Grade 8

Explanatory

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Memory Training

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

There are no errors with sentence structure (“Distractions” is a purposeful fragment, presumably used for emphasis).

Arguably, there is a confusing pronoun reference (“This ties in with…”) to begin paragraph 4. Other than that, there are no errors with grammar usage.
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There are numerous errors in punctuation including missing commas in compound sentences (e.g., the final sentence in the article), separating nonrestrictive information (“…adding complexity which makes it easier…”), and in a list (“record yourself…then shut your eyes, go in a quiet room, and play it over…”). There is an error with end punctuation (final sentence in paragraph 2 ends with a comma instead of a period) and improperly used punctuation marks for titles (‘Memory Masters’).

“Comrpomise” is misspelled. There are also typographical errors (“wth” and “stronge rif”), which nevertheless count as errors.

There are no evident errors with capital letters.

There are source-based details from all three sources, but there is no synthesis of the evidence as one would expect in a higher-scoring paper. The first body paragraph (paragraph 2) shows effective elaboration, beginning with a personal connection to the source material and ending with an extension via recommendation to take study breaks. Paragraphs 3 and 4 are less effectively developed: paragraph 3 and 4 have little elaboration except for their final lines (observation: “I bet that won’t let you down” and advice: “So if you have to remember groceries…”).

There is some effective language use (“drab,” “compromise”).

There is evidence of effective style including the juxtaposition of long and short (even fragmented) sentences and rhetorical questions, all providing a conversational voice (e.g., “Distractions. I know I get distracted easily, especially when studying for a boring, drab test when I&#8217;d rather be watching TV. To comrpomise, I&#8217;ll turn on the TV and then study as well, glancing up at the TV every few minutes. I claim I&#8217;m studying, but am I? Your brain would answer no.”).

The progression of ideas is somewhat uneven: the article begins with a strong beginning and second paragraph but fades toward the end. The body paragraphs are presented to reflect the same order as the source materials with no clear connection between them. Specifically, the introduction clearly sets the direction for the article, focusing on teens’ need to perform well in school and beyond while presenting a clear controlling idea via a rhetorical question about “how to remember.” The conclusion is weak, offering little other than vague generalizations.

The transitions are somewhat weak, ranging from the vague “This ties in with” (to begin paragraph 3) and a heavy reliance on “so.”

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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 8: Explanatory – Memory Training - ID: 1023

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