<ul>
<li>All released anchors come from the pilot test, which did not specifically ask students to cite sources or to use multiple sources. Current Performance Tasks specifically tell students to use multiple sources and to attribute information to reference materials.</li>
<li>The sources on the pilot test differed from those on the practice test. The pilot test included a video. Information from the video was the basis for Source #1 on the practice test.</li>
</ul>

Grade 5

Opinion

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Service Animals

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

There are no sentence formation errors.

There are no capitalization errors.

The misplaced preposition (with) in the sentence beginning &#8220;But with dogs,&#8221; interferes with the meaning of the statement. The sentence “People who run business like the idea of the law” has a grammar usage error; “business” needs be plural or have an article. There is an error with frequently confused words in paragraph 5: &#8220;to&#8221; should be “too.”

This response contains adequate evidence from the sources that is generally integrated and relevant.

There is a general attribution to “Source 3”; however, the response also has some very general but unattributed references to other sources (e.g., the reference to monkeys being unpredictable is from Source 1).

The response moves into the low score point 3 category for development, demonstrating an adequate use of some elaborative techniques. For example, logical cause and effect is used to elaborate the supporting details in paragraph 2, which begins with a generalization (&#8220;In public places, there are more people than just you there. So if you bring in a service monkey or snake, it could hurt someone. No one knows what the animal could do next. But with dogs, which we&#8217;ve lived with for hundreds of years, are less likely to hurt someone&#8221;). Although not required at this grade level, acknowledging the opposing opinion is also used for support (&#8220;Other service animals are still allowed in your house or other private places, so don&#8217;t be to bummed out if you love your service pig or something&#8221;). Other extensions/inferences include the references to goats and inferences such as &#8220;[dogs sitting] quietly during lunch meetings.&#8221; The information presented about the new law limiting service animals to dogs is incorrect; the source materials describe the law as pertaining to dogs and small horses. This miscue, however, is relatively minor and doesn’t substantively diminish the overall adequate support for the opinion.

The language used in the writer’s own words is appropriate for the audience and purpose but overall general. There are places where the “paraphrasing” is very close to copying (for example: original source states, “Birds could leave droppings on a store floor. This creates an unhealthy setting for others.” The response version: &#8220;And service birds could leave behind droppings on the ground, which makes for an unhealthy environment&#8221;).

The response creates a generally engaging style (&#8220;Imagine walking to work with a service goat leading you there! Too noisy!&#8221;).

The sustained focus on a clear opinion provides a sense of unity and coherence. Note: “the law” allows for miniature horses as well as dogs, but this omission would be addressed under elaboration, not organization.

Some simple transitions are used (&#8220;So,&#8221; &#8220;But,&#8221; &#8220;also,&#8221; &#8220;Overall&#8221;), but there are also many loosely connected ideas between and among supports.
For example, the focus of paragraph 3 could be tighter, and paragraph 4 uses information from the source materials about business owners liking service dogs, but then jumps to goats with nothing to connect those ideas.

The introduction establishes the opinion (I agree) and provides the reader with context for the issue as well as a formulaic (&#8220;…in this article, I will be explaining why…&#8221;). The concluding paragraph does more than restate the opinion, effectively offering “solace” to those who oppose the law. The final two lines (&#8220;…see you again….Adios!&#8221;) are unnecessary but don’t interfere with the overall adequate conclusion.

The supporting ideas are source-based but fairly general and somewhat randomly selected; hence, the progression of ideas is just adequate.

Content Explorer

Sample Items Website

Tools for Teachers

Smarter Reporting

Remote Teaching and Learning

More Resources for Teachers

Privacy

Diversity, Inclusion & Equity

Web Accessibility Statement

Policy

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Twitter

Facebook

Connect

An annotation is the educator’s explanation of how a portion of the student’s response relates to the rubric and contributes to that trait’s score. For example, the educator might explain how the response meets the expectations of a specific score point. An annotation can also describe aspects of a student response that relate to multiple score points on the rubric to demonstrate nuance when determining a score.

Annotation

One of three traits scored for the ELA performance task full write, this trait measures a student’s ability to demonstrate command of grade-level conventions of standard English: grammar usage (including sentence formation), capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

This trait measures students’ ability to select and integrate details that support, explain, illustrate, or develop ideas. Students should elaborate these details—that is, explain and connect them, guided by the writing purpose and audience needs.
For informative/explanatory and opinion/argumentative writing purposes, these details come from source materials.
For narrative writing, this trait is called Development/Elaboration, and students are expected to integrate and develop grade-appropriate story elements such as descriptive details and dialogue. For these tasks, events and experiences are inspired by source materials.

This trait measures students’ ability to establish and sustain a focus for the writing. This focus should be consistent with the task’s designated purpose and the intended audience. Strong introductions and conclusions (or, for narrative writing, beginnings and endings) and transitions help to create coherence.

Performance tasks measure a student’s ability to demonstrate critical-thinking and problem-solving skills by challenging students to apply their knowledge and skills to complex, real-world problems. In the performance task, students are presented with a collection of questions and activities connected to a single theme or scenario. These activities ask students to demonstrate capacities such as depth of understanding, writing and research skills, and complex analysis, which cannot be adequately assessed with traditional assessment questions. Performance tasks are taken on a computer (but are not computer adaptive) and take students one to two class periods to complete.

Performance Task

The prompt is the text provided to the student that requests their response. It includes some contextual information, but also includes a specific task that students complete in their writing response.

Prompt

For a deeper dive into the content behind this student response, navigate to the Sample Items Website to access the writing prompt or visit the Content Explorer to learn more about this content area.

Prompt & Target

“Purpose” is the context for a piece of writing, or what the writer intends to accomplish. Students write texts with the following purposes:
<ul>
<li>Narrative (grades 3–8): tell a story</li>
<li>Informational (grades 3–5): present facts or data using source material</li>
<li>Explanatory (grades 6–11): explain a topic or concept by analyzing source materials</li>
<li>Opinion (grades 3–5): present and defend a position</li>
<li>Argumentative (grades 6–11): present an argument using research to form and support claims</li>
</ul>
Purposes have subtle differences depending on grade, and each writing purpose has its own scoring rubric.

Purpose

This text was written by a student in response to a Performance Task writing prompt.

Response

A rubric is a set framework for scorers to reference when determining the quality of student writing. Each trait has its own rubric, and every point value is defined in detail with examples of what to expect from student writing at each level.

Rubric

Donec sed odio dui. Aenean eu leo quam. Pellentesque ornare sem lacinia quam venenatis vestibulum. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Nullam id dolor id nibh ultricies vehicula ut id elit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Sample Term One

Sample Term Two

Traits are different dimensions of a student response that educators evaluate when scoring. For example, an educator will assess grammar and spelling as part of the Conventions trait (maximum of two score points) but not take grammar or spelling into account when assessing the other traits. This approach ensures that scorers evaluate student writing from multiple angles.

Example for Grade 5: Opinion – Service Animals - ID: 4044

More Resources for Teachers

Connect

Policy