2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
OVERVIEW & ADMINISTRATION GUIDE
Interim Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – Grade 1
This is a formative assessment to measure students’ independent informative/explanatory writing ability at this
point in the year, and to inform future writing instruction.
The K-2 assessment is adapted from achievethecore.org In Common: Effective Writing for All Students.
These K-2 prompts address the same topic at varying degrees of rigor: What can you do to save water?
This will allow for both grade level and vertical articulation at the school sites, as well as identification of student
instructional needs and topics for teacher professional development.
•
Supports for English Learners, such as cloze sentences, graphic organizers, pictures, etc., should be
used during INSTRUCTION leading up to the assessment, but not in the assessment administration.
Many supports are already embedded within the task itself.
PREPARATION:
•
Teachers should preview the video to find stopping points for student discussion, and to evaluate what
scaffolds need to be in place for our English Learners and Students with Special Needs prior to
assessment administration. Students will be closely “reading” the visual text (video) during the assessment
to build background knowledge for the assessment.
•
Please ensure student discussion protocols are established in order for students to engage in the
assessment process.
•
Students should have access to drawing and writing materials, so they can capture their thoughts on paper
during pair-share discussions, watching the video, and drafting. Students can draw in preparation for the
assessment, but must write independently to be scored on the Language standards section of assessment
rubric.
•
Teachers should write the Focus Question on a poster for reference: What can you do to save water?
•
Please do not model the task with cloze sentences prior to the assessment, provide pre-made graphic
organizers, or scaffold the writing beyond what is described in the administration procedures. (Scaffolds
may be used to support the auditory and visual input. You may use sentence frames to scaffold the oral
language and discussion, but they may not be used for writing.)
The assessment, based on water conservation, consists of:
TEACHER MATERIALS:
o
o
Teacher overview & administration guide, including Reader’s Theater pages, video transcript, student
writing prompt page, and rubric of CCSS grade level standards for Writing and Language
Water conservation video The Adventures of Eco-rilla Episode 1 - EcoWater Canada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ex1ZuKFw64 or at http://achieve.lausd.net/Page/6564
STUDENT PAGES:
o
o
Writing prompt with criteria checklist
Reader’s Theater passage (Teacher reads aloud at all grade levels K-2 – see Teacher instructions)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES available online:
o
Student Writing Samples from Achieve the Core “In Common” Resources:
http://www.achievethecore.org/page/507/in-common-effective-writing-for-all-students
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
1
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
Common Core Reading and Speaking & Listening Standards Engaged in Assessment Process
CCSS Text Complexity Band: 2-3 Band
RI 3
RI 8
SL1
SL1a
SL1b
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Identify the reasons an author gives to support specific points in a text.
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about Grade1 topics and texts with peers and adults
in small and larger groups.
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics
and texts under discussion.)
Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
Writing: The writing task is to be completed by each student independently. Students may use any pictures or
notes generated in the partner/small group discussion. The writing is evaluated using the rubric.
Common Core Writing and Language Standards Scored/Evaluated using Assessment Rubric
W2:
W8:
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and
provide a concluding statement or section.
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question.
L1:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L1a
Print all upper- and lower-case letters.
L1b
Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.
L1c
Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., he hops; we hop).
L1g
Use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
L1j
L2
L2a
L2b
L2c
L2d
L6:
Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory
sentences in response to prompts.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
Capitalize dates and names of people (Gr 1), as well as first word in a sentence and the pronoun I (Gr K).
Use end punctuation for sentences.
Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.
Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, being read to, and responding to texts, including using
frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., I named my hamster Nibblet because she
nibbles too much because she likes that).
Grade 1 Prompt for Informative Writing
Teacher Directions – Overview
This assessment is done in Two Sessions over Two Days with first grade students.
DAY 1: First “read” of video and Reader’s Theater text.
INTRODUCTION:
1) Tomorrow you are going to write an informative text about water conservation. You will write about
what you can do to save water.
2) I will show you a video to help you learn more about this topic. As you watch the video, think about
what they are telling you about saving water.
3) Front load difficult vocabulary for your identified subgroups of students using visual resources
(e.g., liters, toxic, faucet, other words your students would need).
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
2
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
VIDEO (STIMULUS #1)
4) Watch the video all the way through to “get the gist”, The Adventures of EcoRilla. (The short video can be
found on YouTube: Help the Environment -The Adventures of EcoRilla Episode 1 - EcoWater Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ex1ZuKFw64 or http://achieve.lausd.net/Page/6564
5) Using a think-pair-share, have students discuss the question, What can we do to save water?
(You may use sentence frames to scaffold the oral language and discussion, but they may not be used for
writing.)
READER’S THEATER (STIMULUS #2)
6) Now listen to the play Water Wise to get some more ideas of what you can do to save water. Read or
recruit some older students to perform the Reader’s Theatre: Water Wise - All About Water Conservation.
7) After listening to the Reader’s Theatre, have students pair-share answering the question: What can you do
to save water? Allow about 3 minutes for students to discuss their choices.
8) Lead a class discussion posing the Focus Question again: What can you do to save water?
DAY 2: Close “read” of multiple stimuli to support writing.
2ND VIEWING OF VIDEO
1) You are going to take notes on what you learned about how to save water.
Give students note-paper. You can suggest a graphic organizer students are used to using.
2) Watch video again, this time pausing at strategic points to ask questions and model taking brief notes by
writing and/or drawing.
3) Again, have students discuss the question, What can we do to save water? (You may use sentence
frames to scaffold the oral language and discussion, but they may not be used for writing.)
2ND READ OF READER’S THEATER
4) Now listen to the play Water Wise to get some more ideas of what you can do to save water.
We will be stopping at certain points to talk about what you learned.
Re-Read the Reader’s Theatre: Water Wise - All About Water Conservation, stopping at identified points for
students to discuss and share ideas.
5) At the end of Reader’s Theatre, have students pair-share answering the question:
What can you do to save water?
WRITING
6) Lead a class discussion posing the focusing question again: What can you do to save water?
7) Pass out lined or unlined “story” paper of your choice. Now use this paper to draw a picture and write
some things you could do to save water. If you need help, I can help you write words under your
picture to tell more about your choices.
8) Use your typical classroom writing process to support students in completing the writing prompt. The piece
should represent first draft writing (done in a single sitting).
9) The response should include a picture and whatever sentences, words, or letters the child can add.
10) Students should be encouraged to write as much as possible independently. An adult may assist with
sounding out or spelling words and/or transcribe the child's words if desired. Dictation is also permitted.
11) Please distinguish the child's independent production from words or letters produced with adult help by
underlining any part of the writing done with teacher support. The writing sample will be most useful if it is
easy to tell where help was given.
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
3
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
Water Wise - All About Water Conservation
A Super Science Script
Written and Developed by Lisa Blau
Water Expert #1 -
Good morning! We are here to tell you all about the earth's most
precious resource...
All -
WATER!
Water Expert #2 -
Every form of life needs water in order to live.
Water Expert #4 -
A tiny fish needs water..
Water Expert #5 -
A tall tree needs water...
Water Expert #3 -
Everyone needs...
All -
WATER!
Water Expert #2 -
People need water to drink because our bodies need water to
stay healthy.
Water Expert #3 -
We also need water to make the crops grow so that we have
food to eat.
Water Expert #4 -
People use water for taking baths, brushing their teeth, and
washing their clothes.
Water Expert #1 -
Yes, everyone needs water.
Water Expert #2 -
We know that water is precious so we must find ways to save all
the water that we can.
Water Expert #3 -
Now, you might be thinking...
Water Expert #5 -
But, I'm just a kid. What can I do to save
water?
2nd Read: Teacher note: Stop
here to ask: Why is it
important to save water? Water Expert #4 -
Well, we're here to tell you...
All -
PLENTY!
Water Expert #1 -
If you turn off the running water when you brush your teeth...
All -
You can save 35 gallons of water in one week!
Water Expert #3 -
If you take a shorter shower...
All -
You can save 75 gallons of water in one week!
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
4
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
Water Expert #3 -
You can help Mom or Dad fix leaky faucets and put water savers
in your toilets.
Water Expert #5 -
A plastic bottle filled with pebbles will do the
job!
Water Expert #4 -
Never play in sprinklers if your town is having
a water shortage.
Water Expert #1 -
Sure, it's tons of fun...
Water Expert #2 -
You will use over 10 gallons of water in only one minute!
Water Expert #3 -
By trying some of these tricks, you and your family can help save
lots of water.
Water Expert #4 -
Water is precious. What can you do to help save water?
Water Expert #1 -
Make sure that the faucet is turned off all the way. Don't leave it
dripping...
Water Expert #2 -
Every drop counts you know!
Water Expert #3 -
Don't use more water than you really need.
You really don't need to fill your bathtub up
all the way when you take a bath.
Water Expert #4 -
You should use a broom...not the hose, to clean a driveway or
sidewalk.
Water Expert #5 -
And how many of you like to help out by washing the car? Well,
be sure to save water when you wash the car.
Water Expert #2 -
It's easy...just use a bucket to wash the car, and only use the
hose to rinse it off.
All -
We hope that you will be water wise and save lots of water. We
know you can do it!
2nd Read: Teacher note: Stop
here to ask: What are some
ways we can save water that
we learned from the text? 2nd Read: Teacher note: Stop
here to ask: What are some
ways we can save water that
we learned from the text? 2nd Read: Teacher note: Stop
here to ask : What are some
ways we can save water that
we learned from the text?
From Super Science, by Lisa Blau
Publisher: Bellevue, WA: One from the Heart Educational
Resources, c1994.
Used by permission of Lisa Blau
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
What can you do to save
water? Rev. 11-21-14
5
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
THE ADVENTURES OF ECO-RILLA - Transcript
Narrator
The Adventures of Eco-rilla!
Teacher
Good morning, class.
Today’s field trip is about the environment.
Please welcome our special guest: Eco-Rilla!
Class
Eco-rilla?
Eco-rilla
Rooooaaaaarrrrr!! Hello there!
Class
(screaming and laughing)
Eco-rilla
I’m here to talk to you about something that every living thing needs to live: clean water.
If we use too much water today, there won’t be enough…
in the future.
Kid 1
Eco-rilla
I don’t get it. I just turn on the faucet, and I get all the water I need.
That may be true for you now, but it may not be forever, if we don’t take steps to conserve as much
water as we can.
Kid 2
What does “conserve” mean?
Eco-rilla
It means to use less. Every bit of water you save helps.
Kid 2
How do we do that?
Eco-rilla
Here are a few things you can do now, to save water… and the environment.
1. When you brush your teeth, turn off the faucet after you wet your toothbrush. Then only turn it
back on when you rinse.
In the 2 minutes you take to brush your teeth, turning off the faucet saves up to 30 liters of
water.
2. Take quick showers, instead of baths or long showers.
Cutting your shower time down by one minute saves about 9 liters of water. Taking a quick
shower also saves about 100 liters of water over taking a bath.
3. Don’t buy bottled water. Purified filtered tap water is more environmentally friendly and tastes
better. And you won’t send toxic plastic bottles to the trash dump.
Kid 3
But we have big lakes here. That water won’t dry up.
That may be true now, but more and more people around the country – and the world – will need that
water, because they don’t have clean water of their own.
We take it for granted, but over 1 billion people around the world don’t have easy access to fresh,
clean water!
They’ll need to get it from somewhere, and that somewhere could be our big lakes.
Eco-rilla
(Car horn honks)
Driver
Eco-rilla, we have an emergency. Let’s go!
Eco-rilla
Kids, I have to go now.
But if all of you do those three little things, it will help make sure that there will be plenty of water for
the future. Bye!
Class
Bye, Eco-rilla!
Driver
There is a report of water and energy waste in progress. We are en route…
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
6
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
Student Page - Grade 1 Prompt for Informative Writing
DAY 2 ~30 minutes: Passage and directions should be read aloud by the teacher.
Students need reader’s theatre passage, student work from Session 1, this prompt page, and
writing paper.
Water Conservation
Name: _____________________________________________
•
You are going to write an informative piece that answers this question:
What can you do to save water?
•
Watch the video again.
•
Listen to the play Water Wise and read along if you can.
•
What can you do to save water? Use the pictures you drew yesterday. Turn to a
partner, point to a picture. Tell what you might do and why that would be a
good choice.
•
Now write a piece explaining what you can do to save water.
•
Be sure to give lots of examples and explain how each would save water. Look
back at Water Wise for ideas. Write as much as you can.
For a good informative piece, you will:
o Have a title.
o Clearly answer the question.
o Give lots of examples.
o End with a concluding sentence.
o Use capitals, periods and question marks, and spell words correctly.
•
When you are finished, check your paper over. Fix any mistakes you see.
•
If you have time, you may draw a picture to show what you can do to save
water.
Have fun!
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
Rev. 11-21-14
7
2014-2015 LAUSD INTERIM ASSESSMENT #2 – ELEMENTARY LITERACY – GRADE 1
Teacher’s Rubric – INFORMATIVE – Grade 1
What can you do to save water? Introduce the topic you are writing about; clearly answer the question; give lots of examples; finish
Writing Standards 2 & 8
the piece with a good ending; use capitals, periods & question marks; spell words correctly.
L2: Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling
L1: Grammar & Usage L6: Word Use
• Writes an informative/
•
•
4
•
•
•
explanatory text.
Provides a title to
establish the topic.
Maintains a clear focus.
Supplies two or more
facts about the topic.
Includes a conclusion or
concluding statement.
Independently recall
information from
experiences or gather
information from provided
sources to answer a
question. (W8)
• Writes an informative/
•
•
•
3
•
explanatory text. (W2)
Names a topic. (W2)
Supplies some facts
about the topic. (W2)
Provides some sense of
closure. (W2)
With guidance and
support from adults, recall
information from
experiences or gather
information from provided
sources to answer a
question. (W8)
• Draws or writes to
2
compose an informative/
explanatory piece.
• May introduce the topic.
• Little if any facts are
supplied about the topic.
• No sense of closure.
• Writing is not connected
1
to the prompt.
• Does not introduce topic.
• No facts are supplied
about the topic.
Accommodations &
Supports
• Meets all criteria for score of 3.
• Always capitalizes the first word of
• Frequently uses words and phrases acquired through
sentences, the pronoun I, names of people,
and dates. (L2a Gr K&1)
• Always uses correct end punctuation.
(L2b)
• Always uses conventional spelling for
words with common spelling patterns & for
frequently occurring irregular words. (L2d)
• Always spells untaught words phonetically,
drawing on phonemic awareness & spelling
conventions. (L2e)
• Prints all upper and lower case letters correctly.(L1a)
• Mostly capitalizes the first word of
• Uses a variety of sentence types.
• Uses descriptive words (adjectives and adverbs). (L1f)
• Mostly prints legibly and spaces letters, words, and
sentences appropriately. (L1g Gr 2)
conversations, being read to, and responding to texts,
including using frequently occurring conjunctions to
signal simple relationships (e.g., I named my hamster
Nibblet because she nibbles too much because she
likes that). (L6)
• Uses common, proper and possessive nouns. (L1b)
• Uses singular and plural nouns with mostly matching
•
•
•
•
verbs in basic sentences. (e.g., He hops, We hop) (L1c)
Uses frequently occurring conjunctions
(e.g., because, and). (L1g)
Most sentences are complete. (L1j)
Produce and expand simple and compound declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in
response to prompt. (L1j)
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations,
being read to, and responding to texts, including using
frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple
relationships (e.g., I named my hamster Nibblet because
she nibbles too much because she likes that). (L6)
•
•
•
•
sentences, names of people, and dates.
(L2a Gr K&1)
Mostly uses correct end punctuation. (L2b)
Mostly uses commas in dates and to
separate single words in a series. (L2c)
Mostly uses conventional spelling for words
with common spelling patterns & for
frequently occurring irregular words. (L2d)
Mostly spells untaught words phonetically,
drawing on phonemic awareness & spelling
conventions. (L2e)
• Prints some upper and lower case letters correctly.
• Uses some end punctuation correctly.
• May have inconsistency with noun verb agreement.
• Uses some capital letters at the beginning
• Uses some complete sentences. May have incomplete
of a sentence.
• Writes some phonetically spelled words.
• Words are randomly written.
• Uppercase letters are random or within
• Uses determiners sometimes.
sentences.
• Uses nouns appropriately.
• May use conjunctions or use conjunctions incorrectly.
words.
• Sentences are incomplete.
• Punctuation is missing.
• No use of conjunctions.
• Spelling is inconsistent.
Students with disabilities who participate in the District general education program should take the assessments at their assigned grade level
(including students in special day classes).
The assessments should be given with the accommodations or modifications specified in the IEP or 504 Plan. (REF-6327.1)
Note what was done with the student before the student wrote the assessment:
❑ Vocabulary word bank
❑ Shared or interactive writing
❑ Graphic organizer
LAUSD Interim Literacy Assessment #2 – INFORMATIVE – GRADE 1
Adapted from “In Common-Effective Writing for All Students” achievethecore.org
❑ Language frames
❑ Other____________________
Rev. 11-21-14
8