Assessment Grade 5 – 6 for CCR Question # 1: What does the text say?

Directions: Students read the following passage, Hurricanes, and write a summary that includes:

The central idea and evidence, including key ideas, to support conclusions drawn from the passage

Lauber, Patricia. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms. New York: Scholastic, 1996. (1996)

From “The Making of a Hurricane” Used by permission of Scholastic, Inc.

Great whirling storms roar out of the oceans in many parts of the world. They are called by several names—hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are the three most familiar ones. But no matter what they are called, they are all the same sort of storm. They are born in the same way, in tropical waters. They develop the same way, feeding on warm, moist air. And they do the same kind of damage, both ashore and at sea. Other storms may cover a bigger area or have higher winds, but none can match both the size and the fury of hurricanes. They are earth’s mightiest storms.

Like all storms, they take place in the atmosphere, the envelope of air that surrounds the earth and presses on its surface. The pressure at any one place is always changing. There are days when air is sinking and the atmosphere presses harder on the surface. These are the times of high pressure. There are days when a lot of air is rising and the atmosphere does not press down as hard. These are times of low pressure. Low-pressure areas over warm oceans give birth to hurricanes.

Summary Rubric

CC Reading Anchor Standards / 3 Complete / 2 Partial / 1 Minimal / Score
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. / Reading Anchor # 1
Response:
  • states what the text says explicitly.
(3 points)
  • makes logical inferences and cites specific textual evidence to support conclusions drawn from the text. (3 points)
/ Reading Anchor #1
Response:
  • includes much of what the text says explicitly.
(2 points)
  • makes some logical inferences and cites general textual evidence to support some of the conclusions drawn from the text. (2 points)
/ Reading Anchor #1
Response:
  • includes little of what the text says explicitly.
(1 point)
  • makes few logical inferences and gives little support drawn from the text.
(1 point) / __/6 pts.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting
details and ideas. / Reading Anchor #2
Response summarizes using:
  • clearly identified central or main ideas.
(3 points )
  • supports central ideas well with key details ideas from the text.
(3 points) / Reading Anchor #2
Response summarizes using:
  • partially or ineffectively identified central or main ideas.
(2 points)
  • supports central ideas with some details and ideas from the text.
(2 points) / Reading Anchor #2
Response summarizes using:
  • inaccurately identified central or main ideas.
(1 point)
  • supports central ideas with few details and ideas from the text.
(1 point) / __/6 pts.
Total
__/12pts.

Possible Summary: This informational science article identifies and briefly explains the conditions (“…low-pressure over warm oceans…”) necessary for a hurricane to develop. The article explains high and low pressure in relation to hurricanes. Hurricanes are also called typhoons or cyclones. The article states that hurricanes are destructive; they have been called “the earth’s mightiest storms.”