New York State Testing Program
Grade 4 Common Core
English Language Arts Test
Annotated Passages
November 2014
New York State Testing Program Common Core English Language Arts Annotated Passages With the adoption of the New York P–12 Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) in ELA/Literacy and Mathematics, the Board of Regents signaled a shift in both instruction and assessment. Starting in the Spring 2013, New York State (NYS) began administering tests designed to assess student performance in accordance with the instructional shifts and the rigor demanded by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). To aid in the transition to new assessments, New York State has released a number of resources, including test blueprints and specifications, sample questions, and criteria for writing assessment questions. These resources can be found at http://www.engageny.org/common‐core‐assessments. New York State administered the ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Common Core tests in April 2014 and is now making a portion of the questions and passages from those ELA tests available for review and use. These released questions and passages will help students, families, educators, and the public better understand how tests have changed to assess the instructional shifts demanded by the Common Core and to assess the rigor required to ensure that all students are on track to college and career readiness. Annotated Passages Are Teaching Tools The released annotated passages herein are intended to help educators, students, families, and the public understand how the Common Core is different. The annotated passages demonstrate the rich, authentic, and complex texts necessary to support instruction and measurement of the knowledge, skills, and proficiencies described in the Common Core Learning Standards. These annotated passages are intended to illustrate how NYS uses quantitative metrics and qualitative rubrics to select and place passages for inclusion on the tests. In addition, the annotation can help educators understand in depth the text complexity demands that are a key requirement for growing students' reading abilities as articulated by the Common Core. Passage selection for Common Core English Language Arts Assessments Selecting high‐quality, grade‐appropriate passages requires both objective text complexity metrics and expert judgment. For NYS Common Core English Language Arts Tests, both quantitative metrics and qualitative rubrics are used to determine the complexity of the texts and their appropriate placement within a grade‐level ELA exam. Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity Quantitative measures of text complexity are used to measure aspects of text complexity that are difficult for a human reader to evaluate when examining a text. These aspects include word frequency, word length (number of characters per word), sentence length, and text cohesion. These aspects are efficiently measured by computer programs, and all of the measures listed below can be accessed for free online. (For more information about these metrics, including how to access these measures online, please see http://achievethecore.org/page/642/text‐complexity‐collection .) Based on research and the guidance of nationally‐recognized literacy experts1, the following ranges for quantitative measures were used to guide initial passage selection to place a passage within a possible grade‐level band for the Grades 3–8 exams. (Note: in instances where the quantitative measures do not place the text in the same grade level, the different grade bands resulting are noted and the selection process continues to the qualitative analysis.) Updated Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Ranges from Multiple Measures2 Common Core Band Degrees of Reading Power® The Lexile Flesch‐Kincaid3 Framework® Reading Maturity 2nd – 3rd 42 – 54 1.98 – 5.34
420 – 820
3.53 – 6.13 4th – 5th 52 – 60 4.51 – 7.73
740 – 1010
5.42 – 7.92 6th – 8th 57 – 67 6.51 – 10.34
925 – 1185
7.04 – 9.57 9th – 10th 62 – 72 8.32 – 12.12
1050 – 1335
8.41 – 10.81 11th – CCR 67 – 74 10.34 – 14.2
1185 – 1385
9.57 – 12.00 Note in looking at all of these quantitative ranges, there are wide ranges within grade bands, and considerable degrees of overlap between the 3–8 grade bands. (See Appendix A of this document for tables visually representing this overlap for these readability metrics.) The overlap within and between grades reflects the range of developmental reading abilities in regards to various facets of literacy. Put simply, different types of texts, text structures, and language demands will challenge individual students within and between grades differently. Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity While quantitative text complexity metrics are a helpful start, they are far from definitive. Many aspects of writing cause text complexity metrics to produce flawed results. For example, a canonical high school‐level novel such as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath has a lexile level of 680, which would place it in the Grade 2–3 band. To account for these known shortcomings, qualitative measures are a 1
Nelson, Jessica; Perfetti, Charles; Liben, David; and Liben, Meredith, “Measures of Text Difficulty: Testing Their Predictive Value for Grade Levels and Student Performance,” 2012. 2
The band levels themselves have been expanded slightly over the original CCSS scale that appears in Appendix A at both the top and bottom of each band to provide for a more modulated climb toward college and career readiness and offer slightly more overlap between bands. The wider band width allows more flexibility in the younger grades where students enter school with widely varied preparation levels. This change was provided in response to feedback received since publication of the original scale (published in terms of the Lexile® metric) in Appendix A. 3
Since Flesch‐Kincaid has no ‘caretaker’ that oversees or maintains the formula, the research leads worked to bring the measure in line with college and career readiness levels of text complexity based on the version of the formula used by Coh‐Metrix. crucial complement to quantitative measures. In the Steinbeck example, a qualitative review reveals that even though the author uses short sentences and common words, the level of meaning in his novel, as well as the knowledge demands and emotional maturity required for comprehension, would make it more appropriate for use in a high school classroom4. Using qualitative measures of text complexity involves making an informed decision about the difficulty of a text in terms of one or more factors discernible to a human reader applying trained judgment to the task. The following passage annotations illustrate the application of a qualitative rubric based largely on the qualitative resources from PARCC and the SCASS rubrics from Student Achievement Partners. The qualitative criteria used in these rubrics and the qualitative rubric used for qualitative analysis by NYS uses four required qualitative factors and one optional qualitative factor. The rating on these criteria will result in an overall qualitative rating of the text along a continuum of readily accessible, moderately complex, and very complex. These criteria are described below: (1) Meaning (literary texts) or Purpose (informational texts). Literary texts with a single and obvious level of meaning tend to be easier to read than literary texts with multiple levels of meaning (such as satires, in which the author's literal message is intentionally at odds with his or her underlying message). Similarly, informational texts with an explicitly stated purpose are generally easier to comprehend than informational texts with an implicit, hidden, or obscure purpose. (2) Text Structure. Texts that are readily accessible within a grade‐band tend to have simple, well‐
marked, and conventional structures, whereas very complex texts tend to have complex, implicit, and (particularly in literary texts) unconventional structures. Simple literary texts tend to relate events in chronological order, while complex literary texts make more frequent use of flashbacks, flash‐forwards, and other manipulations of time and sequence. Simple informational texts are likely not to deviate from the conventions of common genres and subgenres, while complex informational texts are more likely to conform to the norms and conventions of a specific discipline. (3) Language Features. Texts that rely on literal, clear, contemporary, and conversational language tend to be easier to read than texts that rely on figurative, ironic, ambiguous, purposefully misleading, archaic, or otherwise unfamiliar language or on general academic and domain‐specific vocabulary. The relative complexity of sentence structures is also an aspect of this criterion, with the presence of mostly simple sentences being an indication of a readily accessible text and the presence of many complex sentences with subordinate phrases and clauses being a feature of a very complex text. (4) Knowledge Demands. Texts that make few assumptions about the extent of readers' life experiences and the depth of their cultural/literary and content/discipline knowledge are generally less complex than are texts that are written for a specific audience with a specific schema of knowledge on a topic. (5) Optional Graphics. Graphics elements that accompany the passages that are indicators of a readily accessible text can be images or features that are simple and/or supplementary images to the meaning of texts, with a primary focus being to orient the reader to the topic. Complex and detailed graphics 4
See IV, #3 of Key Considerations in Implementing Text Complexity recommendations from the Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity for more information about exceptions to using quantitative measures to place texts within grade bands. and/or graphics whose interpretation is essential to understanding the text, and graphics that provide an independent source of information within a text are graphic features common to moderately and very complex texts. Passages in the classroom vs. Passages on a test. Passages serve different purposes depending on the context in which they are used. As stated in Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards, in an instructional context (including a student's independent reading for the purpose of this discussion) there are aspects of individual readers that will impact comprehension—emotional maturity/thematic concerns, background knowledge, and motivations are some considerations that may impact understanding. Good instruction supports these individual aspects of comprehension in an effort to grow learning. In a summative assessment context, however, the task is considerably more constrained; the task is to determine the degree to which students can independently make meaning of texts. As such, there are no scaffolds, no opportunities for collaboration with peers, and no framing by adults before the student is accessing the content. In the testing context, students work independently to read the texts and answer questions that measure their abilities to make meaning of the texts and topics they are reading about. Using texts that are grade‐level complex according to the CCSS helps to determine where the student is in terms of his/her pathway to college and career‐readiness, and as such fulfills a crucial purpose of the Grades 3–8 ELA testing program.
Appendix A: Text Complexity Grade Ranges for Quantitative Measures Table 1: Text Complexity Grade Ranges for Grades 3–8 as represented by Degrees of Reading Power® Metric CCLS
Degrees of Reading Power Ranges
Grade 6‐8
Grade 4‐5
Grade 2‐3
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
Table 2: Text Complexity Grade Ranges for Grades 3–8 as represented by Flesch‐Kincaid5 readability metric CCLS
Flesch‐Kincaid Ranges
Grade 6‐8
Grade 4‐5
Grade 2‐3
1
3
5
7
9
11
5
Since Flesch‐Kincaid has no ‘caretaker’ that oversees or maintains the formula, the research leads worked to bring the measure in line with college and career readiness levels of text complexity based on the version of the formula used by Coh‐Metrix. Table 3: Text Complexity Grade Ranges for Grades 3–8 as represented by Lexile Framework® CCLS
Lexile Ranges
Grade 6‐8
Grade 4‐5
Grade 2‐3
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
9
10
Table 4: Text Complexity Grade Ranges for Grades 3–8 as represented by Reading Maturity Matrix CCLS
Reading Maturity Ranges
Grade 6‐8
Grade 4‐5
Grade 2‐3
3
4
5
6
7
8
D
irections
204003P
Read this story. Then answer questions XX through XX.
Pecos Bill Captures the
Pacing White Mustang
by Leigh Peck
1
Pecos Bill decided to get a real cowpony, and he asked cowboys, “What’s
the very best horse in these parts?”
2
They answered: “The best horse in all the world is running loose in these
very hills. He runs fast as the lightning, so we call him Lightning. Others
call him the Pacing White Mustang, and some even say that his real name is
Pegasus. We have all tried hard to catch him, but no one has ever got close
enough to him to put a rope on him or even to see him clearly. We have
chased him for days, riding our very best ponies and changing horses every
two hours, but he outran all our best ponies put together.”
3
But Pecos Bill told them: “I’ll not ride a cowpony when I chase this
horse. I can run faster myself than any of your ponies can.”
4
So Pecos Bill threw his saddle and bridle over
bridle = a harness, which
his shoulder and set out on foot to look for the
includes the reins, that
famous wild white horse. When he got close
fits over a horse’s head
enough to take a good look at Lightning, he saw and is used to control or
that only the horse’s mane and tail were pure
guide the horse
white. The beautiful animal was really a light
cream or pale gold color—the color of lightning itself. The Spanish people in
the Southwest call such a horse a palomino. He chased Lightning five days
1
and four nights, all the way from Mexico across Texas and New Mexico and
Arizona and Utah and Colorado and Wyoming and Montana, clear up to
Canada, and then down to Mexico again. Pecos Bill had to throw away his
saddle and bridle, as they leaped across cactus-covered plains, down steep
cliffs, and across canyons.
5
Finally Lightning got tired of running from Pecos Bill and stopped and
snorted. “Very well, I’ll let you try to ride me if you think you can! Go
ahead and jump on!”
6
Pecos Bill smiled. And he jumped on Lightning’s back, gripping the
horse’s ribs with his knees and clutching the mane with his hands.
7
First, Lightning tried to run out from under Pecos Bill. He ran ten miles
in twenty seconds! Next he jumped a mile forward and two miles backward.
Then he jumped so high in the air that Pecos Bill’s head was up among the
stars. Next Lightning tried to push Pecos Bill off his back by running
through clumps of mesquite trees. The thorns tore poor Pecos Bill’s face.
8
When that failed, too, Lightning reared up on his hind legs and threw
himself over backward. But Pecos Bill jumped off quickly, and before
Lightning could get on his feet again, Bill sat on his shoulders and held him
firmly on the ground.
9
“Lightning,” Pecos Bill explained, “you are the best horse in all the world,
and I am the best cowboy in all the world. If you’ll let me ride you, we will
become famous together, and cowboys everywhere forever and forever will
praise the deeds of Pecos Bill and Lightning.”
10
Then Pecos Bill turned Lightning loose and told him, “You may decide.
You are free to go or to stay with me.”
11
The beautiful horse put his nose in Pecos Bill’s hand, and said, “I want to
stay with you and be your cowpony—the greatest cowpony in all the world.”
12
Pecos Bill and Lightning went back and found the saddle and bridle
where Bill had thrown them. Lightning let Pecos Bill put the saddle on him,
but he didn’t want to take the bit of the bridle into his mouth. So, Pecos Bill
just put a halter on him, and guided him by pressure of the knees and by
pulling on the reins of the halter.
13
Lightning would not let anybody but Pecos Bill ride him.
2
Grade 4
Title and Author: Pecos Bill Captures the Pacing White Mustang by Leigh Peck
Quantitative Analysis
Degrees of Reading
Power (DRP)
Lexile:
Flesch-Kincaid:
Reading Maturity
Matric (RMM)
54
1040
6.4
5.4
Summary of Grade 4 Assessment Placement
Overall rating: Readily Accessible to Moderately Complex
The quantitative measures for this text place it in a range of grade levels, and the qualitative measures support its use as a readily accessible to moderate
fourth grade text. It employs an engaging style and storyline, with memorable action and detail. It has a basic chronological structure and traces a single
central theme (how Pecos Bill tames the mustang). Descriptions within the plot are clear and straightforward. Most challenging words are glossed or
italicized, offering scaffolds for unfamiliar vocabulary. The proper nouns, such as Pegasus and Lightning, also contribute to the complexity, but are
appropriate to the grade.
Qualitative Analysis Literary Text
Criteria
Very Complex
Meaning
Multiple levels of meaning that
may be difficult to identify,
separate, and interpret; theme is
implicit, subtle, or ambiguous and
may be revealed over the
entirety of the text.
Text
Prose or poetry contains more
Structure
intricate elements such as
subplots, shifts in point-of-view,
shifts in time, or non-standard
text structures.
Language
Features
Knowledge
Demands
Optional
Graphics
Word count: 637
Language is generally complex,
with abstract, ironic, and/or
figurative language, and regularly
includes archaic, unfamiliar, and
academic words; text uses a
variety of sentence
structures, including complex
sentences with subordinate
phrases and clauses.
The text explores complex,
sophisticated, or abstract
themes; text is dependent on
allusions to other texts or cultural
elements; allusions or references
have no context and require
inference and evaluation.
When graphics are present, the
connection between the text and
graphics is subtle and requires
interpretation.

Moderately Complex
Multiple levels of meaning that are
relatively easy to identify; theme is
clear, but may be conveyed with
some subtlety.
Prose includes two or more
storylines or has a plot that is
somewhat difficult to predict (e.g.,
in the case of a non-linear plot);
poetry has some implicit or
unpredictable structural elements.
Language is often explicit and
literal, but includes academic,
archaic, or other words with
complex meaning (e.g., figurative
language); text uses a variety of
sentence structures.
The text explores several themes;
text makes few references or
allusions to other texts or cultural
elements; the meaning of
references or allusions may be
partially explained in context.
Graphics support interpretation of
selected parts of the
corresponding written text; they
may introduce some new and
relevant information.



Readily Accessible
One level of meaning; theme is
obvious and revealed early in the
text.

Prose or poetry is organized clearly
and/or chronologically; the events in
a prose work are easy to predict
because the plot is linear; poetry has
explicit and predictable structural
elements.
Language is explicit and literal, with
mostly contemporary and familiar
vocabulary; text uses mostly simple
sentences.


The prose is clear and chronological. The
beginning sets up a question that is
answered at the conclusion.
Text uses a variety of grade-appropriate
sentence structures. As part of the tall tale
genre, the text uses figurative language and
hyperbole that may contribute to its
complexity.
The text explores a single theme; if
there are any references or allusions,
they are fully explained in the text.
Graphics support and assist in
interpreting text by directly
representing important concepts
from the corresponding written text.
Notes
While the theme isn’t immediately
revealed, it is clear very early on that this is
a tall tale about a cowboy and his horse.

The text is limited to one major theme and
makes no references to outside texts.
There are some discipline-specific terms
included (i.e., harness, reins, halter, and
mesquite), but there is sufficient context to
determine the meaning of these terms.
Otherwise, the knowledge demands are
relatively straightforward and vocabulary is
supported with text boxes.
Graphics helps orient the reader in a
general manner to the story by depicting
Pecos Bill and the mustang.
D
irections
204050P
Read this story. Then answer questions XX through XX.
Excerpt from Lawn Boy
by Gary Paulsen
1
Okay. Since I was twelve, I didn’t have much experience with motors. I’ve
never even had a dirt bike or four-wheeler. I’m just not machine oriented.
2
My birthday present sat there. I tried pushing it toward our garage, but it
didn’t seem to want to move. Even turning around to put my back against it
and push with my legs—which I thought might give me better leverage—
didn’t help; it still sat there.
3
So I studied it. On the left side of the motor was a small gas tank, and I
unscrewed the top and looked in. Yep, gas. On top of the tank were two
levers; the first was next to pictures of a rabbit and a turtle. Even though I’m
not good with machines, I figured out that was the throttle and the pictures
meant fast and slow. The other lever said ON-OFF. I pushed ON.
4
Nothing happened, of course. On the very top of the motor was a
starting pull-rope. What the heck, why not? I gave it a jerk and the motor
sputtered a little, popped once, then died. I pulled the rope again and the
motor hesitated, popped, and then roared to life. I jumped back. No muffler.
5
Once when I was little, my grandmother, in her usual logic-defying
fashion, answered my request for another cookie by saying that my
20
grandfather had been a tinkerer. “He was always puttering with things,
taking them apart, putting them back together. When he was around
nothing ever broke. Nothing ever dared to break.”
6
Loud as the mower was, it still wasn’t moving and the blade wasn’t going
around. I stood looking down at it.
7
This strange thing happened.
8
It spoke to me.
9
Well, not really. I’m not one of those woo-woo people or a wack job. At
least I don’t think I was. Maybe I am now.
10
Anyway, there was some message that came from the mower through the
air and into my brain. A kind of warm, or maybe settled feeling. Like I was
supposed to be there and so was the mower. The two of us.
11
Like it was a friend. So all right, I know how that sounds too: We’ll sit
under a tree and talk to each other. Read poems about mowing. Totally
wack.
12
But the feeling was there.
13
Next I found myself sitting on the mower, my feet on the pedals. I moved
the throttle to the rabbit position—it had been on turtle—and pushed
the left pedal down, and the blade started whirring. The mower seemed to
give a happy leap forward off the sidewalk and I was mowing the lawn.
14
Or dirt. As I said, we didn’t really have much of a lawn. Dust and bits of
dead grass flew everywhere and until I figured out the steering, the mailbox,
my mother’s flowers near the front step and a small bush were in danger.
15
But in a few minutes I got control of the thing and I sheared off what
little grass there was.
16
The front lawn didn’t take long, but before I was done the next-door
neighbor came to the fence, attracted by the dust cloud. He waved me over.
17
I stopped in front of him, pulled the throttle back and killed the engine.
The sudden silence was almost deafening. I stood up away from the mower,
my ears humming, so I could hear him.
18
“You mow lawns?” he asked. “How much?”
19
And that was how it started.
21
Grade 4
Title and Author: Excerpt from Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
Quantitative Analysis
Degrees of Reading
Power (DRP)
Lexile:
Flesch-Kincaid:
Reading Maturity
Matric (RMM)
48
600
3.2
6.6
Summary of Grade 4 Assessment Placement:
Overall rating: Readily Accessible
This literary text is appropriate for 4th grade assessment.
Though quantitatively it falls slightly below the grade band, the treatment of its theme and use of an informal style make it appropriate for grade 4.
Qualitative Analysis Literary Text
Criteria
Very Complex
Meaning
Multiple levels of meaning that
may be difficult to identify,
separate, and interpret; theme
is implicit, subtle, or
ambiguous and may be
revealed over the entirety of
the text.
Text
Prose or poetry contains more
Structure
intricate elements such as
subplots, shifts in point-ofview, shifts in time, or nonstandard text structures.
Language
Features
Language is generally complex,
with abstract, ironic, and/or
figurative language, and
regularly includes archaic,
unfamiliar, and academic
words; text uses a variety of
sentence structures, including
complex sentences with
subordinate phrases and
clauses.
Knowledge
Demands
The text explores complex,
sophisticated, or abstract
themes; text is dependent on
allusions to other texts or
cultural elements; allusions or
references have no context
and require inference and
evaluation.
When graphics are present, the
connection between the text
and graphics is subtle and
requires interpretation.
Optional
Graphics
Word count: 579

Moderately Complex
Multiple levels of meaning that
are relatively easy to identify;
theme is clear, but may be
conveyed with some subtlety.
Prose includes two or more
storylines or has a plot that is
somewhat difficult to predict
(e.g., in the case of a non-linear
plot); poetry has some implicit or
unpredictable structural
elements.
Language is often explicit and
literal, but includes academic,
archaic, or other words with
complex meaning (e.g., figurative
language); text uses a variety of
sentence structures.


Readily Accessible
One level of meaning; theme is
obvious and revealed early in the
text.

Prose or poetry is organized clearly
and/or chronologically; the events
in a prose work are easy to predict
because the plot is linear; poetry
has explicit and predictable
structural elements.


Language is explicit and literal,
with mostly contemporary and
familiar vocabulary; text uses
mostly simple sentences.
Notes
The theme is revealed in paragraph 8,
where the reader sees that the boy and
lawnmower belong together, and is
explicitly stated in paragraph 11. The
author uses an informal style; first
person narration makes it an accessible
text.
Most of the text is organized in a linear
fashion except for a shift in time in
paragraph 5, which requires some
attention, but is appropriate to 4th
grade. There is one plot line, which is
predictable given the clear storyline.
The text uses an informal style with a
strong sense of voice (paragraph 11)
and first person narration. It is
constructed of a variety of sentence
structures. There is some contentspecific vocabulary (i.e., throttle,
leverage, pull rope, and tinkerer), but
these do not overly complicate
comprehension.
The text explores several themes;
text makes few references or
allusions to other texts or cultural
elements; the meaning of
references or allusions may be
partially explained in context.
The text explores a single theme; if
there are any references or
allusions, they are fully explained
in the text.

Passage requires no prior knowledge in
order for readers to comprehend.
Graphics support interpretation
of selected parts of the
corresponding written text; they
may introduce some new and
relevant information.
Graphics support and assist in
interpreting text by directly
representing important concepts
from the corresponding written
text.

Graphics help situate reader into the
context and theme of passage.
D
irections
304031P
Read this article. Then answer questions XX through XX.
Elephants Don’t Wear Boots
by Lisa Hart
1
Did you ever wonder while snuggling up in your winter coat, how zoo
lions keep warm? Did you ever picture when pulling on your hat and
mittens, a flamingo wearing a scarf? Did you ever consider as you put on
your winter boots that elephants do not wear boots?
2
The lions stretched out on the rocks at the zoo share a secret. The hot
rocks they lie on are not real. Heaters hidden under the fake stones keep the
big cats cozy warm. Zoos use lots of little tricks to help the animals in their
care fight off the chill of winter. Keepers warm up the water in swimming
pools for residents like the otters.
3
Animals such as deer and elk find outside shelter in three-sided barns
with extra bedding.
4
Nature allows many animals like flamingos to adapt to some cold even if
they come from a warm climate. And if the temperatures dip too low for
comfort, keepers simply bring the animals inside.
5
All this extra time indoors presents a challenge for zoo keepers. For one
thing, animals need exercise to make up for the time spent cooped up. A
new toy or a small change in schedule gives a bored beast something to look
forward to. Hiding some food treats lets animals do what comes naturally:
hunt for their meal.
6
Sometimes a zoo resident’s diet needs changing during the winter too.
Zoos give more food to those who build fat to keep warm or become more
active. Animals that burn less energy in the winter need less food.
7
Forget the snow and the cold. Ice presents the real danger at zoos in
winter. A frozen-over watering hole leaves an animal to go thirsty, spelling
disaster. A slip on the ice in an enclosure leads to deadly, serious injuries.
Some animals like elephants never see ice in the wild. Nature did not give
them feet designed for walking on it.
53
8
So once you snuggle into your coat and pull on your hat, mittens, and
boots, pay a visit to a local zoo in winter. You might be surprised at who you
see enjoying the snow.
54
Grade 4
Title and Author: Elephants Don’t Wear Boots by Lisa Hart
Quantitative Analysis
Degrees of Reading
Power (DRP)
Lexile:
Flesch-Kincaid:
Reading Maturity
Matric (RMM)
56
970
5.9
5.8
Word count: 356
Summary of Grade 4 Assessment Placement:
Overall rating: Moderately Complex
The text's explicit purpose, grounded by the questions in the opening paragraph and coupled with the structure and organization linking ideas within the
th
text, make this appropriate for 4 grade assessment. The quantitative measures also support this placement, indicating the sentence structures and
vocabulary help to make the text and topic accessible.
Qualitative Analysis for Informational Text
Criteria
Very Complex
Purpose
The text contains multiple purposes,
and the primary purpose is subtle,
intricate, and/or abstract.

Moderately Complex
The primary purpose of the text
is not stated explicitly, but is easy
to infer based on the content or
source. The text may include
multiple perspectives.

Text
Structure
Connections among an expanded
range of ideas, processes, or events
are often implicit, subtle, or
ambiguous. Organization exhibits
some discipline-specific traits. Text
features are essential to
comprehension of content.
Connections between some
ideas, processes, or events are
implicit or subtle; organization is
generally evident and sequential;
any text features help facilitate
comprehension of content.

Language
Features
Language is generally complex, with
abstract, ironic, and/or figurative
language, and archaic and academic
vocabulary and domain-specific
words that are not otherwise
defined; text uses many complex
sentences with subordinate phrases
and clauses.
The subject matter of the text relies
on specialized, discipline-specific
knowledge; the text makes many
references or allusions to other texts
or outside areas; allusions or
references have no context and
require inference.
Language is often explicit and
literal, but includes some
academic, archaic, or other
words with complex meaning;
text uses some complex
sentences with subordinate
phrases or clauses.

The subject matter of the text
involves some discipline-specific
knowledge; the text makes some
references or allusions to other
texts or outside ideas; the
meaning of references or
allusions may be partially
explained in context.
Graphics are mainly
supplementary to understanding
the text; they generally contain
or reinforce information found in
the text.

Knowledge
Demands
Optional
Graphics
Graphics are essential to
understanding the text; they may
clarify or expand information in the
text and may require close reading
and thoughtful analysis in relation to
the text.
Readily Accessible
 primary

The
purpose of the text is
clear, concrete, narrowly focused,
and explicitly stated. The text has a
singular perspective.
Connections between ideas,
processes, and events are explicit
and clear; organization is
chronological, sequential, or easy to
predict because it is linear; any text
features help readers navigate
content, but are not critical to
understanding content.
Language is explicit and literal, with
mostly contemporary and familiar
vocabulary; text uses mostly simple
sentences.


Notes
The questions in the opening
paragraph and the explanation in the
second create a clear and focused
purpose for the passage about how
zoos in colder climates keep animals
unaccustomed to those climates
healthy throughout the winter.
Organization is generally evident
through sections arranged by topic.
The connections between paragraphs
are more subtle than they are easy to
predict, but the smooth paragraph
transitions, and the questions that
frame the beginning of the passage
help to link the ideas presented.
Some domain-specific (i.e., Flamingo
and enclosure) and/or multiple
meaning words are included in the
passage. There are some complex
sentences as well.
The subject matter of the text relies
on little or no discipline-specific
knowledge; if there are any
references or allusions, they are fully
explained in the text.
The text demands some
understanding of animals and
conditions at zoos, but even without
this knowledge there is generally
sufficient content included to derive
meaning.
Graphics are simple and may be
unnecessary to understanding the
text.
N/A
D
irections
304029P
Read this article. Then answer questions XX through XX.
Call of the Wild
by Debra A. Bailey
1
Its body stretched flat in the water, the hunter swims toward the prey.
One hop, and the hunter is out of the water, snatching its catch. Licking its
lips, it prepares to devour its meal.
2
A ruthless killer? An unlucky victim? Nope. The hunter is a fluffy
muskrat, looking more like a bedroom slipper than a dangerous predator. Its
prey is an apple slice, hidden in an exhibit at the Museum of Life and
Science in Durham, N.C.
3
The “hunt” is part of a game called enrichment. And it’s happening at
zoos all over the country.
Game of life
4
When zoo animals are put on display with nothing to do, they get bored,
upset and even sick. That’s especially alarming if the animals are threatened
or endangered and don’t breed because they feel uncomfortable.
5
That’s where enrichment—anything that helps animals act and feel as if
they are back in the wild—comes in. Natural-looking exhibits, hidden foods,
weird smells and even toys are used to promote wild behaviors such as
hunting, playing, sniffing and stalking.
6
“Wild muskrats like to look for their food,” says Thea Staab, a Museum
of Life and Science animal keeper. That’s why she hides apple slices on tree
limbs and sweet potatoes behind fake rocks.
Dip Sticks
7
The same thing goes for the chimpanzees at the Oregon ZooSM in
Portland.
Oregon Zoo is the registered service mark of the Oregon Zoo and Metro Corporation.
44
8
In the wild, chimps poke sticks into termite mounds to catch a tasty
snack. So the zoo built fake termite mounds in the chimp exhibit.
9
“Animals have to work for their food in nature,” says Dr. Blair Csuti,
conservation coordinator for the zoo. “This presents their food the way it is
in the wild.”
10
Of course, the zookeepers don’t use real termites—they might eat the
exhibit instead of the chimps eating them! Instead, the mound is filled with
tasty hot sauce and mustard, perfect for dipping.
Tall Order
11
What do you do when giraffes lick the walls because they have no leafy
trees to nibble?
12
“We take something that looks like giant frozen Lifesavers® candy made
of chunks of bananas, apples and carrots,” says conservation program
assistant Cathy Dubreuil of the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada. “Then we
hang it from the ceiling.”
13
The result? Giraffes lick the ice to free the food—and forget about the
walls.
14
And then there are smells.
15
“Animals just like to sniff things,” says Janine Antrim, behavior specialist
for the San Diego Zoo in California. “We’ll rub the logs in the bear exhibit
with fabric softener sheets, and they love it. They’ll spend hours rubbing and
sniffing those spots.”
16
If you think fabric softener sounds strange, wait till you watch a bear roll
around in perfume, aftershave . . . and elephant dung.
17
Whatever makes them happy!
Lifesavers is the registered trademark of the Nabisco Brands Company.
45
Grade 4
Title and Author: Call of the Wild by Debra A. Bailey
Quantitative Analysis
Degrees of Reading Power (DRP):
Lexile:
Flesch-Kincaid:
Reading Maturity Matric (RMM):
60
910
6.5
7.7
Word count: 455
Summary of Grade 4 Assessment Placement:
Overall rating: Moderately Complex
The qualitative measures point to this text being moderately complex based on qualitative criteria. While some of quantitative analyses
places this text in the high end of the grade 4-5 grade band, the use of headings, familiar and contemporary vocabulary measures makes the
th
text appropriate for use on a 4 grade assessment. In addition, the topic of Call of the Wild, which involves animals coping in captivity
situations, is likely to be a topic of interest for fourth grade students.
Qualitative Analysis for Informational Text
Criteria
Very Complex
Purpose
The text contains multiple purposes
and the primary purpose is subtle,
intricate, and/or abstract.

Moderately Complex
The primary purpose of the text
is not stated explicitly, but is easy
to infer based on the content or
source. The text may include
multiple perspectives.
Connections between some
ideas, processes, or events are
implicit or subtle; organization is
generally evident and
sequential; any text features help
facilitate comprehension of
content.



Text
Structure
Connections among an expanded
range of ideas, processes, or events
are often implicit, subtle, or
ambiguous. Organization exhibits
some discipline-specific traits. Text
features are essential to
comprehension of content.
Language
Features
Language is generally complex, with
abstract, ironic, and/or figurative
language, and archaic and academic
vocabulary and domain-specific
words that are not otherwise
defined; text uses many complex
sentences with subordinate phrases
and clauses.
Language is often explicit and
literal, but includes some
academic, archaic, or other
words with complex meaning;
text uses some complex
sentences with subordinate
phrases or clauses.

Knowledge
Demands
The subject matter of the text relies
on specialized, discipline-specific
knowledge; the text makes many
references or allusions to other texts
or outside areas; allusions or
references have no context and
require inference.
The subject matter of the text
involves some discipline-specific
knowledge; the text makes some
references or allusions to other
texts or outside ideas; the
meaning of references or
allusions may be partially
explained in context.

Optional
Graphics
Graphics are essential to
understanding the text; they may
clarify or expand information in the
text and may require close reading
and thoughtful analysis in relation to
the text.
Graphics are mainly
supplementary to understanding
the text; they generally contain
or reinforce information found in
the text.
Readily Accessible
 primary

The
purpose of the text is
clear, concrete, narrowly focused,
and explicitly stated. The text has a
singular perspective.
Connections between ideas,
processes, and events are explicit
and clear; organization is
chronological, sequential, or easy to
predict because it is linear; any text
features help readers navigate
content, but are not critical to
understanding content.
Language is explicit and literal, with
mostly contemporary and familiar
vocabulary; text uses mostly simple
sentences.
The subject matter of the text relies
on little or no discipline-specific
knowledge; if there are any
references or allusions, they are fully
explained in the text.
Graphics are simple and may be
unnecessary to understanding the
text.

Notes
The purpose of the text can be
inferred in the first two sections and
there is one consistent perspective:
animals in captivity need to be
engaged in activities.
Organization is generally evident, but
it is not sequential or chronological; it
jumps to different animals in different
zoos addressing problems and
solutions within several, but not all,
sections. The headings help the reader
navigate the content, supporting the
connections between ideas.
The passage contains undefined and
domain-specific terminology (i.e.,
stalking, devour, and dung); academic
terms (i.e., coordinator and specialist);
and words with multiple meaning (i.e.,
exhibits and presents); all embedded
sometimes in the same complex
sentence. This is partially balanced by
contemporary and familiar vocabulary
and tone.
Readers have to be familiar with some
basic science knowledge of predatorprey relationships. Author makes
multiple references to museum and
zoo exhibits. While there are
additional outside references that are
not explicitly explained (i.e., fabric
softener sheets and aftershave), these
are not crucial to understanding the
important points in the text.
N/A