Creative Writing 4 & 5 Honors
Reporting Category / WritingStandard / Drafting
Benchmark Number / LA.1112.3.2.3
Benchmark / The student will draft writing by analyzing language techniques of professional authors (e.g., figurative language, denotation, connotation) to establish a personal style, demonstrating a command of language with conviction of expression.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Extended Response
Benchmark Clarification / Students will write an analysis of language techniques of a professional author including but not limited to word choice, figurative language, descriptive language, punctuation, and rhetorical devices to establish a personal style to achieve an intended purpose.
Content Focus / The student will draft writing by analyzing language techniques of professional authors (e.g., figurative language, denotation, connotation) to establish a personal style, demonstrating a command of language with conviction of expression.
Content Limits / Students will be given 45 minutes to read and analyze a given text.
Text should be derived from professional authorities and be on grade level.
The work should have an identifiable main idea.
Students’ analysis should focus on how the writer crafted his piece and not just paraphrase ideas.
Students may focus on one or more aspects to develop their argument as to how the writer developed his personal style with language techniques.
Text Attributes / Excerpts may be used from literary or informational texts.
They may represent one published work or two or more shorter works may be used.
Overall length should not exceed 1500 words whether from one published work or the combined total of two or more works.
Graphs, Charts and illustrations may be used if original to the selected work.
Distractor Attributes / Incorrect answer choices will consist of plausible information from the text and may include incorrect inferences and generalizations not supported by evidence provided, or incorrect connections drawn between the evidence and inferences.
Sample Item / missing
Reporting Category / Language
Standard / Conventions of Standard English
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.L.1.1
Benchmark / Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Also Assesses / LACC1112.W.1.3; LACC1112.W.1.3; LACC.1112.L.1.2.a; LACC.1112.L.1.2.b; LACC.1112.L.1.1a
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / These should represent common rules of grammar and usage as found in modern standard English.
The focus should be on American standard conventions as some European rules vary.
Questions may represent how some standard rules have changed over time.
Content Focus / Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling, Usage, Sentence Structure
Content Limits / Each writing sample should be substantial enough to support at least six items. Each cloze selection should provide enough context for assessment of six spelling and or usage conventions.
Word count length for samples should range from 100words to 500 words. Stand Alone items should provide succinct and practical context to text conventions.
Stand alone items should test just one skill.
Length for standalone items can range from 10-30 words.
All items should be on grade level or one level below grade level minimizes impact of reading on students ability to demonstrate mastery of writing skills. .
Text Attributes / Text can be literary or informational
Distractor Attributes / Distractors will consist of plausible year incorrect responses typical of the types of errors students are most likely to make.
Distractor may consist of commonly confused words; verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, passive and active voice, pronoun reference, capital letters, punctuation, plurals,misspelled words, unparallel forms misplaced or dangling modifiers, run on sentences, fragments, and or faulty citations.
Sample Item / What change, if any, should be made to "aquiring" in line 10.
A. aquireing
B. acquiring
C. acquireing
D. no change
Answer B
Reporting Category / Language
Standard / Knowledge of Language
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.L.2.3
Benchmark / Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
Also Assesses / LACC1112.W.1.3
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / Uses a variety of sentence structures and lengths (e.g., complex and compound-complex sentences; parallel or repetitive sentence structure)
Content Focus / Sentence structure; sentence length; compound-complex sentence;
sentence variation; repetition of sentences
Content Limits / Each writing sample should be substantial enough to support at multiple items. Word count length for samples should range from 100words to 500 words.
Stand Alone items should provide succinct and practical context to text conventions.
Stand alone items should test just one skill.
Length for standalone items can range from 10-30 words.
All items should be on grade level or one level below grade level minimize impact of reading on students ability to demonstrate mastery of writing skills.
Text Attributes / Informational text
Distractor Attributes / Distractors will consist of plausible year incorrect responses typical of the types of errors students are most likely to make
Sample Item / What change, if any, should be made to the sentence in lines 10-12.
A. The building will be approximately 150 meters long, have a 46 meter width, and over 20 meters tall at its tallest point.
B. The building will be approximately 150 meters long and 46 meter wide, and over 20 meters tall.
C. The building will approximately 150 meters long and 46 meters wide; the height will be over 20 meters tall.
D. no change
Answer: B
Reporting Category / Language
Standard / Vocabulary
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.L.3.4
Benchmark / Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words & phrases based on grades 11-12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / Uses a variety of strategies to extend reading vocabulary (e.g., uses analogies, idioms, similes, metaphors to infer the meaning of literal and figurative phrases;uses context clues, such as word function and placement; uses definition, restatement, example, comparison and contrast to verify word meanings; identifies shades of meaning; knows denotative and connotative meanings; knows vocabulary related to different content areas and current events; uses rhyming dictionaries, classification books, etymological dictionaries)
Content Focus / Analyze the relationships of pairs of words in analogical statements (e.g., synonyms and antonyms, connotation and denotation) and infer word meanings from these relationships.
Infer the literal and figurative meaning of words and phrases and discuss the function of figurative language, including metaphors, similes, idioms and puns.
Analyze the ways that historical events influenced the English language.
Use knowledge of Greek, Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots, prefixes and suffixes to understand complex words and new subject-area vocabulary (e.g., unknown words in science, mathematics and social studies).
Content Limits / Each writing sample should be substantial enough to support at least six items. Each cloze selection should provide enough context for assessment of six spelling and or usage conventions.
Word count length for samples should range from 100words to 500 words.
Stand Alone items should provide succinct and practical context to text conventions.
Stand alone items should test just one skill. Length for stand alone items can range from 10-30 words.
All items should be on grade level or one level below grade level minimize impact of reading on students ability to demonstrate mastery of writing skills.
Text Attributes / Grade level Literary or Informational text should be used.
Other stimuli may include, but are not limited to, illustration with captions, graphics, and charts.
Texts must contain a word unfamiliar to most students, and clear and sufficient context must be present for students to determine meaning of word or text must contain appropriate words to assess affixes, root words, and foreign words or phrases.
Analogies and idioms will not be tested.
Distractor Attributes / Distractors will consist of plausible year incorrect responses typical of the types of errors students are most likely to make.
Distractors may include incorrect meanings; meaning that are correct but not correct to meaning of the text, details drawn from the text but related to meaning to assessed item.
When constructing the test using choices with word pairs, the word pairs should be the same part of speech.
When assessing affixes, the same part of speech should be used.
Sample Item / Read these lines from "Woman with Flower.
" The leaf's inclined to find its own direction; Give it a chance to seek the sunlight for itself.
In the lines above, what does the word "inclined"reveal about the leaf?
A. the leaf grows at an angle to find it own direction.
B. The leaf bends down to find it own direction.
C. The leaf hesitates to find its own direction.
D. the leaf prefers to find its own direction.
Answer D
Reporting Category / Language
Standard / Vocabulary
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.L.3.4b
Benchmark / Identify & correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable).
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / Students will identify word patterns and use the correct form of words
Content Focus / Word meanings, word origins
Content Limits / Grade- appropriate text
Text Attributes / Literary or informational text
Distractor Attributes / Prefixes/suffixes/root origins with multiple meanings; original root words which have taken on a different modern usage
Sample Item / NEEDS SAMPLE ITEM‼!
A sample multiple choice question may take three words (within a word pattern) and ask to identify the part of speech, in sequential order (Benchmark e.g. conceive, conception, conceivable)...correct answer would be ( verb, noun, adjective)
Reporting Category / Language
Standard / Vocabulary
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.L.3.5
Benchmark / Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / Students will interpret connotative meanings of figurative language and analyze nuances in words with similar denotations
Content Focus / Types of figurative language, denotation, connotation
Content Limits / Grade appropriate text
Text Attributes / Literary or informational text, poetry and classical lit a plus
Distractor Attributes / Literal meanings vs. connotative/denotative meanings; sometimes imagery is literal
Sample Item / NEEDS SAMPLE ITEM‼!
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer by John Keats, m/c question about the line..."or stout Cortez when with eagle eyes"...question- mixture of alliteration and meaning of word stout (meaning brave/strong, not short/fat)
Reporting Category / Reading: Informational Text
Standard / Craft & Structure
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.RI.2.6
Benchmark / Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / The student will identify the perspective or purpose of the author in sophisticated text.
The student will identify how the author's style adds to the persuasive nature of the text.
The student will analyze how style and content contribute to the power of the piece and the flow and beauty of the text.
Content Focus / Author's Purpose, Use of Effective Rhetoric, Author's Point-of-View, Author's Style, Persuasion and Diction
Content Limits / A clear author's point-of-view and purpose should be identifiable across texts. Texts should include a strong writing style that is clearly identifiable.
Texts should include effective rhetoric that shows elements of persuasiveness and power, as well as a strong use of sophisticated language techniques.
Text Attributes / Texts should be literary.
Texts may include, but are not limited to poetry, short stories, literary essays, and speeches.
Distractor Attributes / Distractors may include, but are not limited to: details that do not support the author's purpose or perspective; incorrect interpretations of the author's purpose or perspective; incorrect analysis or evaluation of the impact or effectiveness of the author's rhetoric; wording that does not show the most effective use of style; wording that does not show the most effective use of persuasion or language technique; plausible but incorrect distractors based on the text
Sample Item / Read the statement below and determine which statement from the essay reveals the author's initial bias toward her client.
*A) "Typical beginner, I thought"
B) "First, I turned his reel around"
C) "He looked like a model for an outdoor catalogue."
D) “The felt on his wading boots was as white as snow."
Reporting Category / Reading: Informational Text
Standard / Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.RI.3.7
Benchmark / Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / Students will identify similarities and differences between two interpretations of an original work.
Content Focus / Compare similarities and contrast differences
Content Limits / Grade level texts which should include elements that are comparable.
These may include but are not limited to character, setting, descriptive language, subject, author's purpose, author's perspective, main idea, themes, and topics.
Text Attributes / Texts may include both print and non-print interpretations, such as video or audio recording of a poem.
Original source material should be provided.
Distractor Attributes / Incorrect comparisons; incorrect contrasts; similarities or differences drawn from source or interpretations but not related to question.
Sample Item / After reviewing both versions of Hamlet's soliloquy from ACT 2 scene 1 performed by Laurence Olivier and Mel Gibson, how do the interpretations differ?
A)The image presented by Olivier are quiet while the image presented
by Gibson are erratic.
*B) Olivier uses an internal monologue to demonstrate his angst while
Gibson uses physical movement.
C) Setting in Olivier's interpretation relays on supernatural elements
while Gibson relays on natural elements.
D) Images of Olivier relays mainly on close up shots while images
of Gibson relays on wide shots.
Reporting Category / Reading: Literature
Standard / Key Ideas & Details
Benchmark Number / LACC.1112.RL.1.2
Benchmark / Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
Also Assesses
Item Types / Multiple Choice
Benchmark Clarification / The students will determine themes (stated or implied), including how they are developed and how they enhance or build on each other to produce a clear account and/or provide summary of text.
Content Focus / Main Idea, Themes, Summary Statement, Relevant Details, Conclusions, Predictions
Content Limits / Grade level Appropriate texts should include an identifiable main ideas (stated or implied) and relevant details from which students can draw a logical conclusion or make inferences within or across texts.
Paraphrasing should not be assessed. However, items may access students’ ability to identify correct summary statement.
Text Attributes / Literary or informational texts may include graphs and charts along with illustrations
Distractor Attributes / May include but are not limited to the following: details that do not support theme or main idea:
Incorrect interpretations of main idea or theme (too broad or too narrow); incorrect inferences, summary statements, predictions based on details in the text.
Summary statement should be in complete sentence.
Main Idea and theme should be accessed as a summary statement.
Sample Item / WHAT PASSAGE?!?
Which statement best expresses the overall theme of the passage?
*A) The work of the ecologist Herman Dempsey is critical in field of environmental studies.
B) Herman Dempsey was the most influential ecologist of his time.
C) Ecologist work transformed ideas on the environment in American culture. D) Herman Dempsey studied the impact of slash and burn farming on the environment.
Missing passage********
Reporting Category / Reading: Literature
Standard / Key Ideas & Details
Benchmark Number / LA.CC.1112.RL.1.3
Benchmark / Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Also Assesses / LACC.1112.RI.1.3
Item Types / MC
Benchmark Clarification / Students will analyze author's choices regarding setting, pattern of organizations and characterization.
Content Focus / Setting, pattern of organization, characterization
Content Limits / Grade level appropriate texts organizational patterns may include but are not limited to cause and effect, chronological, comparison and contrast, argument and support, flashbacks,and foreshadowing. Characterization through dialogue, physical attributes revealing point of view, motivation, conflict and or resolution. Characters my represent archetypes.
Text Attributes / Literary fictional or informational grade level texts.
Easily identifiable pattern of organization and common archetypes.
Answers should include a brief elaboration on how it impacts meaning and not be a general list or category.
Distractor Attributes / Incorrect interpretations; incorrect relationships; incorrect details drawn from text.
Figurative language should not be assessed.
While theme may be referenced, it is not the focus of this item and should not be assessed.
Sample Item / WHAT ESSAY???
How does the setting of the essay contribute to the development of the narrative?
A)The description of the creek provides an opportunity to explain how the fishing gear is used.
B)The abundance of the fish in the wilderness stream allows for a detailed description of fly-fishing.
C)The remote dude ranch furnishes the background for the fly-fishing adventure experienced by the client.
D)The family vacation destination presents a location where the family members can enjoy activities together. Answer C