��Sample ELA Sets��
Georgia Milestones
ELA C:\Users\carters2\Desktop\Georgia_Milestones_Content_Weights_2014-15_FINAL.pdf
Criterion-Referenced
Total Number of Items: 44 / Total Number of Points: 55
Breakdown by Item Type:
Norm-Referenced
Embedded Field Test
Total number of items taken by each student: 60
ELA
Grade 3
Passage – “Healthy Cookies”
Please read the selection below and then answer the questions that follow. Healthy Cookies
Mom bought healthy cookies.
It says so on the box.
Does she think I’m going to fall for that,
Like my head is full of rocks?
Mom bought healthy cookies,
And I won’t touch those things.
I want my Choco-Wonder-Treats
And goo-filled Tasty Rings.
Mom bought healthy cookies.
She says it’s them or fruit.
I say, “That’s a rotten choice!
I’d rather eat tree roots!”��Vitamins and fiber, with no sugar to be found �I bet these cookies taste like dirt scraped right up off the ground!��Mom bought healthy cookies,�And now it’s after school.�I need a snack or I will starve.�How can she be so cruel?��Mom bought healthy cookies.�Oh, poor, poor, hungry me!�I’m going to have to sneak some out�When she’s not there to see.�
Mom bought healthy cookies,�And worse, they’re not half bad.�I’ll have to use my secret weapon.�I like to call him “Dad.”��Low fat and no preservatives – how can that be good?�If Mom buys other healthy snacks, I bet they’ll taste like wood!��“Mom bought healthy cookies!”�I say when Dad walks in.�“If we admit to liking them,�She’ll buy those things again!”��“Mom bought healthy cookies?”�Dad asks, while looking grim.�“Oh no! You might grow up to be�Athletic, fit, and slim!”�Mom bought healthy cookies,�And Dad is just no help.�What’s next, cake with lima beans,�Or ice cream made from kelp?1��Mom bought healthy cookies.�I guess that’s not so bad.�And now we’ve learned to say goodbye�To junk food we once had.
Extended Response Item�R.3.2; L.3.1; L.3.2
Write a paragraph that begins with a sentence stating the main message of the poem. Add many specific details from the poem that support this as the main idea.
Answer with complete sentences, and use correct punctuation and grammar.
Rubric
Score | Designation | Description |
4 | Thoroughly Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a thorough understanding of the question and the text by correctly identifying the main message of the poem and using many specific details from the poem that support that message. The student uses complete sentences, correct punctuation and grammar in the writing. |
3 | Clearly Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a clear understanding of the question and the text generally identifying the main message of the poem and providing a few relevant details from the poem that support this message; some details may be general. The student provides a fairly complete answer. The student uses complete sentences as well as correct punctuation and grammar in most of the writing. |
2 | Basically Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the question and the text by identifying the main message of the poem, however, the student offers minimal support; some support may be incorrect or irrelevant. The student uses complete sentences as well as correct punctuation and grammar in some of the writing. |
1 | Minimally Demonstrated | The student demonstrates some understanding of a message in the poem but it may not be the main message, and the answer is not complete. The student offers no support. The student response has significant errors in constructing complete sentences, and/or in using correct punctuation and grammar. |
0 | Incorrect or Irrelevant | The response is incorrect or irrelevant. |
Exemplar Response
The main message of this poem is that it is best to try new things. You can see this when the speaker tries the cookies. Rather than tasting like “dirt scraped right up off the ground,” the girl finds that the cookies are “not half bad.” She also learns from her father that the healthy cookies will help keep her “Athletic, fit, and slim!” You can tell that she gets an open mind when she admits that it is time to say goodbye to junk food.
Student Response�Score 3
Mom bought healthy cookies. It says so on the box. Vitamins and fiber,with no sugar to be found. There is no preservatives and it is low fat. Now no more junk food can be found.
The student demonstrates a clear understanding of the question and the text, generally identifying the main message of the poem (Mom bought healthy cookies) and providing a few relevant details from the poem that support this message (Vitamins and fiber, with no sugar to be found, . . . no preservatives. . . low fat. . . no more junk food). The student provides a fairly complete answer. The student uses complete sentences as well as correct punctuation and grammar in most of the writing.
Student Response�Score 2
Her mom bought healthy cookies.She does not like healthy food.She thinks her dad will help her.When she came back from shcool she was hungry. She did not whant to eat the cookies.
The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the question and the text by identifying the main message of the poem (Her mom bought healthy cookies. She does not like healthy food); however, the student offers minimal support (she thinks her dad willhelp her. . . she was hungry). The student uses complete sentences as well as correct punctuation and grammar in most of the writing.
Student Response�Score 2
Mom bought healthy cookies! I bet they'll taste bad. Low fat, no preservatives, and no sugar to be found.I know I'm not going to like those gritty old things, so why am I trying them? Well,here goes nothing.Yum!You know, these aren't half bad!
The student demonstrates a minimal understanding of the question and the text. Even though the student correctly identifies the main message of the poem (Mom bought healthy cookies) and uses many specific details from the poem that support that message (Low fat, no preservatives, no sugar. . . aren’t half bad), the student only restates the story and does not address the main idea. The student uses complete sentences and correct punctuation and grammar.
Student Response�Score 1
You need to taste it befor you no you do not like it!!!!!!!!!!!
The student demonstrates some understanding of a message in the poem but it’s not the main message (You need to taste it befor you no you do not like it!!!), and the answer is not complete. The student offers no support. The student response has significant errors in constructing complete sentences and in using correct punctuation and grammar.
ELA
Grade 6
Passage – “The Tall Rock”
Extended Response Item�W.6.3; RL.6.6; W.6.3b; W.6.4; L.6.1
Write a conclusion to the story, told from the narrator’s point of view twenty years later. Your narrative should describe the narrator’s conclusions about the childhood experiences with Mountain Rock, but now from the perspective of an adult.
Use details from the text to support your answer.
Answer with complete sentences, and use correct punctuation and grammar.
Rubric
Score | Designation | Description |
4 | Thoroughly Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a thorough understanding by writing a conclusion from the narrator’s point of view as an adult. The conclusion describes the narrator’s conclusions in a way that logically relates to events from the story, and that refers to many specific details from the story. For example, the adult narrator would logically have fond memories of Mountain Rock. The student uses complete sentences, correct punctuation and grammar. |
3 | Clearly Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a clear understanding by writing a conclusion from the narrator’s point of view. The conclusion presents the narrator’s conclusions as an adult, and it logically follows from events in the story. The conclusion includes a few relevant details from the story; some details may be general. The student uses mostly correct sentences, punctuation and grammar. |
2 | Basically Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a basic understanding by writing a conclusion about the narrator’s childhood experiences with Mountain Rock. The conclusion deviates somewhat from the scenario set up in the task, either by failing to plausibly establish the narrator as an adult, or by creating inconsistencies. The student uses minimal support from the story; some support may be incorrect or irrelevant. The student uses some correct sentences, punctuation and grammar. |
1 | Minimally Demonstrated | The student demonstrates a minimal understanding by writing a conclusion that fails to address the topic of the narrator’s childhood experiences, but rather continues where the story leaves off, or presents the narrator as an adult in a way that does not relate to childhood experiences. Examples could include a conclusion in which the narrator’s family unpacks the car and then enjoys a picnic by Mountain Rock, or a conclusion in which the narrator describes his/her job or family as an adult. The student includes no support from the story. The response has significant errors in constructing complete sentences, and/or in using correct punctuation and grammar. |
0 | Incorrect or irrelevant | The response is incorrect or irrelevant. |
Exemplar Response
It was a long time ago the last time I visited Mountain Rock. My grandparents sold their house about ten years ago and moved to an apartment. Even though I am now an adult, I still like to think about the fun I had on Mountain Rock. Of course I got taller and taller until finally I could just step on top of the rock without any help. It was cool to think that when I was just a little kid I needed Grandpa to help me climb the rock. Even when the rock didn’t seem like a big mountain, Grandpa still had to lift me to the top for a long time. One summer when I was a teenager we took our five-year-old cousin Tracy with us to visit my grandparents. On the way there I shouted “I get to climb first.” Nick thought that was hilarious and said, “You kids and your rock!” just like our mom used to say. I’ll always have happy memories of Mountain Rock.
Student Response�Score 4
Twenty Years later,I still remember those olden days we used to vist my grandparent's big white house right up the hill on summer days. when i was little he'd swing me up through the air.the whole hill spun me around the sky was blue and bright.and, the tree's everywhere looked green and enormus.I used to climb the mountain rock.Oh how we loved mountain rock.everytime my brother said" I get to climb first. my mother would say "you kids and your rock.When we reached their house my brother would run and start to climb the rock my arents would just smile put their hands around each other and watch.And i'd just watch looking down.after my grandpa welcolmed us for a second i thought the rock got smaller but it was just that i was getting taller.But all at once i had a though no matter how big,tall or the older i got this would always be the tallest place.I sure do love those memories and i will always keep them!!
The response presents the narrator’s conclusion in a way that logically relates to events from the story and that refers to many specific details from the story. While on the surface this response may appear to summarize the story, the way in which the student handles the language and retelling makes it clear that the narrator truly is reliving fond childhood events twenty years later. The student demonstrates a thorough command of the conventions of standard English. Though there are a few minor errors, primarily typographical, meaning is clear throughout the response.
Student Response�Score 3
20 years later, I had grown into a full grown, mature adult. When we would visit my grandparents i would travel with my mom, dad, and brother. Now that I am an adult I travel with my wife and two girls. I still climb on the "Mountain Rock" just mot as much as I did when I was a kid. Now that I am grown I help my kids climb the wall. They love climbing the wall even more than I did when I was their age. They are always arguing on the trip to my grandparent's house. The main argument is "Who is going to get to clim bthe wall first." Maybe, I will be a grandparent someday and have a "Mountain Rock" for my grandkids to climb on.
The response includes a few relevant details from the story. In order to achieve a higher score, the student needs one or two additional specific details from the story. The student demonstrates command of the conventions of standard English. There are a few distracting errors in grammar and usage but meaning is clear.
Student Response�Score 2
I used to enjoy the climb on the boulder at grandpa's house and how tall i used to feel , and i would anticapate all six hours of the ride there. The rock used to be like a mouantian to me, but now when I revisit I can tell that I have grown alot throughout the years. But I will always remember the thrill of being so high, and to this day it is still the tallest place in the world to me.
The student does not plausibly establish the narrator as an adult. While the student appears to show the narrator reflecting on the past, it is difficult to determine whether or not he or she places the narrator twenty years later or merely summarizes the narrator’s feelings in the story provided. The student uses a few details from the article, but, in order to achieve a higher score, he or she needs to more clearly show that the setting is twenty years later. The student demonstrates an inconsistent command of the conventions of standard English. There are a few distracting errors in grammar and usage, but they do not impede understanding.
Student Response�Score 1
I realized it was the rock that made it worth while,even thought the rock was not big to my eyes it was big to my mind,which made the whole trip alot more memorible,and i couldnt wait to come back next year.
The student demonstrates a minimal understanding by writing a conclusion that does not address the narrator’s childhood experiences but rather continues where the story leaves off. While the student does include support from the story, his or her approach is not acceptable for a higher score. The student demonstrates an inconsistent command of the conventions of standard English. There are a few errors in grammar and usage, but they do not impede understanding.
Student Response�Score 0
The twenty-year old later was confuse about what was going on because the way he saw the mountain. As the big thing but as he got older he was get taller. So now the mountain is now smaller than it really.Is of whaen he was a little boy.
This response is incorrect. While the student opens with a reference to twenty years, he or she merely follows that phrase with a summary of the narrator’s view of the mountain in the story, not twenty years later. In addition, the errors in the conventions make it even more difficult to determine the student’s intent in the response.