Information bulletin. Grade 3 English language arts

36 Pages·1994·7.4 MB·English

by  Alberta. Student Evaluation Branch

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Ex LIBRIS
UNI VERSITATI S
ALBERT/ENSIS
Information Bulletin
Grade 3 E nglish Language Arts
1994-96
This document was written primarily for:
Students ✓
Teachers /
Administrators /
Parents
General Audience
Others
/ S uperintendents
This bulletin contains general information about the Achievement Testing Program and
information specific to the Grade 3 E nglish Language Arts Achievement Test. Additional copies
of the bulletin may be made as needed.
DISTRIBUTION: Superintendents of Schools • S chool Principals and Teachers • T he Alberta
Teachers’ Association • A lberta School Boards Association • O fficials of Alberta Education •
General Public upon Request
October 1994
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERT/
Contents
Page
General Information 1
Administering the Assessment 1
Schedule 1
Students in French Language Programs 1
Reporting the Results 2
Broadened Assessment Initiatives 2
Description of the Language Arts Assessment Standards 2
Purpose of Assessment Standards 2
Acceptable Standard 3
Standard of Excellence 3
Grade 3 L anguage Arts Assessment 4
Part A: Writing 4
Part A: Blueprint 5
Marking 6
Confirming Standards 6
Sample Writing Assignment 6
Scoring Guide 9
Part B: Reading 14
Development 14
Reading Blueprint for Sample Questions 15
Sample Questions 16
Key and Descriptors for Sample Questions 22
Reading Blueprint: Grade 3 L anguage Arts Achievement Test 23
Performance-Based Component 24
Learning Contexts Survey 24
Suggestions for Students 24
Credit 26
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Alberta Education Contact
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General Information To minimize any risks to security, we
recommend that all students complete the
test on the same day. Students who are
The Achievement Testing Program provides
absent when the tests are administered and
teachers, parents, students, school
who return to school by the end of the
administrators, Alberta Education, and the
school year must write the tests upon their
public with information about what students
return. By scheduling the tests early in the
know and can do in relation to provincial
administration period, schools can ensure
standards. Group results are reported at
that most, if not all, absentees are tested. The
school, district, and provincial levels to
principal is responsible for ensuring the
improve learning opportunities for students.
security of the tests.
The assessments are administered in two
Beginning in 1995, the tests that will be
subject areas at Grade 3 — language arts and
administered each year are:
mathematics — and in four subject areas at
grades 6 a nd 9 — language arts, mathematics, Grade 3
social studies, and science.
English Language Arts {Part A: Writing
and Part B: Reading )
The assessments are based on provincial
Mathematics (English and French forms)
standards, which reflect important learnings
in the subject areas listed above. Classroom
Grade 6
teachers from across the province are
English Language Arts {Part A: Writing
extensively involved in developing and field
and Part B: Reading )
testing the assessment instruments.
Mathematics (English and French forms)
Social Studies (English and French forms)
Science (English and French forms)
Administering the Assessment
Fran£ais 6e Annee {Partie A: Production
Information about the nature of the ecrite and Partie B: Lecture)
provincial assessments as well as their
Grade 9
administration to special-needs students can
English Language Arts {Part A: Writing
be found in the General Information
and Part B: Reading )
Bulletin, Achievement Testing Program,
Mathematics (English and French forms)
which has been mailed to all superintendents
Social Studies (English and French forms)
and principals.
Science (English and French forms)
Frangais 9e Annee {Partie A: Production
Schedule ecrite and Partie B: Lecture )
The written-response component of English
Students in French Language Programs
and French Language Arts must be
administered during the first week of June.
Beginning in June 1995, all students in
The machine-scorable component of all
achievement tests must be administered Francophone and French Immersion
programs must write the French form of the
during the last two weeks of June. Specific
achievement tests. Alberta Education will
information regarding scheduling is
send enrollment forms to schools by
provided in the current General Information
Bulletin. February requesting an indication of how
many English or French tests are required.
These forms must be returned through
jurisdiction offices by mid-March.
1
Reporting the Results 1997 ‘problem-solving and decision-
making activities in social studies
Each school jurisdiction will receive a 1998 ‘performance tasks in science
district report and school reports for their
Grade 9
students’ achievement, as well as guidelines
for interpreting these results in relation to 1995 ‘problem-solving and decision-
provincial standards. making activities in social studies
1996 ‘problem-solving activities in
mathematics
To facilitate reflection on school programs,
we expect that results will be shared with all 1997 ‘performance tasks in science
school staffs (not just teachers of grades 3, 1998 ‘performance tasks in language arts
6, and 9), as well as with parents and the
community.
Description of the Language
Individual student profiles will be sent to the
Arts Assessment Standards
school that the student will attend in
September. We also expect that these
reports will be shared with parents.
The provincial standards are the basis upon
which we assess how well students are doing
Provincial results will be made public in
in reading and writing by the end of Grade
September. A d etailed Achievement Testing
3. These standards reflect the essential
Program Provincial Report is p ublished
learnings that all Alberta students are
annually.
expected to achieve. Provincial standards
are useful, therefore, for assessing Grade 3
Broadened Assessment Initiatives students in all types of school programs —
public, private, and home education.
The Student Evaluation Branch has
developed additional instruments to collect a
broader base of information about what Purpose of A ssessment Standards
students know and can do than achievement
tests themselves can provide. These These statements describe what is expected
instruments will be administered to a of Grade 3 s tudents who are meeting the
provincial sample of students in all subjects acceptable standard or the standard of
on a r otating basis: excellence on independent work at the end
of the Grade 3 L anguage Arts program.
Grade 3
These statements represent the standards
against which student achievement will be
1995 ‘“whole book” performance-based
assessment in language arts measured. By comparing actual results to
1996 •problem-solving activities in expected provincial standards, decisions can
mathematics be made about whether achievement is in
1997 ‘“whole book” performance-based fact “good enough.”
assessment in language arts
1998 •problem-solving activities in
mathematics
Grade 6
1995 •problem-solving activities in
mathematics
1 996 ‘“whole book” performance-based
assessment in language arts
2
Acceptable Standard classrooms. They are expected to be able to
use the features of narrative/poetic and
Writing informational text to aid understanding.
They should be able to use their own prior
Students who meet the acceptable standard experiences, knowledge of language, as well
for writing in Grade 3 L anguage Arts are as context clues in order to make meaning
expected to be able to retell a series of from text. They are expected to be able to
connected personal experiences as a recognize explicit relationships between
narrative and to tell stories from their own events and characters in a story. To meet
perspective. They should be able to use the acceptable standard , students are
narrative formats on their own. They are expected to explore print and non-print
able to use a w riting style that generally sources to extend knowledge, retell key
holds the reader’ s i nterest. details or important ideas, and draw
conclusions.
Students meeting the acceptable standard
are expected to use relevant but general
Standard of Excellence
details and/or ideas in their writing. They Writing
are expected to focus the writing on the
important ideas related to a t opic and to
arrange those ideas in a d iscernible order.
Students who meet the standard of
They are expected to provide a b eginning
excellence for writing in Grade 3 L anguage
and an ending that are connected to the ideas
Arts are expected to comfortably retell a
presented in the piece. They are also
series of connected experiences as a
expected to be able to compose stories narrative and to tell stories from their own
following a b asic story structure.
perspective or from another young child’ s
perspective. The expectation is that they are
The expectation is that students meeting the
able to experiment with a v ariety of
acceptable standard experiment with words
narrative formats. They are expected to
and sentence structures to express their ideas
express a unique experience and their own
and experiences. They are expected to use
personality through their choice of topic,
words and expressions that are clear,
characters, actions, and specific language,
although general.
using a style which captivates and holds the
reader’ s i nterest.
Students who meet the acceptable standard
for writing in Grade 3 L anguage Arts are
To meet the standard of excellence , s tudents
expected to use complete sentences, with
are expected to use specific details and/or
correct capitalization and end punctuation,
ideas that are appropriate for achieving the
most of the time. They are expected to be
purpose of the writing. They are expected to
able to spell many familiar words correctly
focus the writing on the important ideas
and unfamiliar words phonetically.
related to a t opic, and arrange them in a
logical sequence without gaps in the
Reading presentation of information. They are
expected to begin their writing in an
Students who meet the acceptable standard interesting manner and to draw it to a
for reading in Grade 3 L anguage Arts are conclusion that is related to the focus of the
expected to read and understand a v ariety of piece. They should be able to compose
types of fiction and non-fiction materials stories that incorporate setting, problem, and
that are commonly found in Grade 3 external responses of the main characters
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Grade 3 L anguage Arts
and resolution. They are also able to
experiment with dialogue in their writing. Assessment
The expectation is that students meeting the
The Grade 3 L anguage Arts Assessment
standard of excellence experiment with
consists of four components:
words and sentence structures to express
ideas and experiences. They are expected to
show control and variation in the use of • Part A: Writing consists of one writing
assignment to be given during a p eriod
sentence structure and to choose specific
words to create desired effects. totalling approximately 70 minutes,
preferably the 20-minute period directly
Students who meet the standard of preceding recess and the 50-minute period
excellence for writing in Grade 3 L anguage directly following recess. Included in the
total period is time for discussion,
Arts are expected to correctly use capital
letters, periods, and question and planning, drafting, and revising.
exclamation marks. They are expected to be
able to produce correct spellings for • Part B: Reading , t o be administered
frequently used words and apply their during a 6 0-minute period, consists of 40
knowledge of common spelling patterns multiple-choice questions based on
correctly when spelling unfamiliar words. reading selections from fiction, non-
fiction, poetry, and visual media. The
Reading booklet for Part B: Reading contains both
the reading selections and the questions.
Answers are to be recorded in the test
Students who meet the standard of
booklet.
excellence for reading in Grade 3 L anguage
Arts are expected to read and clearly
Additional time of approximately 30
understand an increasing variety of genres,
including those that are not the usual story minutes may be provided for students to
complete each part.
form. They are expected to be able to use
their understanding of the organizational
structure and presentation of narrative/poetic Students may NOT use a d ictionary when
and informational text to assist them as completing either Part A o r Part B.
readers. They should be able to draw on
prior experiences, knowledge of language, • Performance-Based Component will be
and context clues in order to make meaning completed by a p rovincial sample of Grade
3 s tudents (to be administered in 1995).
from text. They are expected to be able to
understand explicit as well as implicit
relationships between events and characters • Learning Contexts Survey will be
in a story. To meet the standard of completed by a p rovincial sample of Grade
3 t eachers and students (to be administered
excellence , s tudents are expected to explore in 1995).
print and non-print sources to extend
knowledge, and to synthesize information
and draw conclusions or make judgements.
Part A: Writing
For Part A: Writing , students will be given a
writing prompt and a p icture and will be
allowed to choose the format that will best
fit their approach to the prompt (narrative,
letter, diary /journal entries, etc.). The
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