The sample items and performance tasks are intended to help
teachers, administrators, and policymakers implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and
preparing for next-generation assessments. They provide an early look into the
depth of understanding of the CCSS that will be measured by the Smarter
Balanced assessment system. While
the items and tasks are not intended to be used as sample tests, educators can
use them to begin planning the shifts in instruction that will be required to
help students meet the demands of the new assessments.
Our Assessment Goals if they are to aligned with SBAC:
·
UBD:
rubric, product development, process, over view of task
o Consider
how to spiral tasks throughout a unit and the year
·
Alignment: Daily instruction matches formative
assessment matches summative/common assessments
·
Text Demand:
o Assess
and reassess reading materials (are they grade level?)
o How
do we get them into grade level text?
o What
is the place for independent level texts?
o How
do we close the gap AND give access to grade level text?
·
Never one text
o Mixed
media on topics
§
How do you watch a video and take notes?
o Visual
Literacy
o Include
a wide range of reading and writing
·
Cold reads and think alouds
o Assessments
are not supported by the teacher – make sense of the prompt
o Support
with video after?
o This
needs to be modeled ongoingly.
·
Refine prompts:
o Prompt
provides format, audience, topic, and purpose (FATP)
§
Prompts should use authentic readings and create
authentic reasons to write.
§
Create reading assessments that support
appropriate writing levels (scaffolds)
o Aligns
with formative assessment
o Timed
§
build stamina for length of reading time and
amount read in a certain period of time
§
How do I get students to do more in less time?
§
Build fluency with skills
o Write
good directions so they don’t need help from me – they have to figure out the
prompt
o Include
a range of reading and writing
o Refine
our prompts to include: Multiple text responses
o Aligns
with formative assessment
·
Work toward independence; Gradual release of
Graphic Organizer
·
How do I help kids who
struggle without spoon-feeding the material?
o Small
group instruction based on meaningful evidence
·
Rethink accommodations for SpEd and ELL
Structuring a Writing Task: 3 parts
Part One: State what you want the students to do, carefully choosing your
task verb. Be sure the students understand the task verb (analyze,
explain, describe, compare, tell a story…)
(Clear directions allow for independence from the teacher! It also supports students who are not auditory by nature.)
Part Two: Provide a short word bank (list of 5-10 words that will work well in
this writing task, but that the students would probably not have thought of
by themselves:
(The words chosen can be differentiated OR higher writers can get the words, others can get words with definitions and/or pictures...)
Part Three: Provide 2 or 3 sentence frames that will work well in this writing task:
(Expectations for use can vary: is it voluntary? used to plan and then revised out if possible? used.)
Ex: Sentence frame for argument:
Talking Testing - new website by many leading reading researchers.
In discussions of _____________, one controversial issue has been
In discussions of _____________, one controversial issue has been
___________________________. People who believe____________
claim that________________________________. On the other hand,
those who believe _____________________________ assert that
______________________________________________________.
My own view is __________________________________________
Examples of Online Test Questions:
3-5th Grades:
1.
What
does Naomi learn about Grandma Ruth? Use details from the text to support your
answer.
a.
Type
your answer in the space provided
2.
Read
the sentences from the passage. Then answer the question.
a.
“My
grandma pulled the ball out, unwrapped it, and held it out for us to see. The
ball was scarred almost beyond recognition. It had dog bite marks, dirt
scuffs, and fraying seams. Right in the middle was a big signature in black ink
that I had somehow overlooked. It was smudged now and faded, but it still
clearly said ‘Babe Ruth.’ I began to shake inside.”
b.
Click
on two phrases from the paragraph that help you understand the meaning of scarred.
3.
Read this part of the text again.
a.
“It
turns out my mother loved the name Ruth. That’s how I got my name and how my
father got these: he let Ty Cobb name me after Babe Ruth.” I tried to swallow but couldn’t. I hoped that
she wasn’t going to say what I thought she was going to say.
b.
Then
she said it.
c.
“In
this shoebox are the ten baseballs Ty Cobb gave my father. They are signed by
some of the most famous ballplayers in history, including one that has one
single signature on it: Babe Ruth’s.”
d.
My
grandma pulled the ball out, unwrapped it, and held it out for us to see. The
ball was scarred almost beyond recognition. It had dog bite marks, dirt scuffs,
and fraying seams. Right in the middle was a big signature in black ink that I
had somehow overlooked. It was smudged now and faded, but it still clearly said
“Babe Ruth.” I began to shake inside.
e.
But
my grandma just looked at the ball and smiled sweetly. She said softly, “Even
though it doesn’t look like much, this ball has brought our family a lot of joy
in its time. I remember when I was your age, Naomi, I almost rubbed the
signature right off from tossing it up and down all the time. You see, I’ve
always felt that a baseball should be used for a lot more than looking. My dad,
your great-grandfather, used to say the same thing.”
f.
Select three sentences that show that Naomi is worried she
has done something wrong.
6-8th Grades:
1.
How
does the author emphasize the point that the TAM program was a positive
influence on the sisters’ lives? Use details from the text to support your
answer.
2.
Highlight
the parts of the text that provide evidence to support the idea that the
Tuskegee Airmen were historically important.
3.
What
does the author mean by “the sky is no longer the limit”? How does the meaning
apply to the Anyadike sisters? Use details from the text to support your
response.
High school:
1.
Read
the sentence from the text. Then answer the question.
a.
“Nanodiamonds
are stardust, created when ancient stars exploded long ago, disgorging
their remaining elements into space.”
b.
Based
on the context of the sentence, what is the most precise meaning of disgorging?
2.
Which
of the following best identifies what the discovery of diamond icebergs
teaches us about the nature and properties of diamonds?
a.
Diamonds have a changeable state of matter.
b.
Diamonds can reach sizes larger and heavier than the Earth.
c.
Diamonds found on Earth can originate from distant parts of
space.
d.
Diamonds help scientists better understand the formation of
galaxies.
3.
Read
this sentence from the passage.
a.
“Besides
being beautiful to contemplate, space diamonds teach us important lessons about
natural processes going on in the universe, and suggest new ways that diamonds
can be created here on Earth.”
b.
Explain
how information learned from space diamonds can help scientists make diamonds
on Earth. Use evidence from the passage to support your answer.
c.
Type
your answer in the space provided.
