Grade 8

Argumentative

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Penny

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

There is a single sentence structure error, a run-on sentence in paragraph 3 (&#8220;the penny has sentimental value, it was the first coin created by the U.S. State Mint&#8221;).

There are punctuation errors, in particular a pattern of errors with unnecessary commas (&#8220;Many people think and feel that the penny is worthless, and a waste of&#8230;&#8221;; &#8220;the prices of everything might be rounded up, and be more costly to the consumers&#8221;; &#8220;This will affect all consumers, and be uncomfortable&#8221;).

There are no capitalization errors.

There are several grammar usage errors (e.g., &#8220;would of&#8221; should be &#8220;would&#8221; in the fifth paragraph). There is an error with the frequently confused word then instead of than (&#8220;it does take more money to make then it is worth&#8221;) and two errors with subject/verb agreement (&#8220;it cost&#8221;; &#8220;The pictures on the pennies also represent and celebrates certain events&#8221;). Arguably, there are places where the verb mood should be conditional (&#8220;charities will thrive even more because most people do not care to keep pennies, so they will donate their pennies&#8221;). Again, given the complexity and length of the response, the response still demonstrates adequate control of grammar usage.

This response shows effective paraphrasing of information and the integration of details from across the available source materials.

More than one source is used, the sources are attributed, and the citations are clear.

Although most of the elaboration is via summary, there is an adequate amount of explanation/extension of ideas (&#8220;If we round everything up to the nearest nickel, it would be a huge loss to those who bought the goods&#8221;) and appropriate commentary (&#8220;look how much a middle school made in one week!&#8221;).

Despite some occasional lapses (e.g., repetition: that is inaccurate and not true), overall the effective use of precise language/vocabulary enhances the argument. Some strong word choices appeal to the audience without resorting to pathos (e.g., &#8220;help to charities who desperately need money to support needy people&#8221;).

There is evidence of a style that enhances the argumentative purpose. For example, the response demonstrates clever pairing of concepts that engage the reader (&#8220;Though you might not be able to do anything with one penny, you might be able to do something with a few or many pennies&#8221;).

Although the claim is not overtly stated until the end of the response, the issue is clearly introduced, and the focus on that issue is consistently maintained throughout the response.

Purposeful transitions work to clarify connections (e.g., &#8220;You can argue&#8230;, but look how&#8230;&#8221;; &#8220;though people may&#8230;, in reality&#8230;&#8221;).

The introduction to this response catches the reader’s attention with a rhetorical question and then alludes to the opposing point of view, which is followed by a generalization that subtly suggests what the writer’s claim will be (&#8220;Though you might not be able to do anything with one penny, you might be able to do something with a few or many pennies&#8221;). The introduction ends with a list of the upcoming support that is somewhat awkward (and unnecessary), but it doesn’t substantively diminish the overall effectiveness of the introduction. The conclusion states the claim (&#8220;the penny benefits us&#8221;); provides a statement, albeit a general one, about the consequence of abolishing the penny (&#8220;it will make a big difference in America&#8221;); and summarizes the support (helps money system; sentimental value; charity). As with the introduction, the listing of the supports is unnecessary but doesn’t offset the overall strengths of the conclusion.

The inductive reasoning (saving the actual claim until the final paragraph) works because the response logically progresses by addressing the opposing argument/point of view (&#8220;many people think and feel the penny is worthless&#8221;; &#8220;you can argue that collecting pennies won’t make much of a difference&#8221;) and then crafting the argument with evidence for the claim (&#8220;but look at how much a middle school made in one week!&#8221;).

The opposing point of view is subtly acknowledged and addressed throughout.

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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: Argumentative – Penny - ID: 4230

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