Common Core: PARCC ELA/Literacy Assessments, Grades 6-8

PARCC ELA/Literacy Assessments

Grades

6-8

Dennis M. Fare, M.Ed.

English Language Arts Supervisor

Mahwah Public Schools

Mahwah, New Jersey

Research & Education Association

61 Ethel Road West

Piscataway, New Jersey 08854

E-mail: [email protected]

PARCC ELA/LITERACY ASSESSMENTS, GRADES 6–8

Copyright © 2014 by Research & Education Association, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in

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Library of Congress Control Number 2013936856

ISBN-13: 978-0-7386-8472-7

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Dear Student,

Let’s be clear…

The Common Core tests you’ll soon be taking are unlike any tests you’ve faced.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

If you haven’t heard it already, you will begin hearing the name PARCC a lot. This is because the state where you attend school is part of a group of states that organized themselves as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.

These new tests mean it’s "Good-bye, bubble sheet, and Hello, computerized testing," and more important than the new format is what the PARCC assessments will want from you. They will test your ability to think, not just memorize stuff. You’ll need to build essays, not simply answer multiple-choice questions that ask you to recall what seem like disconnected facts.

Just like a researcher or perhaps a lawyer, you will be required to use logic to present a clear, compelling case. You will need to make judgments using real-world sources, including printed text, audio, and video. You will need to decide what information should be believed, and why.

These tests — and the Common Core State Standards on which they are based — require careful critical thinking and solid writing skills.

Thankfully, much of what you need to help you understand and score well on the PARCC tests is right in this book.

Let’s get started!

Dear Teacher,

You and your students are part of a historic shift in American education.

The adoption of the Common Core State Standards marks the first time in the history of the nation that most of our states have opted to set the bar for K–12 education by ambitiously collaborating on setting and meeting internationally-benchmarked standards.

What does this mean to you?

Well, for one thing, tougher tests.

You likely live in a state that chose to become a member of one of two Common Core assessment consortia. This book was developed to address the English language arts/literacy assessments for the PARCC* consortium, whose members span 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Altogether, PARCC states educate about 22 million public K–12 students.

You’ve probably seen your share of screaming headlines about the Common Core, but now the big headline for you is that next-generation assessments are coming — and soon. So it’s time to get ready.

There are plenty of books on the market that cover the theory behind the Common Core, as well as the curriculum that brings it into your classroom. This is not one of them. Instead, this is the first practical guide to Common Core assessment. It’s a bracing tour of what makes the new assessments tick, brimming with test tips and carefully crafted standards-aligned practice — a workout, really — that reveals what your students most need to know to succeed on the new PARCC assessments for grades 6–8.

Your tour guide is author Dennis Fare, a veteran language arts supervisor and teacher in one of the nation’s top school districts.

This is not test prep as you’ve come to know it because, truth be told, there’s never been a battery of tests quite like the PARCC assessments.

Now, let’s tackle the tests together.

* PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

Contents

The PARCC Assessments At-a-Glance

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Common Core State Standards Initiative

Reading the Standards

Overview of the PARCC

Introduction to Interactive Reading

Introduction to Chosen Texts

Introduction to the PARCC’s Performance-Based Tasks

Introduction to the Narrative Writing Task

Introduction to the Literary Analysis Task

Introduction to the Research Simulation Task

Introduction to the Speaking/Listening Task

Special Education/Accommodations

Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs)

End-of-Year (EOY) Assessment

Looking at the Acronyms

Chapter 2: Interactive Literacy

Introduction

Key Literacy Skills: Vocabulary and Context

Key Literacy Skills: Reading Comprehension and Comparative Thinking

Literacy Analysis: Independent Practice

Narrative Section: Sample Questions

The Narrative Selection: Practice Question

The Research Simulation Task: Tested Literacy Skills

Research Simulation Task Practice Question

Chapter 3: Narrative Writing Task

Introduction

Evaluating the Narrative Writing Task

English Language Arts Narrative Writing Task

Freytag’s Pyramid

English Language Arts – Practice Narrative Writing Task

English Language Arts – Practice Narrative Writing Task #1

English Language Arts – Practice Narrative Writing Task #2

English Language Arts – Practice Narrative Writing Task #3

Narrative Writing Task: Historical Account – Introduction

Historical Account – Practice Narrative Description Task #1

Historical Account – Practice Narrative Description Task #2

Historical Account – Practice Narrative Description Task #3

Narrative Writing Task: Scientific Process – Introduction

Scientific Process - Practice Narrative Description Task #1

Scientific Process - Practice Narrative Description Task #2

Scientific Process - Practice Narrative Description Task #3

Chapter 4: Literacy Analysis Task

Introduction

Writing the Literary Analysis Essay

Practice Literary Analysis Task #1

Practice Literary Analysis Task #2

Chapter 5: The Research Simulation Task

Introduction

Research Simulation Essay Practice

Chapter 6: The Research Simulation Task: English

Introduction

Writing the Research Simulation Essay for English

The 11 Steps for Success on the RST

Sample Outline for Space Exploration RST

Writing the Essay

Looking at the Verbs

Analysis of Sample Essay

Summary of the RST in English

RST #2: Native American Contributions

RST #3: African American Literary Experience

RST #4: Bullying

Chapter 7: The Research Simulation Task: History

Introduction

RST #1: Fighting Segregations (Model)

The 11 Steps for Success on the RST

Analysis of Sample Essay

RST #2: Winston Churchill

RST #3: The Titanic

Chapter 8: The Research Simulation Task: Science

Introduction

RST #1: Anti-Antibiotic? (Model)

The 11 Steps for Success on the RST

Analysis of Sample Essay

Summary of the RST in Science

Practice RSTs in Science

RST#2: Life on Other Planets

RST#3: The Safety in Science

Chapter 9: Research Simulation Task Practice Questions

Introduction

Practice RST: Art

Practice RST: Life Skills

Practice RST: World Languages

Practice RST: Physical Education

Chapter 10: Final Thoughts

Bibliography

Appendices

Appendix A: Commonly Used Action Verbs

Appendix B: Transitional Words

Appendix C: Key Charts

Appendix D: Suggested Reading

Appendix E: Charts Used in This Book

Appendix F: Scoring Checklist and Scoring Rubrics

About the Author

Dennis M. Fare holds a B.A. in English Writing and an M.Ed. in English Education. Mr. Fare currently serves as the Supervisor of English Language Arts, grades 6–12, for Mahwah (New Jersey) Public Schools, where he writes curriculum and supervises English Language Arts teachers. He taught English for many years at Hackensack High School and has also taught at the college level. Mr. Fare holds supervisor, principal, and superintendent certifications. He served as an AP reader for the AP English Language and Composition exam for the College Board and was also a rater for the SAT test. Mr. Fare’s presentations to College Board conferences include: AP Open Enrollment: From Theory to Practice; AP Online Curriculum, and AP Vertical Teaming: Working from the Ground Up.

Author’s Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following people for their invaluable input and support throughout this project: Janet Donohue, Assistant Superintendent at Mahwah Public Schools; Christine Zimmermann, Director of Curriculum at Mahwah Public Schools; Brian Miller, Principal of Ramapo Ridge Middle School; Suzanne Straub, Assistant Principal of Ramapo Ridge Middle School; John P. Pascale, Principal of Mahwah High School; Linda Bohny, Assistant Principal of Mahwah High School; and Dominick Gliatta, Miriam Lezanski, Roger Pelletier, Danielle Poleway, Patricia Reinhart, Kristen Trabona, all instructional supervisors at Mahwah Public Schools.

Further, I would like to acknowledge my parents, Dennis (Sr.) and Lois Fare. I would also like to thank Caseen Gaines for his help during the proposal phase of this project.

About REA

Founded in 1959, Research & Education Association is dedicated to publishing the finest and most effective educational materials—including study guides and test preps—for students in middle school, high school, college, graduate school, and beyond.

Today, REA’s wide-ranging catalog is a leading resource for teachers, students, and professionals. Visit www.rea.com to see a complete listing of all our titles.

REA Acknowledgments

Publisher: Pam Weston

Vice President, Editorial: Larry B. Kling

Senior Editor, PARCC Series: Alice Leonard

Managing Editor, Frontlist: Diane Goldschmidt

Copywriter: Kelli Wilkins

Cover Design: Christine Saul

Page Design: Claudia Petrilli

Copyeditor: Anne McGowan

Proofreader: Ellen Gong

Typesetter: Kathy Caratozzolo

Permissions: Katherine Benzer, S4 Carlisle

The PARCC Assessments At-a-Glance

Because PARCC is a new assessment system that is in development, not everything about it has been finalized. Based on the most recent guidance from the PARCC consortium, the following information is available.

The PARCC assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy (the content basis of this book) and Mathematics are designed to measure the degree to which students have learned the critical knowledge, skills and abilities essential for college and career success. While this guidebook focuses on grades 6-8, PARCC assessments will be administered in grades 3–11 beginning in the 2014–2015 school year. The assessments for each grade will be based on the Common Core State Standards for that grade level.

Structure of the Tests

To effectively implement the PARCC design, assessments in both ELA/Literacy and Mathematics will be administered in two parts, a performance-based assessment (PBA), administered after approximately 75% of the school year, and an end-of-year assessment (EOY), administered after approximately 90% of the school year.

Each grade level of the ELA/Literacy PBA will include three tasks: a narrative task, a literary analysis task, and a research simulation task. For each task, examinees will be asked to read one or more texts, answer several short vocabulary and comprehension questions, and write an essay that requires examinees to gather evidence from the text(s). Each grade level of the ELA/Literacy EOY will consist of 4–5 texts, both literary and informational (including social science/historical, scientific, and technical texts in grades 6–11). Short-answer vocabulary and comprehension questions will also be associated with each text.

Administration of the Tests

PBA and EOY assessments will be administered in a total of nine sessions. The PBA for each grade level will be administered in five sessions, three for ELA/Literacy and two for mathematics. The EOY for each grade level will be administered in four sessions, two for ELA/Literacy and two for mathematics. Individual examinees will be involved in testing sessions for both the PBA and EOY over a period of five to nine days. Refer to the following tables for a graphic representation of test components and times by grade(s).

Performance-Based Component

End-of-Year Component

Test Results

Results of the ELA/Literacy assessments will be reported in three categories: (1) ELA/Literacy; (2) reading and comprehending a range of sufficiently complex texts independently (reading) and (3) writing effectively when using and/or analyzing sources (writing). ELA/Literacy results will be based on a composite of the examinees’ reading and writing scores. Students will receive both a scaled score and performance-level scores for ELA/Literacy, and scaled scores for the reading and writing categories. Performance-level scores will be reported according to five levels.

Readers should be aware that some materials used in this book—including contemporary articles and broadcast transcripts—are sourced from the United Kingdom and thus use British spellings and punctuation. We have included this content because it’s considered fair game by developers of the PARCC assessments.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The Common Core State Standards Initiative

This book gives what you most need to know about the PARCC assessments for English language arts/literacy.

In doing so, it proceeds from these five basic principles:

1.   We believe in the PARCC assessments.

2.   We believe in the Common Core Standards, which inform how the PARCC tests are being developed.

3.   We believe the PARCC test battery assesses the very skills today’s students most need to succeed in college and the workplace.

4.   We believe in affording today’s students the best possible shot at success in college and their chosen career.

5.   We believe the PARCC assessments need the no-nonsense, practical perspective of the schoolhouse—and that’s exactly what you’ll find in this study guide.

The foundation for the PARCC tests lies in the Common Core State Standards. Adopted by the vast majority of U.S. states, the Common Core achieves for the first time in American history a near-common curriculum for the nation as a whole.

In essence, the PARCC is designed to assess whether or not students are making progress toward achieving the benchmarks set forth in the Common Core.

Thus, our book is closely aligned with the PARCC, and, by extension, the Common Core. For instance, most of the readings you will find in our book are taken from the reading suggestions from the Common Core (please see Appendix B of the Common Core: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy). By using these reading suggestions and the curricular guidelines set forth in the Common Core English language arts document, we are giving you an advantage in taking the PARCC exam. Why, you might ask? The answer is simple: The more familiar you are with the literary and nonfiction texts of the Common Core, the better prepared you will be to take the PARCC assessment.

Therefore, we are supremely confident that the reading exercises and the activities within this book will help you on the PARCC exam.

While there are certainly a lot of standards, keep in mind that two standards will always be in play, regardless if the task is reading or writing. They are:

•   Reading Standard One (1): Use of Evidence

•   Reading Standard Ten (10): Complex Texts

Reading the Standards

Throughout this test prep guide, we have aligned each task to the Common Core standards. This is a natural alignment, as the test and Common Core standards are interlinked. The following chart will help guide you in understanding how to read the standards appropriately.

Overview of the PARCC

PARCC stands for Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. We know — it’s a long title! Throughout this guidebook, though, we will be referring to the test by its widely known acronym: PARCC.

The nature of the test makes it unlike any test you have ever taken. Three things make this so:

•   The test is given on computer.

•   The test is actually a series of tests given throughout the school year.

•   What’s on the test will require you to think in new and stimulating ways—both because of the content itself and the way it’s presented.

So, how will this test be administered? First, you need to know that it’s not actually just one test but a battery of tests. Thus, it will not be taken just on a single day of the school year, but rather several times throughout the year. Check out the timeline below, taken from the PARCC website:

As shown above, you will be required to take the Performance-Based Assessment and the End-of-Year Assessment. The Diagnostic Assessment and the Mid-Year Assessment are optional depending upon the state in which you live. The Performance-Based Assessments (PBAs) consist of reading activities and three writing activities based upon these reading: (a) a narrative essay, (b) a literary analysis essay, and (c) a research-simulation task. This book will address the reading skills you will need as well as the writing skills for these three types of writing assessments.

Because this test will be taken on computer, your results will be returned to you much faster than what happens with pencil-and-paper exams. It is also very important to look at these practice questions in the context of keyboarding your responses. If you do not yet feel comfortable with keyboarding, it is time to practice these skills on your own!

Now that you are familiar with the structure of the PARCC, let’s look over each of its question types together.

Introduction to Interactive Reading

In every other test prep book you’ve ever read, or any English language arts classroom you’ve ever attended, you’ve most likely worked on strategies to engage with a printed text. While these strategies should not be forgotten, it is important to begin thinking of them in the context of brainstorming and working with a text via computer.

Many of you surf the Web daily. At this point, you’re probably used to casually skimming, scanning, and reading texts online. If this isn’t part of your daily, or even weekly, routine, then you should start. Since the PARCC is administered entirely as a computerized exam, it is time to think about this test in a different way.

The reading skills you will learn will help you on the Performance-Based Assessment and the End-of-Year Assessment. Specifically, in Chapter 2 of this guidebook, you will begin looking at how to appropriately read, and take notes, from a screen. You will learn how to take what you’ve learned in your English language arts classes, and modify those techniques for the purposes of preparing for this test.

You’ve likely encountered reading comprehension sections in many tests, including any state test or even the SAT. Generally, you would read the passage or selection, and then answer a series of multiple-choice questions and/or open-ended questions. The PARCC, however, will assess reading in a more interactive manner. Often, you will answer questions as you read, as opposed to answering those questions after you’ve read.

Not only will you have to read a short reading selection, but you will also have to answer questions as you do so. You will need to electronically highlight text in relation to questions. You will need address how the reading selection raises specific points to support their viewpoint or argument. As you read, you will need to interactively investigate. While this sounds complicated, it is actually quite doable. The key is to be prepared, which is where this guidebook comes in!

As you read through the question types during the interactive reading chapter, be sure to review our Thought Process (a feature utilized throughout this book) as we navigate through the questions. This should serve as a model for you as you complete the interactive reading questions on your own.

Throughout your reading of this chapter, pay careful attention to the ways in which close-reading is modeled. If you are not aware of the language of authors in relation to their purposes, the questions will be more difficult to answer accurately. Think about how writers craft their viewpoints and project a desired effect upon the reader. You’ll find that many of the question types in this particular chapter look closely at how you, as the reader/test-taker, can recognize how writers put together their viewpoints or arguments. This is what close and active reading successfully will clarify to you as you begin to have a greater understanding.

Also, according to PARCC requirements, the following word counts apply to all reading selections:

The PARCC requirements also have a complexity rating for each text, which follows this protocol:

The balance of texts on the Performance-Based Assessments and End-of-Year Assessments will shift by grade band.

Criteria for Selection of Authentic Texts

One goal of the PARCC is that students will be exposed to texts that are content-rich and challenging. These will be actual, authentic texts, not texts merely created for the test itself. Throughout this test prep guide, we have utilized texts specifically suggested from the Common Core.

Criteria for Selection of Paired or Multiple Texts

As you work through the various tasks, you will notice that you will encounter questions that involve paired or multiple texts. These texts purposefully expose students to the domains of English language arts, science, history/social studies, technical subjects, and the arts. Through multiple texts, students will be able to analyze larger themes while also addressing informational validity and reliability.

Introduction to Chosen Texts

Since the common core standards call for students to work with a variety of complex texts, this range will also be mirrored in the PARCC assessment.

Examples of Literary Text Types:

•   Poetry

•   Drama

•   Fiction

•   Multimedia (in the form of film, radio, etc.)

Examples of Informational Text Types:

•   Literary non-fiction

•   History/social science texts

•   Science/technical texts

•   Multimedia (texts that have both words and audio/video)

More specific informational text examples:

•   Advertisements

•   Memoirs

•   Agendas

•   News articles

•   Autobiographies

•   Opinion/editorial pieces

•   Biographies

•   Political cartoons

•   Company profiles

•   Product Specifications

•   Contracts

•   Product/Service descriptions

•   Correspondence

•   Recipes

•   Essays

•   Reports

•   Feature articles

•   Reviews

•   Government documents

•   Science investigations

•   Histories

•   Speeches

•   Interviews

•   Textbooks

•   Journal articles

•   Tourism guides

•   Legal documents

•   Training manuals

•   Magazine articles

•   User guides/manuals

Please note that we have utilized this range of texts throughout our examples.

Introduction to the PARCC’s Performance-Based Tasks

•   Narrative Writing Task (Performance-Based Assessment; 50 minutes)

•   Literacy Analysis Task (Performance-Based Assessment; 80 minutes)

•   Research Simulation Task (Performance-Based Assessment; 85 minutes)

Each of the three main writing tasks of the Performance-Based Assessment will assess very different skills. In order to work through these skills, it is crucial that you first become familiar with the setup of these types of questions. Don’t worry, though, as we have mapped out each of the steps for tackling each of these question types!

Before we begin to discuss the three writing tasks, let us be clear on one very important point: Reading and writing on PARCC’s Performance-Based Assessments are inter-connected and cannot, nor should they be, separated from each other. For instance, on the Literary Analysis task, you will write an analytic essay based upon your reading of the literary texts presented on the task. This fact completely distinguishes the PARCC from a test like the SAT. In essence, on the PARCC, how well you write will depend upon how well you read. We emphasize this point now and in most every chapter of this book.

Be sure to utilize the graphic organizers provided throughout this guidebook. They will help you in organizing your thoughts, and will help prepare your thinking. Remember that when you are sitting through this test, that the brainstorming and pre-writing stage is particularly essential to your success. By the time you sit down for this exam, you should be able to mentally visualize these easy-to-follow graphic organizers to manage your thinking with ease.

You may become nervous and anxious about thinking on your feet. The setup of this guidebook will give you the confidence and skills needed to have the structure of the essays already pre-planned, and will give you the necessary foresight to predict what the PARCC test will ask you.

If you think you’re a weak reader and writer, which many students do, you need to start seeing these tasks as doable, regardless of your training in your former English language arts classes. Even if you consider yourself a naturally strong reader and writer, each of the three main tasks of the Performance-Based Assessment may still seem difficult. But be patient. Look closely at the steps that we have clearly defined for you. If you can follow these steps, which we know you can do, then you can map out a well-thought response.

We have already mentioned that these performance-based tasks will be new exercises for you. With that said, do not let the title of this assessment, English Language Arts, fool you. Not everything that you write will be based solely on what you’ve learned in your English class this year. These writing tasks are meant to be cross-curricular, which means that various subjects will be integrated into these writing tasks.

With each of these three reading and writing tasks, you will need to use the writing process in conjunction with your own content knowledge. This may require you to access your knowledge of different subject areas, including that of social studies, science, art, along with the reading and writing skills from your English language arts classes.

Introduction to the Narrative Writing Task

(Performance-Based Assessment)

Now that you have been introduced to the structure of the test, and the purpose and philosophy behind the PARCC assessment, it is important to begin introducing you to each of the reading and writing tasks individually.

The narrative writing task has a 50-minute testing time and will require you to organize your thoughts in a way that is both easy to follow and interesting to read. When students think of a narrative, they instantly think of a story. This is understandable, especially because of the nature of narration. As we have discussed in the introduction of all of the writing tasks, you must not forget about all other subjects as you tackle this component of the test. Writing a story is just one of the various possibilities that might need to be completed.

Most simply, this task may require you, as the test-taker, to complete a story. The PARCC will provide you with an introduction, consisting usually of a few sentences, and you will need to take elements from that introduction and remain faithful to those details while completing a story independently. There is a delicate balance that needs to be mastered—through utilizing the details presented—and using them in a meaningful way throughout the presentation of your own narrative.

In this task, we will look at brainstorming strategies and graphic organizers that will help to organize and manage your thoughts creatively.

Along with this organization piece of this writing task, we will also look closely at the usage of language to create a desired effect upon the reader. We will focus our efforts on using language in a purposeful manner. We will review the steps associated with making the connections you need to work through this part of the test.

As discussed earlier, not only will you need to accomplish a creative short story rich in figurative language, the possibility still remains that this task may require you, as the test-taker, to complete either the organized description of a scientific process or historical account.

By integrating separate content areas, you will not only need to know how to organize your thoughts, but you will also have to use your content knowledge to complete the task.