Grade 7

Argumentative

Writing Extended Response

Compose Full Texts

Second Language Learning

Conventions

Evidence/Elaboration

Organization/Purpose

There are several awkward structures in this brief response. At times, it is due to using the incorrect word (e.g., “That is the best time because they know different sounds and reading skills with help them learn.”). Other times, it is because words are missing (e.g., “It may be hard to teach a kid a second language [while he or she is] learning how to read.”; “Middle school [students] might want to learn…”; “Kids shouldn’t be forced [to take a foreign language class] because they might not like that class or do [not] want to learn that language.”). There is also a run-on near the end of the letter (“Learning a new language wont be cheap they require salaries and benefits…”).
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There are no errors in capitalization or spelling.

There should be a comma before the coordinating conjunction in the sentence “Middle school might want to learn[,] but it shouldn’t be required…,” and there is an unnecessary comma later in the letter (“…they require salaries and benefits, that can end up costing the school a lot of money lost.”). There is a missing apostrophe to indicate a contraction (“Learning a new language wont be cheap…”).

There are two instances of ambiguous pronoun references (“Middle school might want to learn but it shouldn’t be required…” and “Learning a new language wont be cheap they require salaries and benefits…”). There is a verb tense issue in the last sentence (“Learning a second language shouldn’t be require[d]…”), and the word “chose” should be “choice.”

The response provides minimal and vague supporting details with nearly no elaboration for the argument, validating a score of 1. Concrete evidence is minimal, with details very generally summarized from the source materials (“Kids shouldn&#8217;t be forced because they might not like that class or do want to learn that language” and “Some people will need to learn a different language for work”); these details are not integrated in any meaningful way. There are no specific references or attributions to source materials.

There is almost no elaboration, although there are some added details that could have been considered elaboration were they more clearly tied to relevant text details (“Some kids need to learn a second language if they move out of their state”).

The language/vocabulary is general and repetitive (“The best age to learn a new language is when they already know how to read. That is the best time because they know different sounds and reading skills with help them learn. It may be hard to teach a kid a second language and learning how to read”).

Except for the rhetorical question (“Would school days have to be longer to fit the language class in there or are they going to replace it with a different class?”), the style is generally ineffective to convince the audience (“It may be hard to teach a kid a second language and learning to read”).

There is a clear claim that frames this brief response (&#8220;They can choose…a second language&#8221;; &#8220;Learning a second language shouldn’t be require, it should be a chose&#8221;), and the response maintains the focus on that claim.

While the first two sentences and the final sentence serve as an introduction and a conclusion, they are repetitive and lack any context.

There is no evident progression of ideas, with the supporting details being randomly presented, often interrupted with extraneous details (e.g., the information about middle school sports; needing a different language for work).

There is no acknowledgment of the opposing point of view.

There are virtually no transitions used.

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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: 996

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