag will come off when the seal sheds its hair. The tags are needed because at the nursery’s busiest times there are thirty or forty pups on the floor, and they look alike with their mottled gray colors.

Besides vitamins and medicines, the pups get artificial seal’s milk. A mixture of powdered cottage cheese, vegetable oils, and heavy cream, it looks like pancake batter and smells like sour cream. And how does it taste? “Well, it’s not


READING

good, but it’s not bad either,” says Greg with a grin. Pups won’t get the nutrients they need from ordinary milk. Also, cow’s milk contains sugar, which seals can’t digest.

Feeding all the pups may take a couple of hours. When mealtime’s over, the pups doze under heat lamps or swim in the pool that’s built into the nursery’s floor.

As they get older and stronger, the pups switch from formula to fish. In a special pool, they learn to chase small fish. Until they understand that fish are food, the pups chase them and pin them against the pool’s walls with their whiskery snouts. Once a pup learns to eat the fish it catches, Greg knows it will be able to take care of itself in the wild.

Despite all the care, some never recover fully, and they might stay at the aquarium to join its harbor seal exhibit, or move to other aquariums or zoos. But most are returned to the sea.

“The whole reason for us picking them up is to release them back into the wild,” says Greg. And at the end of every season, when the last seal has returned to the ocean and the nursery is empty again, the aquarium staff has a party with big bowls of ice cream—made with heavy cream from the old seal formula! 1537

A.2.4.1

1. What is one important idea of this passage?

A An aquarium offers many important jobs.

* B Some animals need human help to stay alive.

C People should stay away from animals in the wild.

D Wild animals and people can learn to live together.

2721

B.2.1.2

2. Why does the author compare the seals’ eyes to half-dollars in the first sentence?

A to explain how the eyes move

B to suggest that the seals are afraid

* C to show the size of the seals’ eyes

D to describe the silver color of the eyes

2730


READING

B.3.1.1

3. Which sentence from the passage contains an opinion?

* A “‘Your brain can be the most helpful part of your body.’”

B “‘And sometimes the babies haul out onto the beach to keep warm.’”

C “‘The whole reason for us picking them up is to release them back into the wild.’”

D “‘After all, when you spend too long in the water, you turn blue and start to shiver.’”

2726

A.2.4.1

4. The main idea of the first paragraph is to

A describe how the seal pups get fed.

B suggest that the seal pups can speak.

* C show how helpless the seal pups are.

D explain why the seal pups are so hungry.

2728

A.2.4.1

5. After a baby seal gets a check-up, it

* A receives a special tag.

B learns how to chase fish.

C swims in the nursery pool.

D takes a nap under a heat lamp.

2723

A.2.6.1

6. The author probably wrote this passage to

A describe the daily life of harbor seals.

B encourage readers to save baby seals.

* C explain how an aquarium cares for baby seals.

D tell how aquarium workers learn to care for seals.

2722


READING

A.2.4.1

7. Why should the seals not drink cow’s milk?

A It is too thick.

* B It contains sugar.

C It has a bad taste.

D It has few vitamins.

2719

A.2.3.1

8. Based on information in the passage, what is the best action to take if a person finds a seal pup alone on the beach?

A Feed the animal some fish.

B Try to find the seal’s mother.

C Pick up the seal and move it to safety.

* D Call someone who handles wild animals.

2720


9. In your own words, summarize what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery. Use at least three examples from the passage to support your response.

2732

READING

A.2.5.1


OPEN-ENDED ITEM-SPECIFIC SCORING GUIDELINEItem #9

This item will be reported under Category A, Comprehension and Reading Skills.

Assessment Anchor:A.2 Understand nonfiction appropriate to grade level.

Specific Eligible Content addressed by this item:A.2.5.1 Summarize the major points, processes, and/or events of a nonfictional text as a whole.

Scoring Guide:

Score In response to this item, the student—

3demonstrates complete knowledge of how to write a summary, in student’s own words, about what happens when a baby seal first arrives at the nursery, using at least three examples from the passage.

2demonstrates partial knowledge of how to write a summary, in student’s own words, about what happens when a baby seal first arrives at the nursery. (Example: Student writes a summary, in student’s own words, using two examples from the passage.)

1demonstrates incomplete knowledge of how to write a summary, in student’s own words, about what happens when a baby seal first arrives at the nursery. (Example: Student writes a summary, in student’s own words, using one example from the passage.)

0has given a response that provides insufficient material for scoring or is inaccurate in all respects.

Non- scorable

BLK – No response or written refusal to respond or response too brief to determine responseOT – Off task/topicLOE – Response in a language other than EnglishIL – Illegible

Example—Top Scoring Response (3 Points):

Summary

When baby seals are found alone on the beach, they are taken to a marine mammal care center. Each pup gets a thorough checkup, a care and feeding program, and a red tag. They are fed with special milk that gives them the nutrients they need but won’t make them sick.

READING



2732

READING

OPEN-ENDED ITEM RESPONSES A.2.5.1 Response Score: 3

The student has given, in the student’s own words, a complete summary of the events of the passage as to what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery using three examples from the passage (“they had to get a check up,” “they get a red circle tag with a number on it,” and “people that work there make food for the seale”).


READING


2732

The student has given, in the student’s own words, a partial summary of the events of the passage as to what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery using two examples from the passage (“They get a check-up from the aquariums vet” and “The set up a medical care and feeding problem”).

A.2.5.1 Response Score: 2



2732

READING

The student has given, in the student’s own words, a partial summary of the events of the passage as to what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery using two examples from the passage (“they get a though a checkup from the aqurim vet” and “They set up a medical cure and feeding program”).



READING


2732


The student has given, in the student’s own words, an incomplete summary of the events of the passage as to what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery using one example from the passage (“they get there own tags”).



2732

READING

The student has given, in the student’s own words, an incomplete summary of the events of the passage as to what happens when baby seals first arrive at the nursery by giving a general statement of the events of the passage (“they get their own special treatment”).



READING


2732

The student’s response is inaccurate because the information given is irrelevant to the task.



READING

On the next several pages are two passages about people who like to invent things. Read the first passage and answer questions 10–14. Then read the second passage and answer questions 15–26 in your answer booklet.

Invention Number Threeby Jeanne DuPrau

Ferguson Jones was planning to be a famous inventor. He was not famous yet, being only in the fourth grade, but he was on his way. Ferguson had just completed his first invention.

“Mom,” he said, “my invention is ready to be viewed. You can see it, too, Willard,” he said to his brother, who was busy trying to fix the kitchen clock. “Step right into my room.”

On a table in Ferguson’s bedroom was a contraption made of wooden sticks, cardboard tubes, and rubber bands. A red balloon was tied to the top.

“What in the world . . . ?” said Willard.

Ferguson held up a hand. “Just watch,” he said. “This invention works with chutes and levers.”

Ferguson unhooked one of the rubber bands, which caused a chute to tip, which sent a ball rolling downward. The ball fell onto a lever with a tack at the other end. The tack leaped up and pierced the balloon, which popped with a loud noise.

Ferguson’s mother laughed. “Very clever!” she said.

“But not very useful,” said Willard. “If you want to pop a balloon, why not just stick a pin in it?”

Willard went back to the kitchen to continue his useful job of repairing the clock. He had the larger clock parts spread out on the table and the smaller parts lined up neatly on the sill of the open window.

Ferguson was sorry that his brother didn’t appreciate his invention. But he wasn’t discouraged. He knew that all famous inventors were scoffed at early in their careers. He got right to work on Invention Number Two.

When it was finished, he called in his mother and brother again.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Ferguson, “I present to you Invention Number Two, which works with strings and wheels.”

Invention Number Two was a network of strings that ran all the way across Ferguson’s room.

“Watch this,” Ferguson said, sitting down on his bed. He turned a crank, which pulled a string, which caused all the other strings to move in a complicated way. On the other side of the room, one of Ferguson’s tennis shoes, hooked to the end of the string, rose into the air and traveled toward his bed. Grinning, Ferguson reached up and grabbed the sneaker.


READING

His mother chuckled. “That’s ingenious!” she said.

“Maybe so,” said Willard. “But why not invent something useful?” He turned around and went back to the kitchen.

Ferguson tried to think of a useful invention. But he soon realized that what he liked best about inventing things was the invention itself—not what it was able to do. He liked figuring out what would happen if you pulled on this and pushed on that, if you tipped this one way and that the other way, if you put a weight here and a balance there. What the invention actually did wasn’t nearly as interesting.

Just then Ferguson heard a startled yell from the kitchen. He dashed in to see what had happened. Willard and Mom were standing by the open window. “I just brushed it with my elbow,” Willard was saying, “and it fell.”

“What fell?” asked Ferguson.

“A part of the clock. It’s way down there on the steps of the fire escape. I guess I could climb down and get it. . . .”

“Oh no, you could not,” said Mom. “Much too dangerous.”

Ferguson peered out the window. “Where is it?” he asked.

“There,” said Willard, pointing. Ferguson looked closely, then saw it—a little wheel-like thing—on the edge of a step. He did some quick thinking. It wasn’t straight down from the window. It was downward and outward. And there were railings in the way. Tricky, but not too tricky for a soon-to-be-famous inventor.

“OK,” said Ferguson. “It’s time for Invention Number Three.”

It took about half an hour. Invention Number Three combined some of the finest features of Inventions One and Two.

The whole contraption lowered a magnet right onto the tiny clock part, picked it up, and swung it back through the kitchen window and into Ferguson’s hand.

Ferguson handed the clock part to Willard.

“Well,” said Willard, “you finally invented something useful.”

Ferguson looked at his mother and smiled. She smiled back. They both knew that Invention Number Three would never have happened without Invention Number One and Invention Number Two.765


READING

A.1.2.2

10. In the passage, the word contraption means

A game.

B clock.

* C creation.

D problem.

758

A.1.4.1

11. What contributes to Willard’s problem in the passage?

A the table

B the magnet

* C the open window

D the cardboard tables

759

B.1.1.1

12. Which word best describes the mother’s attitude toward Ferguson’s inventions?

A sad

B anxious

C questioning

* D encouraging

752

A.1.4.1

13. Which statement best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

A Ferguson and Willard work well together.

B Ferguson teaches Willard how to be an inventor.

C Solving problems is more difficult than inventing things.

* D Inventing things is as important as solving problems.

749

A.1.2.2

14. As used in the passage, what does the word ingenious mean?

* A clever

B useful

C difficult

D confusing

761


READING

Inventor at Playby Constance Richards

According to robot-designer James McLurkin, it takes three things to become an inventor. First, you have to have the parts—the machinery, components, and tools for what you plan to create. Second, you need the knowledge—that can come from many places, such as teachers or books. But finally, and most important, you’ve got to have the idea.

“Having the equipment and knowledge is a good place to start,” says McLurkin, “but they won’t work without the idea. If you’ve got an idea that inspires you and drives you, then you can make things happen.”

As a boy, James McLurkin had plenty of ideas, and they sometimes got him into trouble. His room was cluttered with tools, paper, glue, and half-built projects. Little experiments he tried even burnt up the bathroom. James always “was trying to build better toys than those you get in stores, which are always lamer than what you want.” But his parents, who encouraged his interest in science, wanted him to quit fooling with his toys and do a better job in school.

Learning to Be an Inventor

One day James’s parents gave him a collection of Legos. He called it “the key to life.” For the first time, he could take an idea from his head and translate it into a real object of his own design. He built elaborate mini-airplanes, futuristic automobiles, and spaceships. But while the projects were fun, he knew they didn’t do much. What James wanted to make was

something that really had a use.

In sixth grade, James discovered computers and soon wrote his own video game after reading a book on programming. He also loved riding his BMX bike but thought the single- speed bike was too slow.

Inspired by his dad’s tinkering in the garage, James got out some tools and set about adding two gears to make the bike faster. People told him it couldn’t be done, but he soon had the fastest bike on the block. Then he wanted to know how fast his geared-up bike could go. So he learned a bit about voltage and electric current with his cousin’s help and built a digital speedometer. “When I fell off at 35 miles per hour, I got a serious case of ‘road rash,’ ” he remembers.

By 15, playing with his “toys” had taught James about computer programming, electronics, and how to design and build simple machines. Now, James could finally take that knowledge and fulfill his dream of building an invention from scratch that actually did something—he would build a robot.

Rover and Robot Ants

A robot is a real challenge because it requires electrical and mechanical parts to work together with computer software. But with parts collected from previous projects, and a computer processor James built himself, his first robot, Rover, was born.


READING

By the time James got to college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, he had built two more robots. Now he had a whole lab of equipment and computers to experiment with. He wanted to build more robots, but rather than big ones, he became fascinated by the idea of building small robots that could work together—like ants. If thousands of individual ants can work together as a community, James wondered, why couldn’t tiny robots be programmed to do the same thing?

Eventually James designed a robot the size of a walnut that could fit in the palm of his hand. He is still working to improve his robot ants. “They will have to be much more intelligent to be useful,” James explains. An army of ant robots could eventually be helpful in jobs such as helping police gather information from places too dangerous for humans. They could even pitch in to do household chores. “Any job where one robot is useful, more are better,” James says.

And playing with “toys” may just help you, like James, learn and dream enough to invent something big!1524

A.2.6.1

15. The author’s purpose is to give

* A information about an inventor.

B a description of different machines.

C instructions for creating new things.

D a warning about a dangerous invention.

2694

A.2.2.2

16. Read the sentence from the passage.

“For the first time, he could take an idea from his head and translate it into a real object of his own design.”

What does the word translate mean?

A take something apart and rebuild it

B think about something for a long time

C make something that is not very useful

* D take something and turn it into something else

2698


READING

A.2.3.1

17. What is the main reason James wanted to build small robots?

A to teach others to have big dreams

* B to build something that is useful

C to improve someone else’s idea

D to learn to be the best inventor2690

A.2.2.2

18. Read this sentence from the passage.

“Inspired by his dad’s tinkering in the garage, James got out some tools and set about adding two gears to make the bike faster.”

What does the word inspired mean?

A to be directed

* B to be given an idea

C to have forgotten a step

D to have worked together2695

B.3.1.1

19. Which sentence from the passage is an opinion?

A “Then he wanted to know how fast his geared-up bike could go.”

* B “‘Any job where one robot is useful, more are better,’ James says.”

C “Eventually James designed a robot the size of a walnut that could fit in the palm of his hand.”

D “When I fell off at 35 miles per hour, I got a serious case of ‘road rash,’ he remembers.”

2692

A.2.3.1

20. Read this sentence from the passage.

“And playing with ‘toys’ may just help you, like James, learn and dream enough to invent something big!”

Which best explains the meaning of this sentence?

A You need to enjoy having fun while you are young.

B Playing with toys can help you do a better job in school.

C It is important to try to become an inventor.

* D Playing is one way to use your imagination.

2691


READING

A.2.3.1

21. Based on the passage, what would James McLurkin most likely encourage kids to do?

A take a class in computer programming

B follow directions to build small robots

C be careful to avoid making mistakes

* D find fun ways to be creative

2699

Questions 22–26 relate to BOTH passages.

B.1.2.1

22. How are Ferguson’s Invention Number Three and James’s Rover alike?

A Both were made of cardboard tubes.

B Both were school projects.

* C Both were built from previous projects.

D Both were toys each boy improved.

2877

B.1.2.1

23. Both Ferguson and James would most likely agree that it is important to have

A supportive siblings.

B good grades.

C deadlines.

* D dreams.

2876

B.1.2.1

24. How do Ferguson’s and James’s thoughts about inventing differ?

* A James prefers inventions that are practical.

B James prefers inventions that are large.

C Ferguson prefers inventions that are useful.

D Ferguson prefers inventions that are electronic.

2880

B.1.2.1

25. What did both Ferguson and James receive from their parents?

A toys that taught them computer skills

* B support for their creativity

C a whole lab of science equipment

D encouragement to do better in school

2878


READING

26. What word or phrase could describe both Ferguson and James? Use at least one example from each passage to support your response.

2921

B.1.2.1


OPEN-ENDED ITEM-SPECIFIC SCORING GUIDELINEItem #26

This item will be reported under Category B, Interpretation and Analysis of Fictional and Nonfictional text.

Assessment Anchor:B.1 Understand components within and between texts.

Specific Eligible Content addressed by this item:B.1.2.1 Identify, interpret, compare, and/or describe connections between texts.

Scoring Guide:

Score In response to this item the student—

3demonstrates complete knowledge of making connections between texts by using a word or phrase to describe both Ferguson and James and by using at least one example from each passage to support the response.

2demonstrates partial knowledge of making connections between texts by using a word or phrase to describe both Ferguson and James. (Example: Student describes both Ferguson and James and uses an example from one of the passages to support the response.)

1

demonstrates incomplete knowledge of making connections between texts by using a word or phrase to describe both Ferguson and James. (Example: Student describes both Ferguson and James without using any examples from either passage to support the response.)

0 has given a response that provides insufficient material for scoring or is inaccurate in all respects.

Non- scorable

BLK – No response or written refusal to respond or response too brief to determine responseOT – Off task/topicLOE – Response in a language other than EnglishIL – Illegible

Example—Top Scoring Response (3 Points):

Description with Examples

Ferguson and James are both creative. Ferguson created a machine that pops a balloon. James created his own video game when he was a sixth grader.

READING


READING


2921

B.1.2.1 Response Score: 3OPEN-ENDED ITEM RESPONSES

The student has given a complete answer to the task by using a word that describes both Ferguson and James (“smart”) and by using one example from each passage to support the response (“One for Ferguson would be he thought of make a combonation of his first two inventions to help his brother” and “One for James is he thought of making a robot as big as an ant”).


READING


2921

B.1.2.1 Response Score: 2

The student has given a partial answer to the task by using a word that describes both Ferguson and James (“clever”) and by using one example from one of the passages to support the response (“For example, in Ferguson’s story his mom called his second invention ingenious”).


READING


2921


The student has given a partial answer by using one example from each passage to imply a description of both Ferguson and James without explicitly stating a word or phrase to describe them (“Ferguson Likes to make inventins that are useful” and “James added gears to make his bike go faster”).


READING



2921

The student has given an incomplete answer to the task by using a phrase that describes both Ferguson and James (“both together i s invent stuff”) without using any examples from either passage to support the response.


READING


2921


The student provides an incomplete answer by giving an example from one of the passages to imply a description of both Ferguson and James without explicitly stating a word or phrase to describe them (“He [Ferguson] invented a balloon-popper”).


READING


2921

The student’s response is inaccurate to the task.



Acknowledgements“Seals Healed Here” copyright © 1993 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.

“Invention Number Three” copyright © 2002 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.

“Inventor at Play” reprinted by permission of Cricket Magazine Group, a Carus Publishing Company, from Ask magazine September/October 2002, Vol. 1, No. 5, © 2002 by Carus Publishing Company

Copyright ©2006 by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The materials contained in this publication may be duplicated by Pennsylvania educators for local classroom use. This permission does not extend to the duplication of materials for commercial use.

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