Grade 7

Argumentative

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Second Language Learning

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

Sentence structures are generally correct, but there are a few that are slightly awkward (e.g., “The kids are more open and curious to the language compared to other listed ages.” and “We don’t need any more pressure than what handed to us with the responsibilities.”). There is one fragment, but it is used for effect (“None whatsoever.”).

In the first paragraph, there is an error with capitalizing the pronoun “I”; in the second paragraph there is an unnecessary capitalization of the word “They.”

There should be a comma after the transition word “Also” in paragraph 2, as well as within the phrase “…the older we get[,] the more responsibilities we get.”

At the end of paragraph 1, a singular verb should be used to agree with the noun “reasoning”: “Here [is] some of my reasoning behind it.” There is a second subject/verb agreement issue in paragraph 4: “With bad grades comes upset parents….” In paragraph 2, there is a grammatical error in the phrase “If the correct accent doesn’t come out good.…” There are two instances of vague, ambiguous pronouns, one in paragraph 2 (“Also as they get older, They pick up more responsibilities…”), and another in paragraph 3 (“Going by those standards, it’d probably be best if they offer a language or two throughout school.”). In the final sentence of paragraph 4, the word “reasons” should be used in place of the word “reasoning.” Finally, there is a shift from third person to first person in paragraph 4: “…the older we get the more responsibilities we get.” As a whole, the letter shifts from third, to second, to first person pronouns, which is both confusing and distracting.

Support for this qualified claim (“foreign language should be a class that’s offered, not required”) is unevenly developed. The use of source-based evidence is not consistently or adequately integrated or sufficiently elaborated for the argument. For example, in paragraph 2, the idea that “They pick up more responsibilities through home, school, and jobs” is not developed sufficiently to support the idea that younger is better for learning a foreign language. Likewise, in paragraph 3, using a rhetorical question (“What good is it going to do if you can’t communicate? None whatsoever”) to develop the idea about global jobs does not adequately support that reason. Paragraph 4, on the other hand, is adequately developed with cause/effect (forcing foreign language instruction will lead to bad grades, which leads to upset parents and stress); however, the speculations are not grounded in sources. Although there are implied references to sources, there are no explicit attributions.

The vocabulary used is general and somewhat repetitive (“as I mentioned, responsibilities, reasoning, force/forced”), and at times, the vocabulary is ineffective (“That points me to my next destination; There’s my first idea about it”).

There is evidence of style, which is sometimes effective (“Note that I said ‘offer’ not ‘force’”) but at other times arguably inappropriate for the task (“What good is it going to do if you can’t communicate? None whatsoever”).

The response has a clear qualified claim about teaching a second language (should be offered, not required).

In addition to the claim, the introduction provides some context (&#8220;discussion recently taking place about…&#8221;) for the issue, but the conclusion &#8220;is weak (I hope my little letter here.&#8221;).

The focus on offering but not requiring a second language is somewhat maintained. For example, paragraph 2 supports teaching a second languages at a lower age. Paragraph 3, supports a position that “it’s probably best if they offer a language or two.” Paragraph 4 focuses on the dangers of “forcing” already-over-burdened students. However, information in paragraphs 2 and 4 is essentially repeated (&#8220;as they get older they pick up more responsibilities&#8221; and &#8220;the older we get the more responsibilities we get&#8221;) and neither of these ideas really supports claims about teaching a second language in elementary school. The support for the claim is ordered by source: paragraph 2 summarizes Source #1; paragraph 3 summarizes some information from Source #2; paragraph 4 reflects some information from one of the letters from Source #3.

Transitions (&#8220;First off,&#8221; &#8220;There’s my first idea about it,&#8221; &#8220;My second is that,&#8221; &#8220;That points me to my next destination,&#8221; and &#8220;And that’s one of my reasons&#8221;) are not effective, but they do signal a progression of events.

The use of a qualified claim (offer but do not require) implies some acknowledgment of the opposing point of view.

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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

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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 7: Argumentative – Second Language Learning - ID: 1002

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