Grade 3

Opinion

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Islands

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

Although there are some awkward constructions (e.g., the last sentence in paragraph 5), there are no grade 3-appropriate sentence errors.
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The only grade 3-relevant error in grammar usage is the use of “a” instead of “an” to precede “island” (paragraph 2). Note: errors with frequently confused words (“your” instead of you’re and “then” instead of than) are grade 4 errors.
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There are no grade 3-relevant errors in punctuation.
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There is a missing capital letter for the pronoun I in paragraph 3. Note: the seemingly unnecessary capital on “Some” in paragraph 3 is likely there because it should have been the beginning of quoted material.
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There are numerous spelling errors of grade 3-appropriate words (e.g., “wheater,” “alot,” “mountins,” “opion/opioin,” “diffrent,” “islnds,” “bannanas,” “chmps”).

In this response, there are sufficient details selected from source #2; however, source #1 is not referenced other than to clarify the task – hot versus cold weather islands).  Many source details are copied, especially in paragraphs 3 and 4, which are word-for-word copies in some places. Failing to use quotation marks to indicate what material is quoted is a weakness.

The attributions to source materials are somewhat awkward (“I got this information on…”), but they are there.

However, there is an adequate amount of the student’s own writing in other paragraphs to evaluate for elaboration. Specifically, paragraphs 3 and 4 end with commentary : “That is something you would want to go see” and “How cool would it be to see….”  Paragraph 2 and the conclusion also develop the writer’s ideas (via personal connection: “When I want to go swimming…I want it to be warm” and advice: “Listen to me and take my advice”). Some parts of the response lack development. Paragraph 5, for example, lists the “tropical stuff” but doesn’t explain why these are special (presumably, coconuts and other fruits are tasty, but these qualities are implied rather than developed).

The language used is mostly general (“stuff”).

The style is appropriate, and the writer has attempted to utilize voice to persuade the audience (e.g., “Pack up all your things”). Although there are some weaknesses in this response, overall it has enough qualities of the score point 3 category to earn that score.

The introduction to this response begins by summarizing the task (although it says “reading a book” instead of “making a book”) followed by a statement providing context (“there are two types”) and a clear choice or opinion. The mildly repetitive conclusion is adequate, summarizing the “reasons” but also adding some personal spin (“Listen to me and take my advice”). The final advice to move to a tropical place (“But don’t sell your house.”) is somewhat distracting and off-task, but it doesn’t alter the focus of the writing.

Although the opinion is somewhat muddled (“If your planning…to go a nice, tropical island…go to a hot island”—as if there were any other kind of tropical island), this does not interfere with meaning.

Overall, the progression of ideas is quite clear and is clarified with formulaic transitions between paragraphs: “My first reason,” “Another reason,” etc. There are few internal transitions, and most of the details provided (those that aren’t copied from the sources) are listed.

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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 3: Opinion – Islands - ID: 434

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