Study Guide

Field 241: Multi-Subject: Secondary Teachers
(Grade 7–Grade 12)
Part One: Literacy and English Language Arts

Recommendation for individuals using a screenreader: please set your punctuation settings to "most."

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 prepare a response of approximately 400– to  600 words in which you:

• identify one significant strength the student demonstrates, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• identify one significant need the student demonstrates, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• describe a learning activity or an 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

During a unit on civil rights, a ninth-grade teacher sets the learning goal below.

Students will be able to read and analyze a historical document to identify the central idea and reflect on their learning.

The teacher assigns students to read an excerpt from a speech delivered by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1987 on the occasion of the bicentennial of the Constitution. Students read the excerpt and respond to it in writing in preparation for a whole-class discussion about rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The excerpt appears below.

For a sense of the evolving nature of the Constitution we need look no further than the first three words of the document's preamble: "We the people." When the Founding Fathers used this phrase in 1787, they did not have in mind the majority of America's citizens. "We the People" included, in the words of the Framers, "the whole Number of free Persons." On a matter so basic as the right to vote, for example, Negro slaves were excluded, although they were counted for representational purposes at three fifths each. Women did not gain the right to vote for over a hundred and thirty years....

It took a bloody civil war before the 13th Amendment could be adopted to abolish slavery, though not the consequences slavery would have for future Americans.

While the Union survived the civil war, the Constitution did not. In its place arose a new, more promising basis for justice and equality, the 14th Amendment, ensuring protection of the life, liberty, and property of all persons against deprivations without due process, and guaranteeing equal protection of the laws. And yet almost another century would pass before any significant recognition was obtained of the rights of black Americans to share equally even in such basic opportunities as education, housing, and employment, and to have their votes counted, and counted equally.¹Acknowledgments 1

Exhibit 2: Student Written Response

Beth, a student whose home language is English, silently reads the excerpt from Thurgood Marshall's speech and then responds in writing to two comprehension questions. The questions and Beth's written responses appear below.

What is the central idea in the excerpt?

Beth writes:

The central idea is that the Constitution was involved. The Founding Fathers talked about "the people," but they didn't mean all people. The Farmers were only talking about numbers of free Persons. Slaves and women could not vote. The original Constitution did not survive the Civil War. After the Civil War, there was a new constitution called the 14th Amendment.

The next question reads:

Why are the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments important?

Beth writes:

The 13th Amendment ended slavery. The 14th Amendment replaced the Constitution. It guaranteed protection for everybody's lives, liberty, and property. It was a long process. It took 100 years for African Americans to have such basic opportunities as education, housing, and employment, and to have their votes counted equally.

Exhibit 3: Teacher Notes

After the whole-class discussion about the excerpt from Thurgood Marshall's speech, the teacher documents informal observations related to Beth's reading comprehension and her participation in the discussion. The teacher's notes appear below.

The teacher writes:

Beth struggled to understand the information in this document, especially the unfamiliar vocabulary and complex ideas.

Before the discussion, I showed the class a slide of the preamble of the Constitution. Beth recognized the phrase "We the People" and said, "They're not talking about all the people who were living in the United States in 1787. They're not talking about the slaves."

Beth was quiet at the beginning of the discussion. She listened to her classmates before she spoke up. She often has strong opinions and is not shy about voicing them when she feels comfortable. Today, at the end of the class discussion, Beth announced that she did not understand why it took so long for African Americans to get the equal rights promised by the 14th Amendment, or why it took 130 years for women to get the right to vote. This is evidence that her active listening during the class discussion helped her clarify and reflect on her understanding of the text.

Exhibit 4: Student Self-Assessment and Reflection

After the whole-class 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 Beth's responses appear below.

What important information did you learn from the discussion?

Beth writes:

I learned that the people who wrote the Constitution are called Founding Fathers because they founded the U.S. government. This  start underline found end underline  is not the same as when you say "I  start underline found end underline  my keys." They are also called Framers because they  start underline framed end underline  the Constitution. Framing the Constitution is not the same as framing a picture. I'm glad I didn't say anything about the farmers! I would've felt stupid!

When Thurgood Marshall talked about the "evolving nature of the Constitution," he meant that it changes. I was confused. I thought he meant the Constitution was replaced. We still have the Constitution, but it is different because it has Amendments.

The next question reads:

 start bold Make a list of words from the speech that you did not know, write down the strategy you used to understand each word, and define them. end bold 

Beth writes:

1. preamble
   I know pre- means before, but I'm not sure what the rest means. So I decided to look it up.



2. deprivations
   I thought maybe it meant something like not private. I decided to wait until we talked about the speech to see if someone explained it. No one really talked about it.



3. due process
   I remember the teacher talking about this but I can't remember what it means. It's pretty 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 prepare a response of approximately 400–600 words in which you:

• identify one significant strength the student demonstrates, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• identify one significant need the student demonstrates, citing specific evidence from the exhibits to support your assessment;
• describe a learning activity or an instructional strategy that would effectively address the student's identified need  start italics or end italics  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  start italics or end italics  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

An eleventh-grade teacher sets the learning goal below.

Students will be able to write an analytical essay by drawing evidence from an informational text. Students will be able to reflect on their writing process.

After students read Jeannette Walls's memoir  start italics The Glass Castle end italics , the teacher assigns the excerpt below for students to use as the source for the writing assignment.

 start bold Excerpt end bold 

When the rains finally came, the skies darkened and the air became heavy. Raindrops the size of marbles came pelting out of the sky. Some parents worried that their kids might get hit by lightning, but Mom and Dad never did, and they let us go out and play in the warm, driving water. We splashed and sang and danced. Great bolts of lightning cracked from the low-hanging clouds, and thunder shook the ground. We gasped over the most spectacular bolts, as if we were all watching a fireworks show. After the storm, Dad took us to the arroyos, and we watched the flash floods come roaring through. The next day the saguaros and prickly pears were fat from drinking as much as they could, because they knew it might be a long, long time until the next rain.

We were sort of like the cactus. We ate irregularly, and when we did, we'd gorge ourselves. Once when we were living in Nevada, a train full of cantaloupes heading east jumped the track. I had never eaten a cantaloupe before, but Dad brought home crates and crates of them. We had fresh cantaloupe, stewed cantaloupe, even fried cantaloupe. One time in California, the grape pickers went on strike. The vineyard owners let people come pick their own grapes for a nickel a pound. We drove about a hundred miles to the vineyards, where the grapes were so ripe they were about to burst on the vine in bunches bigger than my head. We filled our entire car full of green grapes—the trunk, even the glove compartment, and Dad piled stacks in our laps so high we could barely see over the top. For weeks afterward, we ate green grapes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.²acknowledgements 2

After the 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.

 start bold Assignment end bold 

Write an essay in which you describe the tone of the excerpt and explain how Jeannette Walls conveys the tone that you have described. Your essay will be graded according to the rubric.

Exhibit 2: Rubric

Score Rubric

Score
Criteria	NY SLS3acknowledgements 3	6  Essays at this Level:	5  Essays at this Level:	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?	W.5	introduce an insightful topic or thesis develop the topic or thesis with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other examples demonstrate insightful analysis of the text	introduce a precise and thoughtful topic or thesis develop the topic or thesis by selecting relevant and sufficient facts, details, quotations, or other examples demonstrate thorough analysis of the text	introduce a precise topic or thesis develop the topic or thesis consistently by selecting relevant facts, details, or examples demonstrate effective analysis of the text	introduce a reasonable topic or thesis develop the topic or thesis by selecting relevant supporting facts, details, or examples demonstrate consistent analysis of the text	introduce a topic or thesis as directed by the prompt develop the topic or thesis inconsistently, using some relevant supporting facts, details, or examples demonstrate some analysis of the text
Command of Evidence How well does your essay present evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection?	W.5	present the most significant and relevant evidence from the text to support insightful analysis and reflection clearly and fully use thoughtful reasoning to support the topic or thesis	present relevant and precise evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection clearly and consistently use thoughtful reasoning to support the topic or thesis	present sufficient relevant evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection consistently use valid reasoning to support the topic or thesis	present some relevant evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection use reasoning to support the topic or thesis	present little relevant evidence from the text to support analysis inconsistently support the topic or thesis
Coherence, Organization, and Style How well does your essay organize complex ideas, concepts, and information in a logical way, using formal style and precise language?	W.1 L.3	exhibit skillful organization of ideas and information to create a unified and coherent sequence of ideas establish and maintain a formal style, using precise language with domain-specific vocabulary vary sentence structure to enhance meaning and effectively communicate complex ideas	exhibit a sustained organization of ideas and information to create a coherent sequence of ideas establish and maintain a formal style, using precise language with domain-specific vocabulary vary sentence structure to support meaning and communicate complex ideas	exhibit organization of ideas, concepts, and information to create a coherent whole establish and maintain a formal style, using effective language may vary sentence structure to support meaning and communicate complex ideas	exhibit some organization of ideas, concepts, and information, creating a mostly coherent whole establish but fail to maintain a formal style, consistently using appropriate language may sometimes vary sentence structure to communicate ideas	exhibit some organization of ideas, concepts, and information but with little consistency exhibit inconsistent use of a formal style, using appropriate language that is sometimes imprecise do not vary sentence structure
Command of Conventions How well does your essay demonstrate command of conventions of standard English?	L.3 L.5 L.6	demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with few errors, even when using sophisticated language	demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with occasional errors, mostly when using sophisticated language	demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with occasional errors that do not hinder understanding	demonstrate partial command of conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with errors that do not hinder understanding	demonstrate emerging command of conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with some errors that may hinder understanding

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.

Jeannette Walls's parents didn't take care of their kids the way they should have, so Jeannette Walls should be angry or upset, but her tone is not angry or upset. She wants the reader to think that she was happy when she was a kid, even though her family didn't have enough to eat. Or had too much of one thing, like cantaloupe. I can't believe they ate that much cantaloupe. I also can't believe that they fried it. Who ever heard of fried cantaloupe? Walls doesn't say she got sick, but I bet she did, and I bet she doesn't eat cantaloupe now. Or grapes! She makes it sound like eating cantaloupes that fell off a train and stuffing the car with grapes was a game.

Jeannette Walls was happy that her parents weren't like other parents. They didn't worry about their kids playing outside during a lightning storm. It was like a free fireworks show. After the storm, their dad took them to watch flash floods. That was probably as dangerous as playing outside during a lightning storm, but Walls doesn't say that her parents were irresponsible, just that they were different.

The second paragraph starts with a simile: "We were sort of like a cactus." A cactus can store water for a long time, so it doesn't need rain every day. Children cannot store food inside their bodies for a long time. They have to eat every day. So the cactus simile doesn't really make sense. She's trying to make excuses for her parents. Instead of describing how it felt to be hungry, Walls describes what they ate when they did have food.

The tone of the excerpt isn't sad or angry or upset. Walls just gives us the facts and sounds kind of cheerful about them. However, I felt sad and angry while I was reading the excerpt.

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 

I found it challenging to describe the tone, because I couldn't believe that Walls wasn't angry at her parents. When I was writing my draft I had an internal struggle over whether I was answering the assignment correctly, because I wanted to talk about how I felt, but I knew I was supposed to talk about how Walls felt. I understand that tone is the narrator's attitude, not the reader's. I think I figured out the tone, but it was challenging for me to figure out how Walls conveys that tone. She doesn't state directly how she feels about her childhood experiences. Like I said in my essay, she doesn't say that she got sick from eating too much cantaloupe or that she knew it was dangerous to be outside in a lightning storm. The cactus simile is a positive spin on not having enough to eat.

When I revise my essay, I will try to find more examples from the excerpt to support my points and I will try not to put in so much of my opinion, even though I'm angry at her parents.

Sample 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.

Table outlining performance characteristics.

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 Republished with permission of Harvard Law Review Association, from "Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution" published in the Harvard Law Review by Thurgood Marshall, 1987; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

² From THE GLASS CASTLE: A MEMOIR by Jeannette Walls. Copyright © 2005 by Jeannette Walls. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

³ From the New York State Education Department. New York State Next Generation English Language Arts and Mathematics Learning Standards. Internet. Available from http://www.nysed.gov/next-generation-learning-standards; accessed 1/9/2019.

Copyright © 2019 by the New York State Education Department