Study Guide

Field 231: Multi-Subject: Teachers of Middle Childhood
(Grade 5–Grade 9)
Part One: Literacy and English Language Arts

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Sample Constructed-Response Item 1

Competency 0004 
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application

start bold Use the information provided in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold

Using your knowledge of content and sound pedagogical practices in literacy and English language arts, analyze the information provided and write a response of approximately 400– to  600 words in which you:

• identify one significant strength the student demonstrates in the area of writing, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• identify one significant need the student demonstrates in the area of writing, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• describe one learning activity or instructional strategy that would effectively address the student's identified need or build on the student's identified strength; and
• explain how the learning activity or instructional strategy you described would be effective in addressing the student's need or building on the student's strength.

Be sure to use evidence from  start bold all end bold  the exhibits in your response.

Exhibit 1: Excerpt and Writing Assignment

Students in an eighth-grade class are reading Esmeralda Santiago's memoir start italics When I Was Puerto Rican. end italics The teacher assigns the excerpt below for students to use as the source for a writing assignment.

 start bold Excerpt end bold 

Our house sat on concrete stilts that allowed enough headroom underneath for us to stake out play areas with clearly defined boundaries. Discarded pieces of zinc, chicken wire, cardboard, torn sheets that Mami had given us, and dried palm fronds formed the walls of our very own  start italics barrio end italics  under the house. My spot was on the back corner nearest the kitchen, where the land sloped toward Papi's shed. I couldn't quite stand up, but I could crawl in and kneel or squat comfortably. I had swept the ground smooth and placed mismatched tiles in the center for a colorful mosaic floor. It was there that I went when I was sick and tired of everybody, which was most of my twelfth year.

Through a hole in the burlap bag that served as the door of my hideaway I had a view of the creek, the malanga* and bananas growing on the slope, and the gardenia near the porch. The more I looked at it, the more I loved that bush that had never flowered. It was oval shaped, with branches sticking out here and there like a woman who had not combed her hair.

"Papi," I asked one night as he sat on the porch reading the paper, "how come the gardenia never blossoms?"

"It probably needs water," he said.

So every day I filled an old coffee can two or three times and watered around the roots of the bush, moistening the earth until it became spongy. The bush grew rounder, taller, its leaves thick and green.

"If you prune the tips," Mami said, "it will grow faster and fuller."

With a rusty pair of scissors, I trimmed the branches. "I'm sorry, little tree," I murmured so no one else could hear, "but I want you to grow and give us flowers." Whatever I cut off, I put under the bush, to feed the roots.

"I've taken real good care of it," I said to Papi, "but it still won't bloom."

"It takes patience. You've only been doing it for a week. Give it time."

"It won't flower when you want it to," Mami said. "Keep taking care of it and you'll see. One day it will surprise you."¹Acknowledgments 1

---

* start bold and italics malanga end bold and italics : Spanish name for a tropical root vegetable

After students read the excerpt independently, they discuss it as a class. The teacher then gives students the writing assignment below and the rubric that appears in Exhibit 2: Rubric.

Assignment

Write an essay about how the author uses the setting to convey information about her thoughts and feelings. Your essay will be graded according to the rubric.

Exhibit 2: Rubric

this cell intentionally left blank.		SCORE
Criteria	NYSLS2Acknowledgments 2  Anchor	4  Essays at this level:	3  Essays at this level:	2  Essays at this level:
CONTENT AND ANALYSIS How well does your essay convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately to support claims in an analysis of the text?	W.2 R.1– to 3	clearly introduce a topic in a manner that is compelling and follows logically from the task and purpose of the essay demonstrate insightful analysis of the text	clearly introduce a topic in a manner that follows from the task and purpose of the essay demonstrate grade-appropriate analysis of the text	introduce a topic in a manner that follows generally from the task and purpose of the essay demonstrate a literal comprehension of the text
COMMAND OF EVIDENCE How well does your essay present evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection?	W.5 R.1– to 3	develop the topic with concrete details, quotations, or other examples from the text sustain the use of varied, relevant evidence	develop the topic with details, quotations, or other information and examples from the text sustain the use of relevant evidence, with some lack of variety	partially develop the topic with textual evidence, some of which may be irrelevant use relevant evidence inconsistently
COHERENCE, ORGANIZATION, AND STYLE How well does your essay logically organize complex ideas, concepts, and information using formal style and precise language?	W.2 L.3 L.6	exhibit clear organization, with the skillful use of appropriate and varied transitions to create a unified whole and enhance meaning establish and maintain a formal style, using grade-appropriate, stylistically sophisticated language and domain-specific vocabulary with a notable sense of voice provide a concluding statement or section that is compelling and follows clearly from the topic and information presented	exhibit clear organization, with the use of appropriate transitions to create a unified whole establish and maintain a formal style using precise language and domain-specific vocabulary provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the topic and information presented	exhibit some attempt at organization, with inconsistent use of transitions establish but fail to maintain a formal style, with inconsistent use of language and domain-specific vocabulary provide a concluding statement or section that follows generally from the topic and information presented
COMMAND OF CONVENTIONS How well does your essay demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling?	W.2 L.1 L.2	demonstrate grade-appropriate command of conventions, with few errors	demonstrate grade-appropriate command of conventions, with occasional errors that do not get in the way of comprehension	demonstrate emerging command of conventions, with some errors that may get in the way of comprehension

Exhibit 3: Student Writing Sample

Michael, a student whose home language is English, writes the first draft of an essay for the writing assignment. Michael's first draft appears below.

In her memoir When I Was Puerto Rican, Esmeralda Santiago talks about growing up in Puerto Rico. She and her family were very poor. They lived in many different places. Their first house had a dirt floor. Sometimes they stayed with relatives. Finally, they get a better house where Esmeralda has her own room next to the kitchen. This is a big deal because she has a lot of brothers and sisters. In the part we read for this assignment, Esmeralda Santiago shows how she was trying to be more independant.

Esmeralda is 12 and she has a "hideaway" under the house. She puts tiles on the dirt, like when her father installed a floor in the first house. Esmeralda likes to stay under the house behind a "burlap bag that served as the door" and look at a gardenia bush that doesn't have flowers. She "loved that bush that had never flowered." I think she loved it because it represented possibilities. She wants to get older and do what she wants so her dreams can come true insted of hiding under the house.

Esmeralda asks her mother and father how to make the gardenia bush flower. Her parents are always arguing, so it is no suprise when they give her different advise. Her father says to water it. After she waters it: "The bush grew rounder, taller, its leaves thick and green." Her mother says to prune it. Esmeralda cuts the tips off the branches and puts them under the bush "to feed the roots." But still no flowers.

Esmeralda is like the gardenia bush. She tries to cut herself off from the family so she can be her own person. I understand how she feels. But she doesn't go far. She stays under the house. Her parents are like roots for the family. Esmeralda still needs them to help her grow up. This is hard to except when you are 12. Esmeralda's mother says, "One day it will suprise you." The big suprise comes later when Esmeralda finds out they are moving to Brooklyn.

Exhibit 4: Student Self-Assessment and Reflection

After students complete the writing assignment, the teacher asks them to answer a question in their writing journals as part of their ongoing self-assessment and reflection. The teacher's question and Michael's response appear below.

 start bold What did you find challenging about writing the first draft of your essay? end bold 

     Usualy when I read I just want to know what happens next, I don't want to stop and analyse things to much. Nothing really happens in this part of the book so at first I thought it was boring, but after we talked about it in class I changed my mind. When we started reading this book, the teacher explained that you can't put every detail from your life in a memoir cause it would take forever to write everything down and it would be super boring to read. You have to pick details because they mean something to you. In class we talked about how Esmeralda Santiago could've described a lot of things in this seen, but she wrote about hiding under the house and the gardenia bush because they show what she was thinking and feeling when she was 12, like trying to be more independant but still wanting her parents to help her. I didn't really get that when I read it the first time. It's like when you lissen to a song one time and you think you know what it's about, but after a few more times you realise it's alot more complicated.

Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 1

Sample Constructed-Response Item 2

Competency 0004 
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application

start bold Use the information provided in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold

Using your knowledge of content and sound pedagogical practices in literacy and English language arts, analyze the information provided and write a response of approximately 400–600 words in which you:

• identify one significant strength the student demonstrates in the area of reading, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• identify one significant need the student demonstrates in the area of reading, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• describe one learning activity or instructional strategy that would effectively address the student's identified need or build on the student's identified strength; and
• explain how the learning activity or instructional strategy you described would be effective in addressing the student's need or building on the student's strength.

Be sure to use evidence from  start bold all end bold  the exhibits in your response.

Exhibit 1: Excerpt

As part of a cross-curricular unit on physical science in everyday life, a ninth-grade teacher assigns students to read an excerpt from "How Roller Coasters Work," an article by Tom Harris and Cherise Threewitt. Students read the excerpt and respond to it in writing in preparation for a small group discussion about forces that can act on the human body. The excerpt appears below.

 start bold Excerpt end bold 

To understand the sensations you feel in a roller coaster, let's look at the basic forces at work on your body. Wherever you are on Earth, gravity is pulling you down toward the ground. But the force you actually notice isn't this downward pull, it's the upward pressure of the ground underneath you. The ground stops your descent to the center of the planet. It pushes up on your feet, which push up on the bones in your legs, which push up on your rib cage and so on. This is the feeling of weight. At every point on a roller coaster ride, gravity is pulling you straight down.

The other force acting on you is acceleration. When you are riding in a coaster car that is traveling at a constant speed, you only feel the downward force of gravity. But as the car speeds up or slows down, you feel pressed against your seat or the restraining bar. You feel this force because your inertia is separate from that of the coaster car. When you ride a roller coaster, all the forces we've discussed are acting on your body in different ways.

Newton's first law of motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. That is, your body will keep going at the same speed in the same direction unless some other force acts on you to change that speed or direction. When the coaster speeds up, the seat in the cart pushes you forward, accelerating your motion. When the cart slows down, your body naturally wants to keep going at its original speed. The harness in front of you accelerates your body backward, slowing you down.³3

Exhibit 2: Student Written Response

Alicia, a student whose home language is English, silently reads the excerpt from "How Roller Coasters Work" and then responds in writing to two prompts in preparation for the discussion. The prompts and Alicia's written responses appear below.

 start bold Summarize the first two paragraphs of the excerpt in your own words. end bold 

You always feel gravity because that is what holds your feet on the ground. Gravity wants to pull you into the center of Earth, but it can't. The ground stops it. If you're riding a roller coaster you feel a force called acceleration. That's when the roller coaster moves forward and you move with it.

 start bold Describe how Newton's first law of motion applies to roller coasters. end bold 

Newton said that an object in motion stays in motion. When you're riding in a roller coaster car, you and the car are moving at the same speed. If the car slows down, your body wants to keep going at the same speed. That's why it's important to wear a safety harness when you ride a roller coaster. If you're not strapped in, you'll fly out of the coaster car when it stops! Newton's first law of motion is also why we should always wear safety belts in moving cars and airplanes.

Exhibit 3: Teacher Notes

After responding individually in writing to the excerpt from "How Roller Coasters Work," students break into small groups. The teacher documents informal observations of Alicia's participation in one of the groups. The teacher's notes appear below.

Alicia connected the excerpt to her background knowledge, telling group members that she had ridden several roller coasters. For a group member who had never ridden one, Alicia wanted to help him understand the concepts, saying that, "It's like going up and down hills in a race car. You feel different kinds of pulls on your body."

In the first of Alicia's two written responses, which she read aloud to the group, Alicia glossed over key details that would have clarified gravitational and accelerative forces. These oversights demonstrated that she had difficulty accurately paraphrasing challenging science concepts in the excerpt. After another group member pointed this out, Alicia acknowledged that she wasn't quite sure she understood the concepts, but she knew how they felt. Alicia personalized her second written response ("Here's how I know.") and demonstrated that she recognizes the effect acceleration would have on one's body in this particular situation ("If you're not strapped in, you'll fly out of the coaster car when it stops!").

As discussion facilitator, Alicia made sure to elicit comments from each group member and moved the discussion along smoothly. Despite her enthusiasm about roller coaster riding, she was careful not to monopolize the discussion.

Exhibit 4: Student Self-Assessment and Reflection

After the small-group discussion, the teacher asks students to answer questions in their reading journals as part of their ongoing self-assessment and reflection. The teacher's questions and Alicia's responses appear below.

 start bold What important information did you learn from the class discussion? end bold 

One student in my group had never ridden a roller coaster so we tried to help him understand how it feels. I definitely learned that gravity and acceleration are hard to understand. I learned that I wasn't able to explain them very well.

 start bold Make a list of words from the excerpt that you didn't know and write down the strategy you used to understand each word. end bold 

1. descentAt first I thought this was the word "decent" but that didn't make sense. The ground stops your decent to the center of the planet? So I looked up "descent" in the dictionary. It means downward movement. I read the sentence again and substituted "downward movement" for "descent" and it made sense.
2. accelerationI thought about it for a minute and then I linked "acceleration" to a word I know, "accelerator." That's the car pedal that makes a car go. The more you press your foot on it, the faster the car goes. Roller coaster cars don't have gas pedals. When they're going up, roller coaster cars go slow, but when they're going down, they go faster and faster, as if you were pressing on the gas.
3. inertiaI decided to ask three classmates before asking the teacher. The first classmate I asked sat in a chair and didn't move. She said she was showing me inertia. I got it!

Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 2

Performance Characteristics for a Constructed-Response Item

The following characteristics guide the scoring of the response to a constructed-response item.

Completeness	The degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment
Accuracy	The degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively
Depth of Support	The degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning

Score Scale for a Constructed-Response Item

A score will be assigned to the response to a constructed-response item according to the following score scale.

Score Point	Score Point Description
4	The "4" response reflects a thorough command of the relevant knowledge and skills: The response thoroughly addresses all parts of the assignment. The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with thorough accuracy and effectiveness. The response is well supported by relevant examples and details and thoroughly demonstrates sound reasoning.
3	The "3" response reflects a general command of the relevant knowledge and skills: The response generally addresses all parts of the assignment. The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with general accuracy and effectiveness. The response is generally supported by some examples and/or details and generally demonstrates sound reasoning.
2	The "2" response reflects a partial command of the relevant knowledge and skills: The response addresses all parts of the assignment, but most only partially; or some parts are not addressed at all. The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with partial accuracy and effectiveness. The response is partially supported by some examples and/or details or demonstrates flawed reasoning.
1	The "1" response reflects little or no command of the relevant knowledge and skills: The response minimally addresses the assignment. The response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills with minimum accuracy and effectiveness. The response is minimally supported or demonstrates significantly flawed reasoning.
U	The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic or off task, unreadable, written in a language other than English or contains an insufficient amount of original work to score.
B	No response.

Acknowledgments

¹ © copyright  1993 Esmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican. Reprinted by permission of Addison-Wesley, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

² From the New York State Education Department. New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Learning Standards. Internet. Available from http://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/new-york-state-next-generation-english-language-arts-learning-standards; accessed 1/10/2019.

³ Harris, Tom and Cherise Threewitt "How Roller Coasters Work" From HowStuffWorks.com, 9 August 2007 © copyright  2018 HowStuffWorks.com. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express written permission is prohibited.

Copyright © 2019 by the New York State Education Department