Section I (Starts on P

Whole-Class/Group Assessment

Answer Key

The Halifax Explosion

Getting Ready to Read • Set a purpose • Ask questions • Predict

1. Use the photographs, sidebar, and headings (text features) to write some questions that you think might be answered in the article.

Possible Student Response(s): Effective readers generate questions before, during, and after reading. This ongoing dialogue with the page prepares students for the material they are about to read. It prompts them to start gathering information while they are reading, and it deepens their understanding of what they have read.

Lower level questions (Level 1 and Level 2) do not attempt to preview the content of the article.

For example:

• What is the Halifax Explosion?

• Why are all the people in the pictures wearing hats?

• When did the Halifax Explosion happen?

Higher level questions (Level 3 and Level 4) demonstrate logical and sometimes insightful thinking. For example:

• How many people were killed in the Halifax Explosion?

• Is the Halifax Explosion a significant event in Canadian history?

• How are ships and their crew members connected to the Halifax Explosion?

• How serious was the damage created by the blast?

Thinking / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Comprehension
Strategies: Uses text features and activates prior knowledge to make predictions and/or ask questions / Limited use of text features; predictions/ questions are vague or irrelevant; may be “guesses” / Some use of text features; predictions/ questions are simple and obvious / Considerable use of text features; predictions/questions are logical and detailed / Thorough use of text features; predictions/ questions are logical, detailed, and insightful

Responses require students to make connections to their prior knowledge and experiences with clues in the text features.

All rubrics are for teacher use only.

Note to teachers: Use the Individual Reading Profile (Appendix D, p. 348) to summarize students’ results.

Engaging in Reading • Find important ideas • Summarize • Make notes

2. The main ideas in this article are connected to events that happened in the Halifax Harbour on December 6, 1917. In your own words, make notes using a graphic organizer of your choice to show your understanding of the main ideas and the details associated with each idea.

Possible Student Response(s): Graphic organizer formats may vary. The following is one example.

Knowledge and Understanding / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Demonstrating Understanding:
Summarizes important ideas using written text and visual/graphic information; cites variety of details that supports the main idea / Limited: largely inaccurate/incomplete
• may provide one main idea; often confuses main idea and supporting details
• some relevant supporting details
• omits key information / Partial: somewhat accurate
• most main ideas; some may be vaguely expressed
• some relevant supporting details
• often has too much or too little information / Considerable: generally accurate
• main ideas adequately expressed
• most relevant supporting details
• appropriate amount of information / Thorough: accurate and comprehensive
• all main ideas clearly and concisely expressed
• relevant supporting details
• effective amount of information (may be synthesized)

Responses require students to understand explicit information in the text.

Communication / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Organizing Ideas:
Organizes information using a graphic organizer / Limited organization and clarity; unstructured and hard to follow / Some organization and clarity; generally easy to follow / Considerable organization and clarity; structured and easy to follow / High degree of organization and clarity; highly effective

Engaging in Reading • Infer • Visualize • Find important ideas

3. How do you think it was possible for the ships to collide? Explain your thinking.

Possible Student Response(s): Responses will vary. A Level 3 response will be logical and relate to the ideas in the text without being explicitly stated in the text. For example:

• The ships were in an area with limited maneuvering space.

• The weight of the explosives (3000 tonnes) made maneuvering the Mont Blanc difficult.

• One ship was possibly going faster than the other. Mont Blanc was in a hurry to turn

around and join its convoy.

• It’s hard to avoid other ships in a busy harbour.

Thinking / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Making Inferences/ Interpreting Text:
Explains inferences supported by text evidence and logical reasoning / Limited: makes simple, unsupported inferences; may be illogical / Partial: makes simple, reasonable inferences with some support / Considerable: makes and supports logical inferences / Highly effective: makes and supports logical, insightful inferences

Responses require students to understand implicit information in the text.

Communication / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Communicating Clearly:
Explanations are well-organized and clearly expressed / Limited organization and clarity / Some organization and clarity / Considerable organization and clarity / High degree of organization and clarity

Reacting to Reading • Make connections • Synthesize • Evaluate

4. Imagine that your town or city has just experienced a disaster similar to what Halifax experienced in 1917. What may have caused the problem? How do you think people might respond to the crisis?

Possible Student Response(s): Responses will vary. When assessing students’ responses, consider the three main categories of connections: text to self (TS); text to text (TT); and text to world (TW). Students most commonly make connections between the text and their own experiences. They may also make connections between the current text and other things they have read or viewed. However, when students access background knowledge that looks beyond their own experiences and textual references, more complex and sophisticated connections occur, which result in deeper comprehension.

A Level 3 response provides thoughtful reasons and makes logical connections between various contexts (TS, TT, and, although not necessary, often begins to move beyond the reader’s own experiences, TW). This type of response needs to offer reasonable judgments with adequate support. A Level 4 response includes examples of various connections, including insightful TW connections. For example:

Canada isn’t in a war like at the time of the Halifax Explosion, but some people think that Toronto (or another city or town) could face a terrorist attack. As long as Canada is friends with the United States, an attack could happen anywhere. (TW) If people were injured and couldn’t get to a hospital, I think people would open up their homes. I read about this last year in Social Studies. When there were floods in Quebec, lots of people brought homeless strangers into their homes. (TT) I think we would get medicine and doctors from the US, just like Boston did for Halifax. Maybe we would be in bigger trouble because we rely on computers for everything, and they probably wouldn’t work if there was a terrorist attack. (TW) We would need a lot more than medicine to help us through!

Application / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Extends Understanding; Responds to/Evaluates Text: Connects ideas in text to own ideas/experiences, other texts, and the world around him or her; makes and supports judgments and conclusions / Limited:
• has difficulty making connections
• offers unsupported or illogical judgments or conclusions / Somewhat effective:
• makes simple, obvious connections with some explanation
• offers some reasonable judgments or conclusions with partial support / Considerably effective:
• makes and explains some logical connections
• offers reasonable judgments and conclusions with adequate support / Highly effective:
• makes and explains thoughtful and insightful connections that may go beyond own experiences
• offers thoughtful, often insightful, judgments and conclusions with thorough support

Responses require students to make connections between text information and their own experiences.

Reacting to Reading • Reflect on strategies (Metacognition)

5. Effective readers make sense of what they are reading and solve their comprehension problems by using some of these strategies:

• reread • ask questions • make predictions

• read more slowly • make connections to what they • other strategies

• make pictures in their minds know (books, movies, family,

vacations, their lives)

Look back at the article. Find a place where you used a comprehension strategy to help you understand what you were reading. Explain how this strategy helped your understanding of the article.

Possible Student Response(s): There are many possible responses. This section is designed to see if students are aware of their reading process. All readers process text as they read; some do so more effectively than others. Effective readers are strategic and reflective about their reading. In other words, they utilize their metacognition skills. They strategically plan, monitor, and evaluate their reading process. When evaluating this question, look for evidence of these skills. Students may identify some of the following comprehension strategies, as well as some of those listed above, in their explanations:

• read between the lines

• determine what’s important

• access background knowledge

If students respond with “Did not use a strategy,” they lack metacognitive awareness. Therefore, because these students lack awareness of their own reading processes and are unable to explain their thinking, their response would be Level 1. For students to achieve Level 3, they should have a list of strategies, as well as be aware of how they use those strategies while reading. For example:

The first paragraph confused me because it talked about building extra rail lines and housing for soldiers. I didn’t understand what this had to do with the Halifax Explosion. I read the paragraph over a few times and noticed that it was talking about WWI, so I thought Halifax must be a place where soldiers and war materials were delivered so they could be sent to the war in Europe. That’s why the Mont Blanc was carrying 3000 tonnes of explosives.

Thinking / Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 / Level 4
Metacognition:
Reflects on own reading processes; describes a strategy and how it worked / Limited: lacks awareness of own reading processes and comprehension strategies; does not describe or explain thinking / Somewhat effective: has basic awareness of own reading processes and comprehension strategies; attempts to describe thinking (basic) / Considerably effective: shows awareness of own reading processes and comprehension strategies; explains thinking / Highly effective: shows insight into own reading processes and comprehension strategies; clearly articulates thinking

Responses require students to connect text information to their own experiences.