COMPREHENSION - Poway Unified
COMPREHENSION
WHAT?
Comprehension has come to be viewed as “the essence of reading” (Durkin, 1993). Reading comprehension is not a passive, receptive process but an active one that engages the reader. Reading in intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader. Meaning resides in the intentional, problem solving, thinking processes of the reader that occur during an interchange with a text.
WHY?
Comprehension is critically important to the development of children’s reading skills and therefore their ability to obtain an education.
HOW?
Administration
When the student has finished reading a passage, remove the story and ask the child to retell the selection. Teacher judgment will need to be exercised in determining whether to use retelling, probed recall, or a combination of the two procedures to check comprehension
Scoring and Analysis
Follow the instruction provided on the Running Record or IRI form.
NARRATIVE RETELLING RUBRIC
6-Exceptional
( Includes all major events sequentially, most supporting details, and a theme statement
( Includes setting details, characters, and character traits
( Vocabulary and sentence structure math or exceed those in the selection
( Shows a high degree of coherence and completeness; has a “richness” or “liveliness”... a “knowing” of the selection
( May personalize retelling; may evaluate, make comparisons, offer alternate endings, or support own hypothesis
5-Strong
( Includes all major events sequentially, many support details, and a theme statement
( Includes setting, characters, and character traits
( Vocabulary and sentence structures are slightly simpler than the selection
( Shows a high degree of coherence and completeness; an understanding
( May add personal views on events, actions, or outcomes and may explain them; may offer alternatives for solutions
4-Capable
( Includes most major events, many in order, some supporting details; may include a theme statement or state a major problem
( Includes setting and main characters; may mention character traits
( Vocabulary and sentence structures are slightly simpler than the selection
( Show adequate coherence and completeness; a good summary
( May give personal comments about the selection or a part of the selection
3-Developing
( Includes most major events, though not necessarily in order; some supporting detail; may attempt a theme statement
( Includes setting and one or more characters
( Vocabulary and sentence structures are simpler than the selection; some vocabulary appears borrowed from the text; may add meaningful elaboration which was not in the selection
( Shows adequate coherence; a sketch
( May give personal comments about a part of the selection
2-Limited
( Includes a few major events and little supporting detail; may include some irrelevant supplementations
( Includes one or more characters
( Vocabulary and sentence structures are simpler than the selection
( Shows some degree of coherence, little completeness; a partial sketch
1-Emergent
( Includes few events, little or no supporting details
( Includes a character
( Sentence fragments, listing, some “hemming and hawing” and repeating may occur; there may be gaps in time between parts of the retelling
( A low degree of coherence; incomplete; meager attempt
0-No Response
( There (very rarely) may be no observable attempt
Benchmark Reading Progress Tests
Narrative: The Girl Who
Cried Flowers
Expository: from Life on a
Giant Cactus
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part A (Narrative)
The girl who could cry flowers made bouquets, baskets, and wreaths for the villagers by thinking sad thoughts. Why do you think the man who married her commanded her not to make flowers?
Answers may vary.
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The Girl Who
Cried Flowers
--by Jane Yolen--
In ancient Greece, where the spirits of beautiful women were said to swell in trees, a girl was born who cried flowers. Tears never fell from her eyes. Instead blossoms cascaded down her cheeks: scarlet, gold, and blue in the spring, and snow-white in the fall.
No one knew her real mother and father. She had been found one day wrapped in a blanket of woven grasses in the crook of an olive tree. The shepherd who found her called her Olivia after the tree and brought her home to his childless wife. Olivia lived with them as their daughter, and grew into a beautiful girl.
At first her strangeness frightened the villagers. But after a while, Olivia charmed them all with her gentle, giving nature. It was not long before the villagers were showing her off to any traveler who passed their way. For every stranger, Olivia would squeeze a tiny tear-blossom from her eyes. And that is how her fame spread throughout the land.
But soon a tiny tear-blossom was not enough. Young men wanted nosegays to give to the girls they courted. Young women wanted garlands to twine in their hair. The priests asked for bouquets to bank their altars. And old men and women begged funeral wreaths against the time of their deaths.
To all these requests, Olivia said yes, and so had to spend her days thinking sad thought, listening to tragic tales, and crying mountains of flowers to make other people happy. Still, she did not complain, for above all things Olivia loved making other people happy -- even though it made her sad.
Then one day, when she was out in her garden looking at the far mountains and trying to think of sad things to fill her mind, a young man came by. He was strong enough for two, but wise enough to ask for help when he needed it. He had heard of Olivia’s magical tears and had come to beg a garland for his own proud sweetheart.
But when he saw Olivia, the thought of his proud sweetheart went entirely out of the young man’s mind. He sat down by Olivia’s feet and started to tell her tales, for though he was a farmer, he had the gift of telling that only true storytellers have. Soon Olivia was smiling, then laughing in delight, as the tales rolled off his tongue.
“Stop,” she said at last. “I do not even know your name.”
“I’m called Panos,” he said.
“Then, Panos, if you must tell me tales -- and indeed I hope you never stop -- tell me sad ones. I must fill myself with sorrow if I am to give you what you want.”
“I want only you,” he said, for his errand had been long forgotten. “And that is a joyous thing.”
For a time it was true. Panos and Olivia were married and lived happily in a small house at the end of the village. Panos worked long hours in the fields while Olivia kept their home neat and spotless. In the evenings they laughed together over Panos’ stories or over the happenings of the day, for Panos had forbidden Olivia ever to cry again. He said it made him sad to see her sad. And as she wanted only to make him happy, Olivia never let even the smallest tear come to her eyes.
But one day, an old lady waited until Panos had gone off to the fields and then cam to Olivia’s house to borrow a cup of oil.
“How goes it?” asked Olivia innocently, for since her marriage to Panos, she had all but forsaken the villagers. And indeed, since she would not cry flowers for them, the villagers had forsaken her in return.
The old lady sighed. She was fine, she explained, but for one small thing. Her granddaughter was being married in the morning and needed a crown of blue and gold flowers. But, the crafty old lady said, since Olivia was forbidden to cry any more blossoms, her granddaughter would have to go to the wedding with none.
“If only I could make her just one small crown,” thought Olivia. She became so sad at the thought that she could not give the girl flowers without hurting Panos that tears came unbidden to her eyes. They welled up, and as they started down her cheeks, they turned to petals and fluttered to the floor.
The old lady quickly gathered up the blossoms and, without a word more, left for home.
Soon all the old ladies were stopping by for a cup of oil. The old men, too, found excuses to stray by Olivia’s door. Even the priest paid her a call and, after telling Olivia all the troubles of the parish, left with a bouquet for the altar of his church.
All this time Panos was unaware of what was happening. But he saw Olivia was growing thin, that her cheeks were furrowed, and her eyes rimmed with dark circles. He realized that she barely slept at night. And so he tried to question her.
“What is it, dear heart?” he asked out of love.
But Olivia did not dare answer.
“Who has been here?” he roared out of fear.
But Olivia was still. Whatever she answered would have been wrong. So she turned her head and held back the tears just as Panos wished, letting them go only during the day when they would be useful to strangers.
One day, when Olivia was weeping a basket full of Maiden’s Breath for a wedding, Panos came home unexpectedly from the fields. He stood in the doorway and stared at Olivia who sat on the floor surrounded by the lacy blossoms.
Panos knew then all that had happened. What he did not know was why. He held up his hands as if in prayer, but his face was filled with anger. He could not say a word.
Olivia looked at him, blossoms streaming from her eyes. “How can I give you what you want?” she asked. “How can I give all of you what you want?”
Panos had no answer for her but the anger in his face. Olivia jumped up and ran past him out of the door.
All that day Panos stayed in the house. His anger was so fierce he could not move. But by the time evening came, his anger had turned to sadness, and he went out to look for his wife.
Though the sun had set, he searched for her, following the trail of flowers. All that night the scent of the blossoms led him around the village and through the olive groves. Just as the sun was rising, the flowers ended at the tree where Olivia had first been found.
Under the tree was a small house made entirely of flowers, just large enough for a single person. Its roof was of scarlet lilies and its walls of green ivy. The door was blue Glory-of-the-snow and the handle a blood-red rose.
Panos called out, “Olivia?” but there was no answer. He put his hand to the rose handle and pushed the door open. As he opened the door, the rose thorns pierced his palm, and a single drop of his blood fell to the ground.
Panos looked inside the house of flowers, but Olivia was not there. Then he felt something move at his feet, and he looked down.
Where his blood had touched the ground, a small olive tree was beginning to grow. As Panos watched, the tree grew until it pushed up the roof of the house. Its leaves became crowned with the scarlet lilies. And as Panos looked closely at the twisted truck of the tree, he saw the figure of a women.
“Olivia,” he cried, for indeed it was she.
Panos build a small hut by the tree and lived there for the rest of his life. The olive tree was a strange one, unlike any of the others in the grove. For among its branches twined every kind of flower. Its leaves were covered with the softest petals: scarlet, gold, and blue in the spring, and snow-white in the fall. There were always enough flowers on the tree for anyone who asked, as well as enough olives for Panos to eat and to sell.
It was said by the villagers -- who guessed what they did not know -- that each night a beautiful woman came out of the tree and stayed with Panos in his hut until dawn.
When at last Panos grew old and died, he was buried under the tree. Though the tree grew for many years more, it never had another blossom. And all the olives that it bore from then on were as bitter and salty as tears.
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why did Olivia cry all the time?
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2. Why didn’t Panos tell Olivia sad stories?
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3. Why did Panos forbid Olivia to cry?
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4. How did the old lady trick Olivia?
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5. What was unusual about the olive tree?
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Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What did the villagers want from Olivia?
a. Young men wanted bouquets for their sweethearts.
b. They wanted her to grow olive trees.
c. Old people wanted wreaths for their funerals.
d. Young women wanted garlands for their hair.
7. Why did Panos go to visit Olivia the first time?
a. He wanted to tell her some tales.
b. He wanted to ask her to make a garland.
c. He did not believe in her powers.
d. He wanted to make her laugh.
8. What changes in Olivia did Panos see that alarmed him?
a. She spent much of her time in the olive groves.
b. She had dark circles under her eyes.
c. She slept poorly at night.
d. She was thinner.
9. After Olivia ran out of their house, what did Panos do?
a. He planted a small olive tree in her honor
b. He remained angry for hours.
c. He asked her parents where he might find her.
d. He began to search for her.
10. What changes took place in the olive tree after Panos died?
a. It didn’t have any more olives.
b. It didn’t have any more blossoms.
c. It didn’t grow anymore.
d. It turned into a single beautiful lily.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions (Grade 4)
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
| | | | | | | | |
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why did Olivia cry all the time?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Responds indirectly or |Makes observation that is |States that she cried |Clearly states that she |
| |answer |essentially repeats the |vague about the cause or |because people told her |cried in order to create |
| | |question |the result of her crying |sad things or because she|flowers for people; need |
| | | | |had sad thought; focuses |not explain what made her |
| | | | |on the cause of the |cry |
| | | | |crying rather than the | |
| | | | |result | |
|Sample Answer | |Because people made her cry |She was sad. |People said sad stories |She cried all the time to |
| | |all the time. | |to her. |make people happy with |
| | | | | |flowers. |
2. Why didn’t Panos tell Olivia sad stories?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is somewhat |States that he wanted her |Makes an accurate |States clearly that he did |
| |answer |inconsistent with story, or |to be happy; response may |statement consistent with|not tell sad stories |
| | |ambiguous |be incomplete or vague |the theme of the passage.|because it made him sad to |
| | | | | |see her sad |
|Sample Answer | |When she cried too much |He wanted her to be happy |He liked her too much. He|He didn’t want her to cry |
| | |there was too many flowers |every day he saw her. |wanted to make her be |any more. He loved her and |
| | |everywhere. | |happy. |would feel sad for her. |
3. Why did Panos forbid Olivia to cry?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |States an outcome of |Explains that he did not |States correctly that he |Clearly states that if |
| |answer |Panos’ directin but does |want her to make flowers |didn’t want Olivia to be |Olivia was sad, he would |
| | |not respond directly to |but does not address reason|sad, but does not |also be sad. |
| | |the question |for forbidding her to cry |elaborate | |
|Sample Answer | |So she didn’t make no more|He did not want her to cry |He did not want his wife |When she was sad and crying|
| | |flowers. |flowers for people anymore.|to be sad. |he was also sad. |
4. How did the old lady trick Olivia?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Indicates some |Explains end result of |Explains one element of |Explains clearly the ruse |
| |answer |understanding of the |trick; answer is not |trick clearly and |used to trick Olivia into |
| | |trick, but response is |directly responsive to |accurately; response does|making flowers |
| | |unclear, too general, or |question |not elaborate | |
| | |somewhat unrelated | | | |
|Sample Answer | |Soon all the old ladies |She got the flowers she |She told Olivia she |She said she wanted oil but|
| | |tried to ask for oil. |wanted to get. |needed some oil. |she really wanted to tell |
| | | | | |Olivia a sad story so she |
| | | | | |would make flowers. |
5. What was unusual about the olive tree?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response shows some |Makes an accurate statement|Provides information that|States one or more of the |
| |answer |understanding but is |about the tree but the |implies understanding of |following; it grew every |
| | |somewhat inaccurate or |characteristic chosen is |tree’s unusual features |kind of flower, a woman’s |
| | |does not answer the |not very unusual | |figure grew in it, it grew |
| | |question | | |from a drop of blood, it |
| | | | | |had no blossoms after Panos|
| | | | | |died. May state other |
| | | | | |correct features that are |
| | | | | |unusual. |
|Sample Answer | |Panos built a house there |It had olives and flowers. |It grew blossoms and a |It had many kinds of |
| | |and watched the strange | |woman would come out |flowers and also a woman’s |
| | |tree that was not like the| |underground it. |figure. |
| | |others. | | | |
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What did the villagers want from Olivia?
a. Young men wanted bouquets for their sweethearts.
b. They wanted her to grow olive trees.
c. Old people wanted wreaths for their funerals.
d. Young women wanted garlands for their hair.
7. Why did Panos go to visit Olivia the first time?
a. He wanted to tell her some tales.
b. He wanted to ask her to make a garland.
c. He did not believe in her powers.
d. He wanted to make her laugh.
8. What changes in Olivia did Panos see that alarmed him?
a. She spent much of her time in the olive groves.
b. She had dark circles under her eyes.
c. She slept poorly at night.
d. She was thinner.
9. After Olivia ran out of their house, what did Panos do?
a. He planted a small olive tree in her honor
b. He remained angry for hours.
c. He asked her parents where he might find her.
d. He began to search for her.
10. What changes took place in the olive tree after Panos died?
a. It didn’t have any more olives.
b. It didn’t have any more blossoms.
c. It didn’t grow anymore.
d. It turned into a single beautiful lily.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part B (Expository)
This selection tells about the saguaro, the largest kind of cactus growing in the United States. What are two things that you would like to know about the saguaro?
Answers may vary.
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from Life on a Giant
Castus
-- by Patricia Lauber --
A Desert Giant
The plant stands 50 feet tall. It has six big branches that curve toward the sky. It is green and covered with sharp spines. It is about 200 years old.
Among its branches is a large, ragged nest. This belongs to a red-tailed hawk. Smaller birds nest inside the plant. Insects and spiders live in it. Bats may roost in it. The plant’s flowers, fruits, and seeds provide food for many animals.
What is this plant?
It is a giant cactus, the kind named saguaro [pronounced suh-WAH-ro or [suh-GWAH-ro]. There are bigger cactuses in Mexico and South America. But north of Mexico, the saguaro is king. It is the biggest cactus.
That is why it is one of the best-known cactuses. If you are near a saguaro, you cannot help seeing it. It is so big that it makes everything else look small. It is the cactus most people think of when they hear the word desert.
Yet the saguaro is not found in every desert. It grows in only one -- the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico.
Like all deserts, the Sonoran is a dry land. It is a place where little rain falls.
Months go by with no rain. Springtime is dry. Early summer is dry. Each day the air is clear and warm. The sky above is blue.
Rain does not come until the middle of summer. Then it falls in violent thunderstorms, drumming on the sunbaked land. Some water soaks in, but most of it runs off into gullies. Soon the skies clear and the sun comes out. A day or two later, rain falls again.
By late summer the rains have stopped. Autumn is also dry. So is early winter. The rain may come again.
Only certain kinds of plants can live in such a place. Each must be somehow suited to life in a dry land. Yet a surprising number are able to live in the Sonoran Desert. There are carpets of spring flowers. There are woody plants such as mesquite, paloverde, and catclaw. And most of all there are cactuses.
About 50 kinds of cactuses live in the Sonoran Desert. They grow in all shapes and sizes. Some are shaped like barrels; others are like the pipes of an organ, or clumps of sticks, or pincushions. Some cactuses are tiny. Fully grown, a pincushion cactus may be only 2 inches high. Some are big -- a saguaro towers over its neighbors. Others can be any size in between.
Big or small, all cactuses belong to the same family. They are alike in many ways. All are desert plants. All can live in a land of little rain. A few kinds can also live outside the desert. But many kinds can live only in deserts.
The saguaro is at home only in the Sonoran Desert. And it is very much at home there. Like its relatives, the giant cactus has ways of living in a dry land. It can take in the water it needs. It can store the water. It can make the water last until the rains finally come again.
AT HOME IN THE DESERT
A big saguaro stands as high as a five-story building. It may weigh 8 tons. You might think that this giant’s roots must reach deep into the earth. But that is not so. The saguaro’s roots are very shallow. They spread out, not down.
A saguaro’s taproot goes down 2 or 3 feet. Other roots branch out from the taproot. These are 8 to 20 inches beneath the surface, where they form a huge network. Some are 50 feet long. They reach out all around the saguaro.
The roots both anchor the plant and take in water when rain falls.
A big saguaro is likely to be growing in loose, rocky soil. It soon reaches the wide network of shallow roots. They begin to take in water. As they do, something else happens. The touch of water causes the main roots to put out still more roots. These are called rain roots, and they are like very long hairs. While the ground is wet, the rain roots suck up water. When the ground dries, they are no longer needed. They drop off.
In the desert, ground dries fast once the rain has stopped. But by then the saguaro’s roots have taken in a large amount of water. During a real downpour, a big saguaro can take in a ton of water.
Water is stored inside the saguaro. Its trunk and branches are filled with soft, pulpy flesh. The flesh holds water much as a sponge does.
A saguaro also has extra storage space. Its trunk and branches are pleated, like the folds in an accordion. As the plant takes in water the pleats open up. The trunk and branches swell.
By looking at a saguaro, you can tell if there has been a good rainy season. Deep pleats mean that it has been a long time since rain fell. Open pleats mean that there has been rain. The cactus is plump with water.
A tall, plump cactus is holding several tons of water. Yet the inside of a saguaro is soft flesh. Why don’t the branches snap off? Why doesn’t the trunk crumple?
The answer is that the saguaro has woody ribs. Inside the trunk is a ring of 12 to 25 wooden rods. These run the length of the trunk and branches. They strengthen the plant. They keep it from breaking, even when it is swollen with tons of water.
This stored water is all the saguaro has until rains falls again. It must last for at least five to six months. If the rains do not come, it may have to last for a year or more. A saguaro needs to hoard its water, to make the supply last. It does this by giving off only a little water to the air.
All plants must give off some water to the air. They take in water, use it, and give it off. They do this much as we must take in air, use it, and breath it out. Plants give off water through the surface of their green parts.
Most kinds of plants give off large amounts of water. A big oak tree, for example, gives off about 150 gallons of water a day. The water passes out of the tree through its leaves. An oak tree has thousands and thousands of leaves. Together they have a hugh surface area.
A saguaro has a much smaller green surface, for it has no leaves. Its green parts are its trunk and branches. Their surface area is much smaller than the total area of the oak tree’s leaves.
Also, the saguaro’s trunk and branches have a thick, waxy skin. It seals the water in. The skin has only a few tiny openings where water is given off.
The skin bristles with sharp spines. Each casts a tiny shadow. The many tiny shadows give share to the skin. They help to cool it. They also break up the flow of hot, dry desert air. The spines cut back the amount of water that is carried away from the cactus.
In the oak tree, each green leaf is a tiny food factory. It makes a kind of sugar that is the tree’s food. In the saguaro, this work is done by the trunk and branches. They hold the green coloring matter called chlorophyll that is needed to make food.
In all these ways, the saguaro is suited to life in the desert. It grows where rain sinks quickly into the ground. Its shallow, widespread roots suck up large amount of water. Its flesh stores the water. And the saguaro has ways of hording this water, of not losing it to the dry desert air.
All this is important to the saguaro. It is also important to the animal life of the desert, for animals cannot make food. Among living things, only green plants can make their own food. If there are green plants, then there can be animals. There can be animals that get their food from plants. There can be animals that get their food by eating the plant eaters.
A big saguaro is a source of food in the desert. Many animals find part of their food in the saguaro -- in its flowers and fruits, and in its seeds and seedlings. They need the saguaro. And it is also true that the saguaro needs animals.
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
1. According to the selection, what two kinds of help do desert animals get from saguaro cactuses?
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2. What does a saguaro cactus look like?
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3. The roots of a saguaro have many features that help it take up large amounts of water. What are two of these features?
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4. How can a saguaro store so much water in its trunk and branches?
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5. How does the size of the green surface area of a saguaro compare with the green surface area of an oak tree?
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Rubric Score for Items 1-5 _____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. How is a saguaro cactus different from other cactuses in the United States?
a. It can live with very little water.
b. It has spines.
c. It is bigger.
d. It can live outside of the desert.
7. Where do saguaro cactuses grow?
a. in the Sonoran Desert.
b. in California and Utah.
c. in South America.
d. only in Mexico.
8. What kind of weather pattern can be found in the Sonoran Desert?
a. cold temperatures in winter
b. dry spring
c. dry in early winter
d. thunderstorms in midsummer
9. How can you tell by looking at a saguaro that there has been a good rainy season?
a. Its pleats are spread open wide.
b. It has a dark green color.
c. Its flowers bloom.
d. Its branches point straight up.
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Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
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0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
1. According to the selection, what two kinds of help do desert animals get from the saguaro cactuses?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Names one or two types of |States only one kind of |States two kinds of help,|Clearly states that animals|
| |answer |help that are consistent |help or two things from one|at least one of which is |get both a place to live |
| | |with the general needs of |of the categories |correct and the other(s),|and food |
| | |animals and the passage, but| |while not correct, is a | |
| | |are not correct | |conclusion that is | |
| | | | |consistent with the | |
| | | | |selection text | |
|Sample Answer | |liquids and sugar |Some animals eat it and |They can dig water out of|They get a home to live and|
| | | |others eat what is on it. |the cactuses and make a |some food there. |
| | | | |shelter for themselves. | |
2. What does a saguaro cactus look like?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Makes an ambiguous or |States at least one correct|Gives a general |Gives two or more of the |
| |answer |incorrect statement, but |element of the appears but |description that may be |following: about 50 feet |
| | |indicates some understanding|may also list ambiguous or |redundant, but no |tall with several branches,|
| | |of the passage |irrelevant information |incorrect information is |an accordion like surface; |
| | | | |stated |green; covered with spines |
|Sample Answer | |It looks like organ pipes or|It is a very big plant over|It is very big with |It is tall with about 6 |
| | |barrels or pin cushions. |200 years old and it stores|branches you can see from|large branches and covered |
| | | |food and water. |far away, it is so big. |with little prickly things.|
3. The roots of a saguaro have many features that help it take up large amounts of water. What are two of these features?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |States an explanation |States one of the features |Mention’s one correct |States at least two of |
| |answer |that, while generally |listed under 4; gives no |feature and conveys fair |these features: shallow |
| | |inaccurate or ambiguous, |incorrect information but |understanding of how the |roots, long roots, large |
| | |indicates some grasp of |second feature, if any, may|plant gathers water |network of roots, the main |
| | |the key features |be unclear or redundant | |roots send out rain roots; |
| | | | | |states no irrelevant |
| | | | | |features |
|Sample Answer | |Short big roots and it |They pull in extra water |The roots are short for |It has shallow roots that |
| | |don’t give off hardly any |with tiny rain roots that |such a big plant and they|spread out over a large |
| | |water. |grow when it rains. |make more roots when |area. |
| | | | |water touches them. | |
4. How can a saguaro store so much water in its trunk and branches?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Provides a very general |Names components of |Describes elements of the|Clearly describes storage |
| |answer |description or states |features of the cactus that|storage procedure |process: soft, pulpy flesh |
| | |information that is |are generally relevant to |accurately but may add |that holds water well, |
| | |incomplete or unclear |the storage process but the|irrelevant information or|pleats that open, and/or a |
| | | |explanation is unclear, |may not describe the |structure that reduces |
| | | |incomplete, and/or |process concretely or |water loss. Need not |
| | | |partially incorrect |clearly |mention all of these but |
| | | | | |states no irrelevant |
| | | | | |information. |
|Sample Answer | |There is tiny holes that |Its roots and branches and |They work like a huge |Because their flesh soaks |
| | |open and close so water |trunk are so big you can |sponge. |up so much water and the |
| | |can be stored in and out. |store plenty of water | |skin doesn’t lost much |
| | | |there. | |water. |
5. How does the size of the green surface area of a saguaro compare with the green surface area of an oak tree?
|Score |o |2 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer, illegible, answer unrelated to |Provides a statement that is related to |Clearly states that the saguaro has a much|
| |question, or inaccurate |the topic but does not respond directly to|smaller surface area. |
| | |the question. | |
|Sample Answer | |The oak has thousands of green leaves but |It is much smaller than the oak’s because |
| | |the cactus has no leaves at all. |of the oak leaves, etc. |
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. For each question, one, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. How is a saguaro cactus different from other cactuses in the United States?
a. It can live with very little water.
b. It has spines.
c. It is bigger.
d. It can live outside of the desert.
7. Where do saguaro cactuses grow?
a. in the Sonoran Desert.
b. in California and Utah.
c. in South America.
d. only in Mexico.
8. What kind of weather pattern can be found in the Sonoran Desert?
a. cold temperatures in winter
b. dry spring
c. dry in early winter
d. thunderstorms in midsummer
9. How can you tell by looking at a saguaro that there has been a good rainy season?
a. Its pleats are spread open wide.
b. It has a dark green color.
c. Its flowers bloom.
d. Its branches point straight up.
Benchmark Reading Progress Tests
Narrative: How Spider Got a
Thin Waist
Expository: Rosa Parks
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part A (Narrative)
This folktale from West Africa tells how spiders got their shape. Do you think the explanation for the spider’s thin waist will be scientifically correct? Why or why not?
Answers may vary.
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How Spider Got
a Thin Waist
retold by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst
from The Adventures of Spider: West African Folktales
Many dry seasons ago, before the oldest man in our village can remember, before the rain and the dry and the rain and the dry that any one of us can talk about to his children, Spider was a very big person. He did not look as he looks today, with his fat head and his fat body and his thin waist in between. Of course, he had two eyes and eight legs and he lived in a web. But none of him was thin. He was big and round, and his waistline was very fat indeed. Today, he is very different, as all of you know, and this is how it came to pass.
One day Spider was walking through the forest. It was early morning and he noticed an unusually pleasant smell. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed the wind. It was food! Goodness! He had almost forgotten. Today was the festival of the harvest. Every village in the big forest was preparing a feast. The women were cooking yams and cassava, and chicken with peanut-flavored sauce. There would be fish and peppers and rice boiling in the great pots over the fires.
Spider’s heart jumped for joy. His mouth watered. His eyes sparkled and he smiled brightly. Already he could taste the food on his tongue.
Now, of course, Spider had not done any of the work to deserve such a feast, and no one had invited him to come and eat. Spider had not planted yam or potato. He had not planted rice, nor gone to sea in a long boat to catch fish. For Spider did not like to work at all. All day he played in the sun or slept, and since it is not the custom to refuse food to anyone who comes to one’s door, he could eat very well by simply visiting all his friends. In fact, he ate more than they did.
Now Spider was right in the middle of the forest. Not far away there were two villages. Spider stood just in the middle, and the two were exactly the same distance away. Today each village would have a great feast.
“How lucky for me!” thought Spider.
But then he was puzzled. Since there were two dinners, he did not know which one he wanted to go to. That is, he did not know which would have the most to eat. So Spider sat under a breadfruit tree and thought and thought and thought. At last he had an idea! He could go to them both! Of course. Spider was so pleased with his good idea that he did a little dance right there and then.
But how could he know when the food was ready? He sat under the breadfruit tree again and thought and thought and thought. And then he had another idea. He did another little dance just because he was so brilliant. And then he did two things.
First, he called his eldest son, Kuma. He took a long rope and tied one end around his waist. The other end he gave to his son.
“Take this rope to the village on the East,” he said to Kuma. “When the food is ready, give the rope a hard pull, and I will know it is time for me to come and eat.”
And so Kuma went to the East village and took the end of the rope with him.
Then Spider called his youngest son, Kwaku. He took another long rope and tied it around his waist, just below the first one.
“Kwaku, take this rope to the village on the West,” he said, “and when the food is all cooked, pull very hard on it. Then I will come and have my fill.”
My friends, can you imagine what happened? I don’t think so, so I will tell you. The people in the East village and the people in the West village had their dinners at exactly the same time. So, of course, Kuma and Kwaku pulled on both of the ropes at the same time. Kuma pulled to the East and Kwaku pulled to the West. The ropes got tighter and tighter. Poor, greedy Spider was caught in the middle. He could go neither east nor west, nor left nor right.
Kuma and Kwaku could not understand why their father did not come, and they pulled harder all the time. And something was happening to Spider. The ropes squeezed tighter and tighter and his waist got thinner and thinner. Kuma and Kwaku waited until all the food was eaten. Then they came to look for their father.
When they found him, he looked very different. His waistline was thinner than a needle! Spider never grew fat again. He stayed the same until today. He has a big head and a big body, and a tiny little waist in between.
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why were the villages having a festival?
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2. Why did Spider tie ropes around his waist?
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3. What happened to Spider when the ropes were pulled?
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4. How would you describe Spider’s character? How did Spider show what kind of character he is?
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5. What is the message of this story, or what lesson does it teach?
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Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What happened to Spider as he walked through the forest in the early morning?
a. He smelled food being cooked.
b. His mouth began to water.
c. He became very happy.
d. He saw the people begin to eat.
7. Why didn’t the villagers invite Spider to the festival?
a. They forgot to invite him.
b. He did not deserve to be invited.
c. He did not do any of the work.
d. They thought he was eating with his sons.
8. Why did Spider usually eat well?
a. Spider’s sons shared their food with him.
b. Spider caught all the food he needed in his web.
c. Spider’s friends fed him when he visited them.
d. Spider worked very hard.
9. Who had the idea of using the ropes?
a. Spider
b. Kuma
c. Kwaku
d. The story does not tell who had the idea
10. Why didn’t Spider’s plan work the way he expected it to?
a. Spider’s sons decided to eat all the food themselves.
b. The feasts in the two villages began at the same time.
c. The ropes got tangled in tree branches in the forest.
d. The people in the villages did not invite them.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions (Grade 4)
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
| | | | | | | | |
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why were the villages having a festival?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Mentions some idea of a |States that it was a |States generally that it |States specifically that it|
| |illegible |special event and/or |special event but omits the|was a special event but |was a harvest festival |
| | |harvest, but response is |harvest idea and includes |does not mention the | |
| | |incomplete or partially |irrelevant or incorrect |harvest | |
| | |incorrect |information | | |
|Sample Answer | |Because they planted the |It is a tradition to have a|It was a special day they|Because they were |
| | |yam. |festival in most villages |had every year. |celebrating the harvest |
| | | |he went to. | |time |
2. Why did Spider tie ropes around his waist?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |States the basic reason for |Conveys part of the idea |States or implies the |Mentions both that the |
| |illegible |the ropes, but the answer is|behind the ropes, but the |purpose of the ropes but |ropes were to be a signal |
| | |incomplete or partially |answer is too general or |doesn’t describe the |of where the food would be |
| | |incorrect. |ambiguous. |process to be used. |and how the procedure would|
| | | | | |work. |
|Sample Answer | |So he could get food. |To tell where to go. |So he knows where to go |So when the food was done |
| | | | |to eat. |his sons could let him know|
| | | | | |that way by pulling. |
3. What happened to Spider when the ropes were pulled?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Gives a response that |States an actual outcome |States that he got |States clearly that as his |
| |illegible |indicates some |from pulling on the ropes |thinner or describes some|sons pulled at the same |
| | |understanding of the |but also states some |other change |time, Spider’s waist go |
| | |outcome, but the response |ambiguous or incorrect | |thinner, or describes other|
| | |is ambiguous or only |information | |changes in his appearance |
| | |partially factual | | | |
|Sample Answer | |He got stuck there. |His waist got too thin so |He got squeezed by the |His waist got very small as|
| | | |the sons pulled harder on |rope. |they pulled. |
| | | |the rope. | | |
4. How would you describe Spider’s character? How did Spider show what kind
of character he is?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Mentions one or more |States one or more accurate|States at least one |States one or more accurate|
| |illegible |accurate traits or |traits or describes how |accurate trait and offers|character traits (lazy, |
| | |describes how the trait |Spider demonstrates the |a weak example of how the|selfish, greedy) and tells |
| | |was demonstrated. |trait |trait is demonstrated |how Spider demonstrates |
| | |Contains incorrect | | |this trait. States no |
| | |information or an | | |inaccurate information |
| | |ambiguous or irrelevant | | | |
| | |example | | | |
|Sample Answer | |He likes food because he |He was very selfish and a |He was very selfish. He |He was very lazy. He slept|
| | |was always looking for |hog. |went to his friends house|all the time and didn’t |
| | |some. | |all the time. |plant any food himself. |
5. What is the message of this story, or what lesson does it teach?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |States a lesson that is |States a narrow, ambiguous,|States a reasonable |Clearly states a reasonable|
| |illegible |related to the story |or overly concrete lesson |lesson but does not |message concerning greed, |
| | |details but that is not a | |elaborate |selfishness, getting what |
| | |logical lesson to draw | | |is deserved, or any other |
| | | | | |logical lesson |
|Sample Answer | |Don’t use ropes. |Go to a feast only if you |Don’t be so lazy. |If you are greedy, bad |
| | | |live there. | |things might happen to you.|
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What happened to Spider as he walked through the forest in the early morning?
a. He smelled food being cooked.
b. His mouth began to water.
c. He became very happy.
d. He saw the people begin to eat.
7. Why didn’t the villagers invite Spider to the festival?
a. They forgot to invite him.
b. He did not deserve to be invited.
c. He did not do any of the work.
d. They thought he was eating with his sons.
8. Why did Spider usually eat well?
a. Spider’s sons shared their food with him.
b. Spider caught all the food he needed in his web.
c. Spider’s friends fed him when he visited them.
d. Spider worked very hard.
9. Who had the idea of using the ropes?
a. Spider
b. Kuma
c. Kwaku
d. The story does not tell who had the idea
10. Why didn’t Spider’s plan work the way he expected it to?
a. Spider’s sons decided to eat all the food themselves.
b. The feasts in the two villages began at the same time.
c. The ropes got tangled in tree branches in the forest.
d. The people in the villages did not invite them.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part B (Expository)
Rosa Parks did something to change the laws about how black people are treated in the United States. Write two questions you have about what she did or about how the laws changed.
Answers may vary.
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from Rosa Parks
--by Eloise Greenfield--
Mrs. Park’s fight against discrimination began in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. At that time, there were laws throughout the South, known as Jim Crow laws, that discriminated against blacks. In Montgomery, there were specific laws that said that a black person was only allowed to ride in the back section of a public bus.
Mrs. Park’s refusal to give up her seat began a protest that changed history. The peaceful protest organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association led the way for civil rights actions all over the South. And on December 13, 1956, as a result of the court cases and protests that began with Mrs. Parks, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the law requiring segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. -D.S.S.
On Thursday evening, December 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks left work and started home. She was tired. Her shoulders ached from bending over the sewing machine all day. “Today I’ll ride the bus,” she thought.
She got on and sat in the first seat for blacks, right behind the white section. After a few stops the seats were filled. A white man got on. He looked for an empty seat. Then he looked at the driver. The driver came over to Mrs. Parks.
“You have to get up,” he said.
All of a sudden Mrs. Parks knew she was not going to give up her seat. It was not fair. She had paid her money just as the man had. This time she was not going to move.
“No,” she said softly.
“You’d better get up, or I’ll call the police,” the driver said.
It was quiet on the bus now. Everyone stopped talking and watched. Still Mrs. Parks did not move.
“Are you doing to get up?”
“No,” she repeated.
The driver left the bus and returned with two policemen.
“You’re under arrest,” they told her.
Mrs. Parks walked off the bus. The policemen put her in their car and drove to the police station. One policeman stuck a camera in her face and took her picture. Another took her fingerprints. Then she was locked in a cell.
Mrs. Parks felt very bad, sitting in that little room with iron bars. But she did not cry. She was a religious woman, and she thought of her faith in God. She said a silent prayer. Then she waited.
Someone who had seen Mrs. Parks arrested called Edgar Daniel Nixon of the NAACP. Mr. Nixon went right away to the police station and posted a hundred dollar bond for Mrs. Parks. This meant that she could leave, but that she promised to go to court on Monday for her trial.
Mrs. Parks left the police station. She had been locked up for two and a half hours. At her apartment Mrs. Parks, her husband, Mr. Nixon, and Fred Gray, a lawyer, talked about what had happened. They thought they saw a way to solve the problem of the buses.
Mr. Gray would go into court with Mrs. Parks. He would prove that the bus company was not obeying the United States Constitution. The Constitution is an important paper that was written by the men who started the United States. It says that all the citizens of the United States must be treated fairly.
The next morning Mrs. Parks went to her job as usual. Her employer was surprised to see her. He had read about her arrest in the newspaper, and he thought she would be too upset to come in. Some of the white workers gave Mrs. Parks mean looks and would not speak to her. But she went on with her work.
That night Mrs. Parks met with a group of ministers and other black leaders of the city. Dr. Martin Luther King was one of the ministers. The black men and women of Montgomery were angry again. But this time they knew what to do.
“If the bus company won’t treat us courteously,” one leader said, “we won’t spend our money to ride the buses. We’ll walk!”
After the meeting some of the people printed little sheets of paper. These sheets of paper, called leaflets, said, “DON’T RIDE THE BUS TO WORK, TO TOWN, TO SCHOOL, OR ANYWHERE, MONDAY, DECEMBER 5.” They also invited people to a church meeting on Monday night. The leaflets were left everywhere--in mail boxes, on porches, in drugstores.
On Sunday morning black ministers all over the city preached about Mrs. Parks in their churches. Dr. King preached from his pulpit at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
The preachers said, “Brothers and sisters, if you don’t like what happened to Mrs. Parks and what has been happening to us all these years, do something about it. Walk!”
And the people said, “Amen. We’ll walk.”
On Monday morning, no one was riding the buses. There were many people on the street, but everyone was walking. They were cheering because the buses were empty.
Mrs. Parks got up early that morning. She went to court with her lawyer for her trial. The judge found her guilty. But she and her lawyer did not agree with him. Her lawyer said, “We’ll get a higher court to decide. If we have to, we’ll take the case to the highest court in the United States.”
That night thousands of people went to the church meeting. There were so many people that most of them had to stand outside and listen through a loudspeaker.
First there was a prayer. Then Mrs. Parks was introduced. She stood up slowly. The audience rose to its feet and clapped and cheered. After Mrs. Parks sat down, several ministers gave their speeches. Finally Dr. Martin Luther King started to speak.
“We are tired,” he said.
“Yes, Lord,” the crowd answered.
“We are tired of being kicked around,” he said.
“Yes, Lord,” they answered.
“We’re not going to be kicked around anymore,” Dr. King said. “We walked one day. Now we are going to have a real protest. We are going to keep walking until the bus company gives us fair treatment.”
After Dr. King finished speaking, the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed to plan the protest. Dr. King was made president.
Then there was hymn singing and hand clapping. The people went home feeling good. All that walking was not going to be easy, but they knew they could do it.
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
1. Why did the bus driver tell Mrs. Parks she had to get up?
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2. Why did Mrs. Parks stay in her seat?
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3. What happened when the police came?
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4. What did Mrs. Park’s lawyer want to prove in court?
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5. What did the leaders of the protest want from the bus company?
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Rubric Score for Items 1-5 _____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. For each question, one, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What was Mrs. Park’s reaction when she was locked up in a jail cell?
a. She felt very bad.
b. She cried.
c. She remembered her faith in God.
d. She vowed to get even with the police.
7. What part of the United States Constitution was the bus company not obeying?
a. All citizens have a right to vote.
b. All citizens should have to pay a bond to get out of jail.
c. All citizens must be treated fairly.
d. Everyone has a right to ride on public buses.
8. How did the people of Montgomery know they should stop riding the bus?
a. Leaflets were printed and passed out.
b. There was an announcement in the schools.
c. Ministers spoke to them at church.
d. The police made an announcement.
9. What happened when the judge found Mrs. Parks guilty?
a. She and her lawyer did not agree with the judge.
b. She and her lawyer decided to go to a higher court.
c. The judge said she could not ride on the bus for a year.
d. She had to pay a large fine.
10. How did people feel after the church meeting with Martin Luther King?
a. They felt there was hope.
b. They were worried that the walking would be hard.
c. They were determined to get fair treatment.
d. They felt that Mrs. Parks should go to jail.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
| | | | | | | | |
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
1. Why did the bus driver tell Mrs. Parks she had to get up?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Responds to some aspect of |The response is partially |Gives a generally correct|Clearly states that the |
| |answer |the question but misses the |correct but vague or |explanation that implies |driver told Mrs. Parks to |
| | |main idea |incomplete |understanding of the |get up because there were |
| | | | |question |no seats left for the man |
|Sample Answer | |Because of the man and Mrs. |Because she was black and |The bus was crowd and |Cause there were no seats |
| | |Parks should get up. |it was a seat only for |someone wants her seat. |left for the white man |
| | | |whites. | | |
2. Why did Mrs. Parks stay in her seat?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is somewhat related|States a single concrete |Response is adequate and |Clearly states some of the |
| |answer |to the topic but does not |explanation |reflects understanding of|essential elements of Mrs. |
| | |answer the question | |an important underlying |Park’s decision: she had |
| | | | |reason |paid, the seat was in a |
| | | | | |section that she should |
| | | | | |have been able to sit in, |
| | | | | |she was tired, she thought |
| | | | | |she should have rights |
| | | | | |also, and it was not fair |
| | | | | |treatment |
|Sample Answer | |She was mad at the men. |She was tired after work |She was brave or She had |Because it was not fair and|
| | | |and wanted to sit. |rights. |she had a seat in the Black|
| | | | | |part also. |
3. What happened when the police came?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is related to the|Response may detail events |Response implies |States clearly the main |
| |answer |topic but does not answer |before or after the arrest |understanding of main |consequence, that she was |
| | |the question |but does not include the |consequence. Answer may |taken into custody or |
| | | |arrest itself |consider aspects or |arrested |
| | | | |consequences of the | |
| | | | |arrest. | |
|Sample Answer | |She just sat there. |They took a picture of her.|Her lawyer took her out |Mrs. Parks got herself |
| | | | |of jail. |arrested. |
4. What did Mrs. Park’s lawyer want to prove in court?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Suggests that Mrs. park’s |Provides a sketchy or |Response implies |Clearly explains that the |
| |answer |rights were violated but |incomplete explanation and |understanding of the |lawyer wanted to show that |
| | |response does not answer |some indication of the |principle involved. |the bus company policy |
| | |the question. |unfairness of the rules. |Indirectly states that |violated the Constitution |
| | | | |the bus company rules | |
| | | | |were unconstitutional. | |
|Sample Answer | |The bus drivers should not|That this was not all fair.|The bus rules were wrong.|The company was not doing |
| | |be like they are. | | |things the way of the |
| | | | | |Constitution. |
5. What did the leaders of the protest want from the bus company?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is somewhat |Makes a partially correct |Response implies |Clearly states the idea |
| |answer |related to the desired |generalization that is too |understanding of targeted|that they wanted fair or |
| | |outcome but does not |general or narrow for the |outcome without exploring|equal treatment as a |
| | |answer the question. |question posed. Response |the themes of fairness or|result. |
| | | |may be vague or incomplete.|equal treatment. | |
|Sample Answer | |To set anywhere they want.|To not be judged by the |To get more respect. |They want to be treated |
| | | |color of their skin but by | |like every person and with |
| | | |their character. | |fairness. |
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. For each question, one, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What was Mrs. Park’s reaction when she was locked up in a jail cell?
a. She felt very bad.
b. She cried.
c. She remembered her faith in God.
d. She vowed to get even with the police.
7. What part of the United States Constitution was the bus company not obeying?
a. All citizens have a right to vote.
b. All citizens should have to pay a bond to get out of jail.
c. All citizens must be treated fairly.
d. Everyone has a right to ride on public buses.
8. How did the people of Montgomery know they should stop riding the bus?
a. Leaflets were printed and passed out.
b. There was an announcement in the schools.
c. Ministers spoke to them at church.
d. The police made an announcement.
9. What happened when the judge found Mrs. Parks guilty?
a. She and her lawyer did not agree with the judge.
b. She and her lawyer decided to go to a higher court.
c. The judge said she could not ride on the bus for a year.
d. She had to pay a large fine.
10. How did people feel after the church meeting with Martin Luther King?
a. They felt there was hope.
b. They were worried that the walking would be hard.
c. They were determined to get fair treatment.
d. They felt that Mrs. Parks should go to jail.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Benchmark Reading Progress Tests
Narrative: from Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain
Expository: The New Shoes
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part A (Narrative)
Ida Early has come to live with the Jordan family. She is not entirely happy there because some of the neighbors make fun of her? What might the Jordan children do to try to make sure Ida doesn’t leave?
Answers may vary.
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from Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain
--by Robert Burch –
The Letter
“Where are the biscuits?” asked Dewey. The children had just returned from school and were in the kitchen.
“In the cupboard,” said Ida, who was putting a jigsaw puzzle together at the table.
“But they don’t have jam and peanut butter on them,” complained Clay.
“Spread them yourselves,” said Ida.” She put the last piece into the puzzle and went over to the twins. “You must learn to do things on your own.”
“Why,” asked Clay, “if you’ll do them for us?”
“That’s just it. I won’t always be here to do them for you. And you’d be better off, anyway, not to depend on me.” But all the while, she was spreading jam and peanut butter for them.
“If you go off,” said Clay, “I’m going with you.”
Dewey said, “Ida won’t go away, will you, Ida?”
Ida handed him a biscuit. “I can’t stay one place forever. I get restless.”
“I get restless too,” said Clay. “We’ll go with you, won’t we, Dewey?”
“Can Daddy go?” asked Dewey. “And Randall and Ellen?”
“Nope,” said Ida, “just me. When the times comes, I’ll be gone-- swoosh!--like a wild goose.”
Dewey said, “You wouldn’t go without telling us good-bye, would you?”
“I wouldn’t go if I had to say good-bye,” said Ida. “I believe in ‘Howdy!’ ‘Good-bye’ ain’t for me.” She closed the cupboard door and asked the twins if they’d like to go for a walk in the woods.
Clay and Dewey said yes, they wanted to go; they always liked to walk with Ida. After they’d gone, Randall and Ellen talked. “Ida’s gonna leave any day now,” said Randall.
“Yes, I believe she’s been trying to tell us without coming right out and saying so.”
“I wish she had let us really apologize to her,” said Randall.
“Me too.”
“I know what let’s do,” said Randall. “Let’s write her a letter telling her how sorry we are. I’ll hide it in her knapsack, and she’ll come across it after she’s gone. Then when she reads it, maybe she won’t hate us as much.”
“I don’t think she hates us,” said Ellen. “But at least she’ll know we really care. Let’s write the letter.”
Randall turned to a fresh piece of paper in his notebook and asked, “What should we say first?”
“How about, ‘Wherever you are when you find this, you can be sure that we are missing you’?”
“ ‘And wishing you were back with us,’ ” said Randall, writing the sentence.
Ellen suggested that next they say, “ ‘We are ashamed of the way we let our classmates tease you in the schoolyard.’ ”
“ ‘And we will never again fail to come to the aid of a friend,’ ” added Randall.
“But Ida’s more than a friend,” said Ellen. “She’s more like part of the family.”
“Then you think of what to say.”
Ellen cupped her chin in her hands and thought for a long time. “How about, ‘We will never again fail to come to the aid of someone we love’?”
Randall looked up. He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yeah,” he said at last. “I’ve never thought of it, but year, you’re right.” He wrote the sentence. Then they said again how sorry they were that they’d let her down, and they closed the letter with, “If you will forgive us we will be your true friends forever.” Both of them signed it.
In Ida’s room Randall looked around for her knapsack. It was on a chair in the corner, and he could tell from the way it bulged that something was already in it. It was sneaky, he knew, to open it, and he told himself that he’d just slide the letter underneath whatever was there. But then he found that it was Ida’s overalls that were in the knapsack, he unfastened the bib pocket of them and put the letter there. He’d bet that one day she’d wear the overalls again, and he could imagine her surprise when she’d start to put a bag of tobacco into the pocket and find the letter.
Randall left Ida’s room and went outside. He took down a rope from a peg in the toolshed and went to the clearing just beyond the woodpile. There he made a noose in the end of the rope and tried using it as a lasso. He tried to lasso the chopping block for a long time but succeeded only when he stood directly over it. When he saw Ida and the twins returning from their walk, he stopped and took a load of wood to the house. Then he went back to the yard and tried for a long time to lasso a fence post.
“What’re you doing with a rope?” asked Ida, when she came along with the milking bucket. “Who’re you gonna tie up?”
Randall laughed. “Nobody. I’m trying to turn it into a lasso, but I’m not doing very well. I’m supposed to be a cowboy in a program at school on Friday.” He look at Ida. “I don’t suppose you know how to use a lasso?” If she were the old Ida, he imagined she’d have said that she’d been in rodeos all over the world, or something like that, whether she knew how to use a rope or not. But now that she was wearing a dress and shoes with straps on them and had strange-looking curls in her hair, she never got enthusiastic about anything.
“Yes, I know a little about using a lasso,” she said. “Here, loop the rope this way, it’s easier.” She showed him how to do the loops as she talked. Then she asked, “What would you like me to lasso?”
“I’ve been trying to put the noose over that corner post on Mayflower’s pen for the last half-hour.”
Before he’d finished saying it, Ida had thrown the rope over the post and tightened the noose.
Randall ran to the post and took the rope off. “Was that just luck?” he asked while she whirled the rope around her as if it were a hoop. “Or can you do it again?”
Ida threw the noose over the post again as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “Anything else?” she asked
Randall looked around for a suitable target. “Maybe that washtub over on the laundry bench.”
“The big’un or the little ’un?” asked Ida. “Or both?” Without waiting for an answer, she threw out the rope and put it around both tubs. They clanked loudly when they were pulled together.
“That took ’em by surprise!” said Randall. “What about that old sawhorse up there? Pretend it’s a calf!”
“Find me another rope, and I’ll tie that ‘calf’ up for your!”
Randall hurried to the toolshed and brought back ropes that had once been used for plow lines.
“The sawhorse, huh?” said Ida, and in a flash she put a rope around it. She pulled the sawhorse onto its side and quickly put another rope around it -- and then another. “And now, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, as if she were performing on a stage, I’ll lasso a moving target.”
“Where?” asked Randall excitedly.
“You!” said Ida. “Strike out running and see if you can get away from me!”
Randall dashed away, and when he believed he was completely out of Ida’s reach, the rope dropped over him, pinning his arms to his sides. Immediately another rope tied his feet together, and he couldn’t move. “That’s amazing!” he said while Ida was untying him. “I want to learn.”
“It take a while,” said Ida. “But I’ll give you a few pointers.”
Randall practiced with a rope while Ida did the milking, but he doubted he’d ever get the knack of it. Then he realized that he wasn’t seriously concentrating on it; thoughts were coming into his mind that were more important to him than learning to use a lasso. He’d been trying to think of a way to prove to Ida that he was not ashamed of her, and maybe this was it; he’d ask her to be on the program with him. When she came along back from the barn, he said, “Ida, would you come to the program at school on Friday?”
“Thank you,” she said, “but I’d rather no. It’d be interesting to see you being a cowboy, but --“
Randall interrupted her. “No, I mean would you be on the program and do some rope tricks and lassoing?”
Ida grinned, and her eyes sparkled. “Of course I will!” she said. Then her grin disappeared and she shook her head. “No. But thanks all the same.”
“Please, won’t you be on the program?” said Randall. “Our room’s in charge of it, and it’s about the Old West, and -- well, you’d be great.” He detected a gleam in her eye, and he hurried on. “There’ll be lots of folks there. Some of ’em’ll be the ones who hollered at you that time you passed along the schoolyard.” He hadn’t meant to remind her of the incident. He looked at her, wondering if she’d be upset.
She smiled. “I wouldn’t mind showing them what I can do!” she said.
“When my part on the program comes up,” said Randall, “everybody’ll be thinking, ‘Well, he’s not gonna do anything special.’ Then I’ll introduce you, and you can dazzle ‘em with rope tricks!”
Ida laughed, “Yeah, I could do that all right!”
“You mean you’ll come?”
“I mean I’ll think about it.” She started toward the house. “Maybe I’ll be there on Friday. Just maybe.”
Rope Tricks
The theme of the program was “The Old West.” Milly Jordan had thought of it when Mrs. Long, the sixth-grade teacher, had asked for ideas. The upper elementary and high-school grades met once a month for an assembly , and this was the first time the sixth grade had been asked to put on the program. Naturally, everyone wanted it to be good. Because Milly had thought of the theme, Mrs. Long had said that she could be Program Chairman.
On Friday, just after lunch, Randall and J. C. hurried into the dressing room at the side of the stage. Everyone else was already there. Randall and J. C. had waited out front for Ida, but she had not shown up. Maybe she was just running late, Randall told himself; there was still time. But Ida was not there when the bell rang, which meant that the audience would soon be filing into the auditorium.
Mr. Carlisle, the principal, came into the room. “It’s almost time to start,” he said. “Is everything all set?”
“Yes, sir, I think so,” said Milly.
“Where’s Mrs. Long?”
“She’s out front with the rest of us,” said Milly.
“The rest of us!” said Mr. Carlisle, laughing.
“I mean the ones in the sixth grade who’re not on the program.”
Mr. Carlisle laughed more, but he stopped abruptly. Pointing toward the corner, near the door to the stage, he gasped, “What’s that?”
“It’s a bear,” said Milly as if Mr. Carlisle didn’t really know a grown bear when he saw one.
“But when you told me about that part of the program, I didn’t know you meant live animals!” He sounded upset.
Milly answered calmly, “The bear’s the only live one.”
Mr. Carlisle looked at the boys who were sitting on the floor. “I thought it was all to be like whoever-that-is wearing the paper sack over his head with a dog’s face on it.”
“It’s supposed to be a coyote’s face,” said Milly. She turned to Randall. “I told Vivian that coyotes didn’t have floppy ears.” Vivian was their classmate who had done the artwork. Turning back to Mr. Carlisle, Milly said, “And it’s Timmy Rico who’s wearing it. He’s going to pretend to bark at the moon.” Randall had helped Milly dangle a big yellow balloon from the ceiling of the stage; it was the moon. They’d put it just above the covered wagon. The covered wagon was made of big pieces of pasteboard. An old sheet had been put across the top; it was the cover of the covered wagon. The effect of it was not as real as that of the campfire nearby -- a red lantern with chunks of wood stacked around it. The glow of the lantern made it look as if pieces of wood were burning.
Milly looked out the door to the auditorium. “They’re not all in yet,” she said. Then she explained to Mr. Carlisle, “Jeff and Roger are to be a buffalo. They don’t look too much like one now, but when they go out on the stage they’ll have a brown blanket over them all scrunched up in the middle.”
Roger said, “’Cept it ain’t brown.”
“And it ain’t a blanket,” added Jeff. “It’s an old yellow bedspread. Mamma said that’s all we had that was wore-out enough to bring.
“Never mind! Never mind!” said Mr. Carlisle, looking at the bear again.
The bear was owned by Mr. Paul Harley, who had a store out in the country. Almost every year he or one of his sons would catch a cub, and they’d tame it and train it and keep it till somebody came along who wanted to buy a bear. Then they’d sell it and catch another one. People from miles around knew Mr. Harley’s store because there was nearly always a bear in the cage out front. Mr. Harley was Milly’s uncle; Randall knew that was how she’d been lucky enough to get a real wild animal for the program. It was the biggest bear that Randall had ever seen and did not look at all playful, like a cub. Usually the Harleys sold their bears before they were grown, but maybe nobody had come along who’d wanted this one.
Mr. Harley’s grown son, Wilbur, had brought the bear today. They were almost the same size, Wilbur and the bear, but Wilbur looked plenty strong enough to control any animal. His face alone, with squinty eyes peering out from behind a matted beard, would scare then, thought Randall. Even so, he was glad that Wilbur appeared to have a good hold on the rope that was tied to the collar around the bear’s neck.
Mr. Carlisle peeked out the door to the auditorium. “Well, it looks as if everybody’s in place; we’d better begin. I’ll go out and make a few announcements and then turn the program over to you.” He looked at the bear then as if he were only now realizing that he must walk past it to go onto the stage. He looked at Wilbur and then at the bear, then back at Wilbur. “Can you hold on to the bear all right?” he asked.
“He ain’t never got away from me,” growled Wilbur.
“And the muzzle’ll stay in place?”
“It ain’t never come off,” said Wilbur. The muzzle over the bear’s snout made the beast look safe, thought Randall, but its paws could be deadly too. They could tear someone apart.
Mr. Carlisle drew in a deep breath and walked past Wilbur and the bear. When he was on the other side of them, he pulled open the door to the stage. With the door between him and the bear, he spoke to Wilbur again. “You can understand why I have to be careful,” he said. “I mean, the bear’s not apt to hurt anyone, is he?
“Just school teachers,” said Wilbur. The children laughed, but Mr. Carlisle did not. He hurried onto the stage.
After the announcements Milly went out and told the audience how the program, called “The Old West,” was divided into three parts. She said, “The first part is ‘Music of the old West.’ And here they are the Old West singers and dancers!”
Randall’s classmates who were on that part of the program went onto the stage and sat around the campfire. The girls sang “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” The boys sang “Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Doggies.” Then they all did a square dance. Randall couldn’t enjoy the music for worrying that Ida Early had not arrived. Of course, she’d said only, “Maybe,” but still, he’d expected her to come.
When the dance ended, Randall heard Milly telling the audience that the next part of the program was “People of the Old West.” Suddenly he felt ill. It would soon be time for him to go onstage. He was to do nothing more than walk out, twirling a rope -- unless Ida had shown up, in which case he was to have introduced her. Yet his stomach was queasy, and he believed his legs were going to give way beneath him. It was stage fright, he knew. He told himself he was being silly, but that didn’t help. He’d been on programs when only two or three grades got together, but this would be the first time he’d ever been on a stage in front of a crowd.
The first of the “people of the Old West” to go out was J. C. He walked across the stage carrying a small black satchel and was supposed to be a frontier doctor. He was followed by a preacher: Cal Adams, with a Bible tucked under his arm. Then there was Nell Johnson. She wore an apron over her dress, had on a sunbonnet, and carried a skillet with a flapjack in it. She flipped the flapjack into the air as she walked and was supposed to be a frontier housewife. The “flapjack” was only a round pot holder, but it looked like a flapjack.
Joe Blakley was a sheriff and Dan Rogers a gunslinger. They walked onto the stage, drew cap pistols from holsters, and fired noisily at each other. When both of them fell dead, the audience cheered. Randall, watching from the doorway, enjoyed it till he realized again that he had to go out there.
“And now,” announced Milly, “here he is -- The Cowboy!”
Randall put on the wide-brim hat that Mrs. Long had brought for him to wear and made his way onto the stage. He felt weak, and he knew that he wobbled a bit. A rope dangled from one arm, but he did not attempt to twirl it; it was an effort just to walk. An eighth grader yelled, “We see the hat -- where’s the cowboy?”
Randall had known that the hat was too big for him, but his ears had held it up till the heckling remark was made. At that point the hat dropped down over his face. There were snickers from the audience. Randall felt his face grow hot, and when he pushed the hat up far enough to see out, his brow was wet with perspiration. It was then that he saw Ida. She stood among some of the mothers in back who had come to watch the program. Anyone might have mistaken her for one of them except that none of the others was holding an armful of ropes.
Immediately Randall forgot his stagefright. Throwing his hat off, he yelled, “Hey, Ida, come up here! I need you!”
Ida strolled down the aisle. A few people in the audience snickered. Maybe they laughed because of the ropes, thought Randall; nothing else about her was funny. The dress, although it still hung down farther on one side than the other, was no different from the dresses many women wore. The shoes, he had to admit, were a little different, especially now that she was leaving the straps unfastened. the buckles flapped against her ankles. And her hair, since she’d taken the curling iron to it, was more unkempt than ever. But anyone who laughed at her wasn’t seeing the real Ida, the one who mattered, thought Randall. He held out his hand to her when she started up the steps at the front of the stage.
Randall said to the audience, “This is my friend, Ida Early, and she’s gonna do some rope tricks for you like they used to do in the Old West.”
Casey Stallings, a seventh-grade boy sitting on the center aisle near the front, waved an arm in the air and called, “Hey, see if you can rope me!” In a flash, Ida threw out a rope and looped it around Casey’s arm that he was waving. “No!” he yelled. “I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it!”
“Shouldn’t say what you don’t mean!” said Ida tugging at the rope firmly so that Casey couldn’t loosen it. She put just enough pressure on it to make him move forward. He stumbled up the steps and onto the stage, and everyone in the auditorium laughed.
“What else you want roped?” asked Ida as she unfastened the rope from around Casey’s wrist.
“How about that chair over there?” asked Randall, and Ida put a rope around the chair.
Casey edged away. He slunk off the stage and up the aisle. He was almost at his seat when Ida threw out a rope and looped it around his waist. She pulled him backwards down the aisle and up onto the stage, with everyone enjoying it but Casey.
Ida did other tricks, appearing to be concentrating solely on twirling the rope or throwing it wherever Randall suggested, but each time Casey tried to get away she’d throw out a rope and snag him. And each time she pulled him back. It looked as if it had been planned, and everybody enjoyed it. Mr. Carlisle laughed more than anyone else, and finally even Casey was laughing.
Before the rope tricks ended, Ida had put a noose over the piano and its bench, two chairs, a speaker’s stand, and every chunk of wood on the campfire without upsetting the lantern. She had lassoed almost everything on the stage except Mr. Carlisle. Randall thought it might be interesting for her to put a rope around him too, but he didn’t suggest it.
When the roping was over, the audience cheered loudly. Ida held one of Casey’s arms in the air as if he were a champion before sending him back to his place. Then she held up one of Randall’s arms and together they took a bow.
Mr. Carlisle invited Ida to have a chair onstage beside him for the rest of the program. Randall stopped with Joe Blakley back of the covered wagon to watch “Part Three: Animals of the Old West.”
The buffalo was introduced first, and Roger pretending to be the front half, and Jeff, the last half with the bedspread over them, trotted around the stage twice and then off. Next, Timmy Rico came out as the coyote. He sniffed about the campfire and then, on seeing the balloon moon, sat back on his heel sand howled piercingly. At that moment Joe reached over the top of the covered wagon and stuck a pin in the balloon. The crowd laughed uproariously, but Timmy the coyote, did not think it was funny. He left the stage in a huff.
“Now,” said Milly excitedly, “we’re about to have the best part of all. Here comes my cousin Wilbur and a bear!”
Wilbur and the bear lumbered onto the center of the stage. “Set down!” said Wilbur, and the bear sat down.
“Now stan’ up!” ordered Wilbur, and the bear reared up on his back legs.
A high-school boy yelled, “Hey, which one’s Cousin Wilbur?”
Randall decided later that it had been the loud outburst of laughter that had upset the bear. And the remark itself had upset Wilbur, making him just mad enough to slacken his attention. Randall had read that wild animals can sense it when a handler’s concentration flicks off even for a second. The bear shook its head so ferociously that the muzzle went flying off to the side. At the same time, the bear lunged forward. Wilbur, thrown off balance, lost his hold on the rope and went reeling backwards. He crashed through the middle section of the covered wagon onto the floor. The bear moved swiftly toward the front of the stage, and people in the audience began screaming. Students near the front scampered to get away.
The bear went to the edge of the stage. “Come back here!” yelled Wilbur, struggling to get to his feet, but the bear jumped from the stage onto the floor of the auditorium.
Daisy Coker, in the middle of the second row, tried to climb over the seat in front of her in order to get away quicker. He shoe caught on the armrest, and she sprawled on the floor. There was nobody to give her a hand as everyone who’d been hear her had escaped.
The bear leaped toward her, snarling fiercely, with its front legs outstretched. It was only inches from her. Daisy, shielding her face with her hands, screamed. Suddenly a rope dropped over the bear and pinned its front legs to its sides. Ida tugged frantically at the other end of the rope. Randall rushed to her side, and together they pulled the bear back far enough for Daisy to get away. Then Ida put another rope around the bear, and then another. Soon there were so many ropes around it, pulled securely, that it looked like a furry crate tied up for shipment. Ida even put a rope around its mouth and held it shut till Wilbur could replace the muzzle.
Finally, when the bear had been removed to Wilbur’s pickup truck, everyone quieted down. Mr. Carlisle, appearing near collapse, said, “I think we’d better let that be enough program.”
“Yes, sir,” said Milly. “That’s the end of it, anyway.”
Mr. Carlisle asked the audience, “What do you think? Shouldn’t we give a bid hand to Miss Ida Early?” At that, the auditorium almost exploded; there was loud applause, foot-stomping, cat-calling, shouting, and whistling.
Ida went out to the middle of the stage and took a deep bow. Her eyes sparkled and she grinned at the audience as the cheering continued. During her struggles to pull the bear away from Daisy, one of her shoes had come off. Also, a sleeve of her dress had ripped at the shoulder. The sleeve, hanging now by long threads, dropped down below her wrist, but it didn’t bother her. Nor did the shoe; she held it in her hand as she walked offstage, waving to the audience one last time.
At home, the twins wanted to hear the story over and over about Ida lassoing the bear. Randall noticed that the story got better each time Ida told it. She added details here and there to make it all seem even more exciting than it had been. When finally the twins went outside to play, Randall and Ellen chatted with Ida about the program.
“You ought’ve heard my friends talking about you afterward!” said Randall. “They all wish you’d teach them to use a rope.”
“Did they recognize me?” asked Ida. “I mean, did they know I was the one the’d made fun of that time?”
“They didn’t till Dan Rogers suddenly realized it. Nobody would believe him till I told them it was true.”
Ellen said, “You know, it’s something the way things turn out! You saved Daisy Coker’s life today, and she’s the one in the schoolyard who yelled at you the most.”
“Was that who that was?” said Ida. She was quiet for a moment. “Well, I didn’t recognize her either . . . or I might not have been in such a hurry to stop that bear!” At that, she and Ellen and Randall laughed together so loud that the twins came running inside to see what had happened.
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why did Randall and Ellen write a letter to Ida?
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2. Why did Ida hesitate in agreeing to be on the program with Randall?
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3. Why was there a live bear at the school?
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4. How did people’s views of Ida change after they saw her performance in the school program?
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5. What happened when the bear got loose?
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Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. For each question, one, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. At the beginning of the story, how do you know that Ida was thinking of leaving?
a. She said she misses her people over the mountain.
b. She told the twins they must learn to do things on their own.
c. She said that she gets restless if she stays in one place too long.
d. She asked the children if they wanted to go for a walk.
7. What ideas did Randall and Ellen include in their letter to Ida?
a. They wanted her to do rope tricks in the show.
b. They asked her to forgive them.
c. They promised to always help someone they love.
d. They were ashamed of how their classmates behaved.
8. Why did Randall ask Ida to be on the program with him?
a. He wanted others to see Ida’s good qualities.
b. He wanted to prove to Ida that he was not ashamed of her.
c. She could make the cowboy part of the program very special.
d. The two of them had been practicing an entertaining act.
9. How had Ida changed from the old Ida?
a. She started wearing dresses.
b. She stopped being enthusiastic about things.
c. She started practicing her rope tricks.
d. She stopped making snacks for the twins.
10. Why did Randall feel ill just before he walked on the stage?
a. He had stage fright.
b. He was afraid that Ida would embarrass him.
c. He was worried that the bear would attack him.
d. Wilbur had been making fun of him.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions (Grade 4)
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
| | | | | | | | |
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. Why did the villages having a festival?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Mentions some idea of a |States that it was a |States generally that it |States specifically that it|
| |illegible |special event and/or |special event but omits the|was a special event but |was a harvest festival |
| | |harvest, but response is |harvest idea and includes |does not mention the | |
| | |incomplete or partially |irrelevant or incorrect |harvest | |
| | |incorrect |information | | |
|Sample Answer | |Because they planted the |It is a tradition to have a|It was a special day they|Because they were |
| | |yam. |festival in most village he|had every year. |celebrating the harvest |
| | | |went to. | |time |
2. Why did Spider tie ropes around his wait?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |States the basic reason for |Conveys part of the idea |States or implies the |Mentions both that the |
| |illegible |the ropes, but the answer is|behind the ropes, but the |purpose of the ropes but |ropes were to be a signal |
| | |incomplete or partially |answer is too general or |doesn’t describe the |of where the food would be |
| | |incorrect. |ambiguous. |process to be used. |and how the procedure would|
| | | | | |work. |
|Sample Answer | |So he could get food. |To tell where to go. |So he knows where to go |So when the food was done |
| | | | |to eat. |his sons could let him know|
| | | | | |that way by pulling. |
3. What happened to Spider when the ropes were pulled?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Gives a response that |States an actual outcome |States that he got |States clearly that as his |
| |illegible |indicates some |from pulling on the ropes |thinner or describes some|sons pulled at the same |
| | |understanding of the |but also states some |other change |time, Spider’s waist go |
| | |outcome, but the response |ambiguous or incorrect | |thinner, or describes other|
| | |is ambiguous or only |information | |changes in his appearance |
| | |partially factual | | | |
|Sample Answer | |He got stuck there. |His waist got too think so |He got squeezed by the |His waist got very small as|
| | | |the sons pulled harder on |rope. |they pulled. |
| | | |the rope. | | |
4. How would you describe Spider’s character? How did Spider show what kind
of character he is?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |Mentions one or more |States one or more accurate|States at least one |States one or more accurate|
| |illegible |accurate traits or |traits or describes how |accurate trait and offers|character traits (lazy, |
| | |describes how the trait |Spider demonstrates the |a weak example of how the|selfish, greedy) and tells |
| | |was demonstrated. |trait |trait is demonstrated |how Spider demonstrates |
| | |Contains incorrect | | |this trait. States no |
| | |information or an | | |inaccurate information |
| | |ambiguous or irrelevant | | | |
| | |example | | | |
|Sample Answer | |He likes food because he |He was very selfish and a |He was very selfish. He |He was very lazy. He slept|
| | |was always looking for |hog. |went to his friends house|all the time and didn’t |
| | |some. | |all the time. |plant any food himself. |
5. What is the message of this story, or what lesson does it teach?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |No answer or |States a lesson that is |States a narrow, ambiguous,|States a reasonable |Clearly states a reasonable|
| |illegible |related to the story |or overly concrete lesson |lesson but does not |message concerning greed, |
| | |details but that is not a | |elaborate |selfishness, getting what |
| | |logical lesson to draw | | |is deserved, or any other |
| | | | | |logical lesson |
|Sample Answer | |Don’t use ropes. |Go to a feast only if you |Don’t be so lazy. |If you are greedy, bad |
| | | |live there. | |things might happen to you.|
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What happened to Spider as he walked through the forest in the early morning?
a. He smelled food being cooked.
b. His mouth began to water.
c. He became very happy.
d. He saw the people begin to eat.
7. Why didn’t the villagers invite Spider to the festival?
a. They forgot to invite him.
b. He did not deserve to be invited.
c. He did not do any of the work.
d. They thought he was eating with his sons.
8. Why did Spider usually eat well?
a. Spider’s sons shared their food with him.
b. Spider caught all the food he needed in his web.
c. Spider’s friends fed him when he visited them.
d. Spider worked very hard.
9. Who had the idea of using the ropes?
a. Spider
b. Kuma
c. Kwaku
d. The story does not tell who had the idea
10. Why didn’t Spider’s plan work the way he expected it to?
a. Spider’s sons decided to eat all the food themselves.
b. The feats in the two villages began at the same time.
c. The ropes got tangled in tree branches in the forest.
d. The people in the villages did not invite them.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
Name_______________________________________________________________
Part B (Expository)
Patrick thinks he is the smartest man in Ireland. What do you think might happen in the story when he tries to trick the elves known as leprechauns.
Answers may vary.
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The New Shoes
-- by Mollie Hunter
from The Smartest Man in Ireland
There was a man once lived in Connemara and his name was Patrick Kentigern Keenan. Every bone in his body was lazy and he never did a stroke of work if he could help it, but all the same, he had a great opinion of himself.
“I’m the smartest man in Ireland,” he used to say.
He was a man that was greatly troubled with curiosity, this Patrick. Moreover, he was very fond of good dress, and so there was nothing he liked better than roaming about the countryside, dressed like a lord and poking his long nose into things that were no concern of his.
The folk of Connemara shook their heads over Patrick Kentigern Keenan and told him, “You’ll come to a bad end, so you will.” But Patrick only laughed at them. “I’ll live to surprise the lot of ye,” he said, “for I’m the smartest man in Ireland.” A terrible boaster, he was.
Now this Patrick had a wife call Bridget and she, poor soul, had a hard time of it, never knowing when the pig would die on her for lack of meal or the bailiff turn her out for the rent not being paid. Still and all, she was a good wife to Patrick -- although she wasn’t above giving him the rough edge of her own tongue when his foolishness got beyond bearing. Their baby son Kieron, moreover, was a joy to them both. And so they might have gone on without any great upset to the end of their natural lives if Patrick hadn’t decided on day that he would like to have a pair of new shoes.
As soon as the idea came into his head, nothing would please him but that they must be made by the leprechauns for, as everybody knows, they are the finest shoe-makers in Ireland. But leprechauns have to be paid in gold for their work, and it’s a brave man that will try and cheat them. All the same, Patrick made up his mind to do just that, and that was the beginning of all his trouble.
He waited till Bridget was out visiting a neighbor one day, and then he went and took the shilling that she had hidden in the china jug on the mantelshelf and painted it over with gold paint. The dear knows where he got the gold paint, but you can be sure he didn’t buy it!
That night he went out and laid the false gold on the stump of a tree beside a thorn bush that folk called The Fairies’ Thorn -- and no shame in him either, for as he went home, he laughed and said to himself, “Tomorrow night I’ll have the finest shoes in Ireland.”
Sure enough, when he went back to the tree stump the next night, the money was gone and there were a pair of new shoes lying in its place. They were a grand pair of shoes, polished and shining, made of the softest of leather; and with stitches so small and fine you could hardly see them. Patrick put them on, and they fitted like a glove.
He sat down on the tree stump and stretched out his feet to admire them. “There’s no doubt about it,” he said, “I’m the smartest man in Ireland.” And he ran all the way home to show Bridget the new shoes. But when he got home, there was Bridget sitting in her chair by the fire holding her apron up to her eyes and she was wailing and lamenting.
“Oh, Patrick!” she cried when she saw him. “The baby’s gone from his cradle and there’s a leprechaun in his place. A nasty little old man in the cradle, and my little Kieron gone. Oh! Oh! Oh!” Bridget sobbed, and the tears ran down her cheeks like rain.
“Have your senses left ye entirely, woman!” roared Patrick. He dashed forward and looked in the cradle. It was true enough. The baby was gone and there was a leprechaun there, a little man with a wrinkled brown face and a wicked grin.
“Hello, Patrick,” he said cheerfully. “And how d’ye like the fit of your new shoes?”
At that, Patrick fell to lamenting as loud as his wife, for he saw how the leprechauns had tricked him, and the little man hopped out of the cradle and stood grinning at him.
“Cheer up, Patrick,” he said. “True it is you’ll never see your boy again, but you’ll be happy to know that the leprechauns will bring him up to be a good shoemaker and they’ll teach him, too, to know true gold from false.”
As soon as he said this, Bridget looked at Patrick’s feet. She saw his new shoes, and understood in a flash what had happened. And it was too much even for her to put up with!
“So that was it!” she cried, jumping to her feet in a rage. “You tried to cheat the leprechauns, and now they’ve stolen my baby., Oh, what a fool and a bad man I have for a husband this day!” And she seized the broom and beat Patrick with it so that he ran out of the house, roaring with pain.
And that was only the beginning of the trouble. Patrick could roar and rave as much as he liked and Bridget could weep, but the leprechaun stayed on in their house. He slept all day and at night he made shoes, and as he worked, he whistled. And what with the hammering and whistling all night and Bridget weeping and blaming him for the lost baby all day, Patrick was driven nearly out of his senses. He tried every argument he knew to make the leprechaun tell him where Kieron was hidden, but the old man just grinned and whistled louder than ever.
At last, he could stand it no longer and he went to the leprechaun and said: “Now, listen, old one, I’ll admit I’m not the smartest man in Ireland and that was a dirty trick I played on the leprechauns. So for the love of peace let the boy come back to us, for I haven’t the life of a dog since he’s gone.”
The leprechaun cocked an eye at him. “It’s not so easy done, he said. “You’’ have to put on the shoes you stole from the leprechauns and go out and earn a gold piece for every day I’ve stayed in this house, and every gold piece will have to be paid over to the leprechauns.”
“Well now, that’s a terrible lot of money,” said Patrick. “Ye’re chargin’ me very dear for me shoes.”
“Tisn’t the regular price, said the leprechaun. “It’s the price a cheat pays.”
“Ah well,” agreed Patrick, thinking he would find some way out of it, “I’ll take your bargain,” and he went and put on the new shoes.
“That’s settled then” said the leprechaun. “And mind, I wouldn’t try to get out of the bargain if I were you. Look in the cradle now.” And with that, he vanished out of their sight.
Patrick and his wife ran to look in the cradle, and Bridget wept for joy to see their son lying there as if he had never been away. As for Patrick, he sat down to admire his feet and think of a way to get out of his bargain. The next minute he let out a yell of pain, for the shoes had begun to burn his feet as if they were red hot. He tried to take the shoes off, but they stuck fast. and he leapt the height of the roof with pain, while his cries were enough to bring every neighbor within a mile running to find the cause of the trouble.
“Keep your bargain, you fool!” shouted Bridget. “Have ye not brought trouble enough on us with your thievin’ ways!”
“Mercy! Mercy! yelled Patrick. “I’ll keep me bargain.”
He ran out of the house and seized a hoe and began hoeing the potatoes like made, and as soon as he did this, the shoes stopped burning his feet.
The long and the short of it, in fact, was that Patrick had to keep working till he had a gold piece for his labor. Then he had to lay it on the tree stump, and the next morning it was gone. This wasn’t at all to his taste, and every now and then he would go back to his idle ways, but as soon as he did that, the shoes would start burning his feet and he would have to start work again. There was no way of getting out of his bargain with the leprechaun.
Like the good soul she was, however, Bridget soon forgave him the foolish trick he had played for with Kieron safely back in his cradle she was as happy as a lark again. She did her best, too, to help him earn the gold for the leprechaun. Yet even so, it still took Patrick a long time to pay for his shoes, for it was true enough he had been charged very dear for them.
As time went on and he was still working hard, people began to say, “Ah, he’s a hard-workin’ man, is Patrick Kentigern Keenan.”
Patrick liked the sound of that, for praise was meat and drink to a boastful fellow like him. In no time at all he was telling it far and wide that he was the hardest-working man in Ireland, and after a while he was adding, “and I have the finest shoes, too.”
For there was a curious thing about the leprechaun’s shoes. No matter what Patrick did when he wore them, they never got dirty, or scratched, or worn. The tiny stitches that held them together stayed as close and neat as they had always been, so that, in the end, everyone had to agree that they were indeed the finest shoes in Ireland.
“But look at the price he paid for them,” they said, and they laughed. “Ah, there’s no one smart enough to cheat the leprechauns.” And new shoes or not, nobody ever believed again that the smartest man in Ireland was Patrick Kentigern Keenan!
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
1. How did Patrick’s idea that he was the smartest man in Ireland get him into trouble?
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2. What did Patrick have to do to get his baby back? Name two things.
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3. Why did the leprechauns punish Patrick after he agreed to pay them?
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4. What happened to Patrick each time he started to get lazy after he agreed to pay the leprechauns?
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5. How did Patrick change during the story?
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Rubric Score for Items 1-5 _____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. One, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the story to help you with your answers.
6. What kind of person was Patrick?
a. He way lazy.
b. He liked to boast about how smart he was.
c. He was dishonest.
d. He was mean to his wife and baby.
7. How did Patrick’s behavior affect his wife Bridget?
a. She was sad because he was mean to her.
b. She was upset because the leprechauns took her baby.
c. She was angry because he tried to get out of his bargain with the leprechauns.
d. She had a difficult life because he was lazy.
8. How do you know that Patrick wasn’t completely bad?
a. He was upset when his baby was missing.
b. He never harmed anyone but himself.
c. He was able to change some of his ways.
d. He always tried to keep his promise.
9. How well did the leprechauns keep their part of the bargain?
a. They stopped bothering Patrick after he paid his debt to them.
b. They made a wonderful pair of shoes for him.
c. They gave Patrick an extra pair of shoes.
d. They never stopped bothering Patrick and his family.
10. By the end of the story, why did everyone agree that Patrick was not so smart?
a. The leprechauns always made fun of him.
b. He paid a great price for his shoes.
c. No one who was so smart would work so hard.
d. He was unable to take off his shoes.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
( Put an X in one of the spaces on the line to show how much you liked the selection.
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|I did not like it. | |I liked it fairly well. | |I liked it very much. |
( Put an X in one of the spaces on the line to show how much you understood the selection.
| | | | | |
|I did not understand it. | |I understood it fairly | |I understood it very well. |
| | |well. | | |
Patrick got into trouble when he tried to cheat the leprechauns. Write a story about someone who tires to cheat. What does the person try to do? What happens to the person as a result?
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Thinking About What I Read
How did you help yourself understand this?
( I thought about what I already knew about the topic or story.
(Background Knowledge)
( I made a picture in my mind. (Visualizing)
( I remembered a similar experience or story.
(Making Connections)
( I asked myself questions as I read. (Questioning)
( I thought about what was important.
(Determining Importance)
Tell what you did to help you understand by giving examples from the story.
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BENCHMARK PROGRESS TEST RECORD
Teacher Directions
Student ___________________________________________ Date ______________
|TEST SUMMARY |
|Part A (Narrative) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|Part B (Expository) (from Elliot’s Extraordinary Cookbook by Christina Bjork) |
|( Comprehension (open-ended) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Comprehension (multiple-choice) |(20) ------------- | |
|( Thinking about what I read | | |
|TOTAL RAW SCORES |Reading _____ |Writing _____ |
CONVERSION SCALES
Enter total raw scores on the scales below.
Reading
raw score
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
| | | | | | | | |
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5 75 87.5 100
percent
Reading Grade Level Estimate
On or Above Grade Level 70% - 100%
Near Grade Level 60% - 69%
Below Grade Level 0% - 59%
Read the questions and write your answers on the lines. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
1. Why did the bus driver tell Mrs. Parks she had to get up?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Responds to some aspect of |The response is partially |Gives a generally correct|Clearly states that the |
| |answer |the question but misses the |correct but vague or |explanation that implies |driver told Mrs. Parks to |
| | |main idea |incomplete |understanding of the |get up because there were |
| | | | |question |no seats left for the man |
|Sample Answer | |Because of the man and Mrs. |Because she was black and |The bus was crowd and |Cause there were no seats |
| | |Parks should get up. |it was a seat only for |someone wants her seat. |left for the white man |
| | | |whites. | | |
2. Why did Mrs. Parks stay in her seat?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is somewhat related|States a single concrete |Response is adequate and |Clearly states some of the |
| |answer |to the topic but does not |explanation |reflects understanding of|essential elements of Mrs. |
| | |answer the question | |an important underlying |Park’s decision: she had |
| | | | |reason |paid, the seat was in a |
| | | | | |section that she should |
| | | | | |have been able to sit in, |
| | | | | |she was tired, she thought |
| | | | | |she should have rights |
| | | | | |also, and it was not fair |
| | | | | |treatment |
|Sample Answer | |She was mad at the men. |She was tired after work |She was brave or She had |Because it was not fair and|
| | | |and wanted to sit. |rights. |she had a seat in the Black|
| | | | | |part also. |
3. What happened when the police came?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is related to the|Response may detail events |Response implies |States clearly the main |
| |answer |topic but does not answer |before or after the arrest |understanding of main |consequence, that she was |
| | |the question |but does not include the |consequence. Answer may |taken into custody or |
| | | |arrest itself |consider aspects or |arrested |
| | | | |consequences of the | |
| | | | |arrest. | |
|Sample Answer | |She just sat there. |They took a picture of her.|Her lawyer took her out |Mrs. Parks got herself |
| | | | |of jail. |arrested. |
4. What did Mrs. Park’s lawyer want to prove in court?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Suggests that Mrs. park’s |Provides a sketchy or |Response implies |Clearly explains that the |
| |answer |rights were violated but |incomplete explanation and |understanding of the |lawyer wanted to show that |
| | |response does not answer |some indication of the |principle involved. |the bus company policy |
| | |the question. |unfairness of the rules. |Indirectly states that |violated the Constitution |
| | | | |the bus company rules | |
| | | | |were unconstitutional. | |
|Sample Answer | |The bus drivers should not|That this was not all fair.|The bus rules were wrong.|The company was not doing |
| | |be like they are. | | |things the way of the |
| | | | | |Constitution. |
5. What did the leaders of the protest want from the bus company?
|Score |o |1 |2 |3 |4 |
|Criterion |Illegible or no |Response is somewhat |Makes a partially correct |Response implies |Clearly states the idea |
| |answer |related to the desired |generalization that is too |understanding of targeted|that they wanted fair or |
| | |outcome but does not |general or narrow for the |outcome without exploring|equal treatment as a |
| | |answer the question. |question posed. Response |the themes of fairness or|result. |
| | | |may be vague or incomplete.|equal treatment. | |
|Sample Answer | |To set anywhere they want.|To not be judged by the |To get more respect. |They want to be treated |
| | | |color of their skin but by | |like every person and with |
| | | |their character. | |fairness. |
Rubric Score for Items 1-5_____
20
Read the questions and fill in the circles next to your answers. For each question, one, two, or three answers could be correct. You may look back at the selection to help you with your answers.
Allow one point for each circle filled in or left blank correctly.
6. What was Mrs. Park’s reaction when she was locked up in a jail cell?
a. She felt very bad.
b. She cried.
c. She remembered her faith in God.
d. She vowed to get even with the police.
7. What part of the United States Constitution was the bus company not obeying?
a. All citizens have a right to vote.
b. All citizens should have to pay a bond to get out of jail.
c. All citizens must be treated fairly.
d. Everyone has a right to ride on public buses.
8. How did people of Montgomery know they should stop riding the bus?
a. Leaflets were printed and passed out.
b. There was an announcement in the schools.
c. Ministers spoke to them at church.
d. The police made an announcement.
9. What happened when the judge found Mrs. Parks guilty?
a. She and her lawyer did not agree with the judge.
b. She and her lawyer decided to go to a higher court.
c. The judge said she could not ride on the bus for a year.
d. She had to pay a large fine.
10. Hoe did people feel after the church meeting with Martin Luther King?
a. They felt there was hope.
b. They were worried that the walking would be hard.
c. They were determined to get fair treatment.
d. They felt that Mrs. Parks should go to jail.
Score for Items 6-10_____
20
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