Second Grade Palm Beach Performance Assessment
INFORMATIVE (#21 & #22)
Teacher Directions
GOAL: Students will write an informational book teaching what they know and have learned about the
topic. They will supply information about the topic gleaned from the readings provided, as well as, from
their own knowledge and experiences, and provide some sense of closure.
STANDARDS ASSESSED:
 LAFS.2.W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts
and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
 LAFS.2.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen
writing as needed by revising and editing.
 LAFS.2.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided
sources to answer a question.
 LAFS.2.L.1.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
a. Demonstrate legible printing skills.
b. Use collective nouns (e.g., group).
c. Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice,
fish).
d. Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
e. Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).
f. Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
g. Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy
watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the
little boy).
 LAFS.2.L.1.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.
b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
c. Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.
d. Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).
e. Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct
spellings.
 LAFS.2.L.2.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.
a. Compare formal and informal uses of English.
 LAFS.2.L.3.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
a. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b. Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known
word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).
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c. Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g.,
addition, additional).
d. Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound
words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).
e. Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the
meaning of words and phrases.
 LAFS.2.L.3.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
a. Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy
or juicy).
b. Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and
closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).
 LAFS.2.L.3.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to,
and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other
kids are happy that makes me happy).
DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE/LEVEL OF TASK: This task addresses Depth of
Knowledge levels two, three and four.
TASK DETAILS:
 Duration of administration: 90 minutes across one or two days

Time of year when administered:
October/November – pre-assessment
March– post-assessment

Materials needed:
o Teacher directions booklet, including the Polar Bears text and paper template
o Student note-taking booklet
o Student five-page booklet
o Anchor charts – examples below
**Note: Teachers may also decide when creating charts to include some picture support, so students
can view them while writing as a reminder of the specifics of the task.**
Questions to ask when reading
Informational text
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Who or what is this
about?
Where are they?
What do they do?
How do they do it?
Why do they do it?
Information books might include…
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A table of contents
An introduction
Chapters
Definitions of Domain
Specific words
Pictures
Features (diagrams, headings,
captions)
A conclusion
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OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT
Time frame: 90 minutes
 Possible scenario
o Read aloud and note-taking 20 minutes
o Independent reading and note taking 20 minutes
o Independent writing 50 minutes
*The three tasks could be administered in three separate chunks of time, over one or two days
Task 1: Read Aloud - Polar Bears (20 minutes)
Teacher will read aloud Polar Bears (text provided on pages 6-9 of this booklet), prompting students to
orally answer questions about the main ideas and key details from the text. After the read aloud, the
teacher will ask children to turn and tell their partners the main ideas and key details they want to
remember from this text. Students will use second-grade nonfiction note-taking paper found in the notetaking booklet, Note-taking Polar Bears, and be asked to quickly use sketching, labeling and writing to
jot down the information they most want to remember from the read aloud so that they can use it again
when they write their information book at a later time.
Task 2: Written response to independent reading - Panda Bears (20 minutes)
Students will independently read the passage, Panda Bears. The teacher will instruct students to read and
to think about what main ideas and key details they are learning about panda bears. Students will use
second-grade nonfiction note-taking paper, Note-taking Panda Bears, and be asked to quickly use
sketching, labeling and writing to jot down the information they most want to remember from the article
so that they can use it again when they write their information book at a later time.
Task 3: Information book writing about “bears” (50 minutes)
The teacher will remind students to use all they know about writing information books, and will show
the anchor chart with the expectations (see materials needed), as well as remind them to look over their
notes before writing. Students will write an information book about bears, using main ideas and key
details from the two passages.
TEST ADMINISTRATION AND TEACHER SCRIPT:
** Note: Suggested teacher prompts to follow – please alter and make note of alterations based on your own
conversational style and the ways in which you’ve talked about reading and writing nonfiction in your own
classroom. Do not alter the content of the assessment. It is important for the validity of the assessment that
the task is the same for all students. The tasks below could be administered in different time frames.**
INTRODUCTION:
Say: “We are going to spend today (or the next two days) learning about bears. After we learn about
bears, you‟ll have the chance to teach others by making an information book. Today I will read one text
to you and you will read another one on your own.”
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Task 1
Time: Approximately 20 minutes
Note to Teacher: You may want to gather students in a meeting area (rug) as they listen to the read aloud
Polar Bears (pages 6 – 9 in this booklet) two times. During the first reading students should listen
closely. They will have a copy of the text in their note-taking booklet, to refer to later if necessary, but
should not be reading along with the teacher as this is a read aloud, not a shared reading. Have your
questions chart (see materials needed) ready to refer to before you read the text for the first time and
orient students to think about the questions as you read. You do not need to scaffold student
understanding by discussing the text. However, do read aloud with expression, pause at important
points and point to pictures to support students’ understanding.
Send students back to their seats for the second reading and after you have read, give students the
opportunity to turn and talk to their partner and discuss what they have learned. They will then take
notes based on what they learned.
Before the read aloud:
Say: “I am going to read a passage that teaches us about bears. I am going to read it twice. The first
time I read, you are going to do your best listening and thinking. After that I will send you back to your
seats and I will read for a second time. After I read the second time you will get to talk to your partner
about what you learned and then you will do some writing about your thinking. The writing is called
note taking. You are ready to do grown- up reading and writing work. While I am reading, you need to
be thinking, “what is this teaching me?” (Refer to questions chart and review.) “Who or what is this
about?” (Continue with each question from chart). “Then I‟d like to you to use your note-taking
booklet (Show paper.) to sketch, label and write as much as you can about the important information
that this piece is teaching.
Read aloud the text two times as discussed above
After the second reading say: “Now, turn and tell your partner about the important information you
learned and might want to include when you write your Bears book. Remember, writers, you are
thinking, „what important information did this text teach?‟ Now, sketch, label and write the important
information on page 1 in your note- taking booklet.”
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Task 2
Time: Approximately 20 minutes
Note to the Teacher: Place questions chart visible for the students to refer to. Students will read the
passage two times independently then take notes based on what they learned.
Before independent reading:
Say: “Now that you have listened to and learned some information about Polar Bears, you are going to
read a text called Panda Bears on pages 2 and 3 in your note-taking booklet. You will want to try to
read it twice. As you read the words and study the photographs, think about the key details this text
teaches. Remember, the key details are the most important parts. You‟ll want to think: „Who or what is
this about? Where are they? What do they do? How do they do it? Why do they do it?‟ (Point to chart.)
Afterward, you‟re going to be writing notes on the things you remember and the things you think are
important to include in your information book.”
After independent reading:
Say: “Now, you are going to take some more notes about the text you just read on pages 4 and 5 of
your note-taking booklet. Think about the most important things this piece taught you. You might use
these questions again to help you. (Point to chart.) Be sure to sketch, label and write all of the
important details you remember from the book. Later, you will use the notes you wrote to help you write
your information book.”
Task 3:
Time: Approximately 50 minutes
Note to the Teacher: The final task is an assessment of student writing. Students will write
independently using the booklets provided. Before you begin, create an anchor chart listing possible
parts of an information book (see materials needed). Students may use all of the writing they did in the
booklet for student responses, as well as the texts that you read aloud, and the text they read
independently, as they write.
Before students write the information book:
Say: “Now, because you are all writing teachers, you‟re going to have a chance to teach the important
information you‟ve learned and know about bears by writing your own information book. You may look
back at your notes from Polar Bears (Hold up student example.) and your notes from Panda Bears,
(Hold up student example.) to remind you of some information about bears. There is also a copy of
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Polar Bears in your note – taking booklet, if you want to look back at the pictures to remind you of
important information. But remember that this is your own book, and you need to write your own words
and make your own pictures, not copy what the other authors have written or drawn.”
“There are 5 pages in the booklets I‟ve given you, but if you need more pages, there are some extras at
your tables (A template is included for you to make additional copies for students, if needed on
page 10 of this document). You will have 50 minutes to write your books. (Refer to anchor chart.)
Remember to use what you know about staying on one topic, including pictures and labels, writing to
teach and explain information, and spelling words the best you can to write this book. You‟ll also want
your last page to have some of your strongest thinking or feeling – a big idea or observation about bears
- so that it really feels like an ending, and not just another page in the book.”
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Teacher Read Aloud
Polar Bears
Where Do They Live?
Polar bears live in cold and snowy environments. These large white bears are
only found in the farthest north areas of the world. They live in the Arctic.
What Do They Look Like?
Polar bears are large and heavy. They are the
biggest species, or kind, of bear. Polar bears have a
thick coat of fur to help protect them from the cold.
Even their paws have fur on them! This helps polar
bears to stay warm and to travel on slippery ice.
Under their fur, polar bears have a thick layer of fat
and black skin which helps to absorb energy from
the sun. Both of these help to help keep polar bears’
body temperatures warm.
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What Else Are They Called?
Polar bears have paws that are slightly webbed, like ducks’ feet. This helps
them to be excellent swimmers. For this reason, polar bears are sometimes called
“sea bears.” In fact, polar bears are such amazing swimmers; they have even been
spotted looking for food hundreds of miles from shore!
The polar bear is enjoying a
nice swim before lunch.
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What Do They Eat?
Polar bears are the top predators in their environments. Since they can
walk, run, and swim they are excellent hunters. Their favorite prey is seals which
are found along the edges of sea ice. However, polar bears will hunt and feed on
whatever animals and plants they can find, including fish.
A polar bear walks
along the edges of sea
ice to look for food.
What About Polar Bear Babies?
Polar bear mothers build a den in the fall. They do this by digging in the
snow and ice to make a tunnel. They dig out two connecting rooms, or chambers.
About two months later, the mother gives birth to one, two, or three cubs. Twin
cubs are the most common. Cubs stay with their mothers for about two and a half
years. In this time, they learn to hunt and to take care of themselves.
Polar bear cubs at
their den.
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Are They in Danger?
Many of today’s scientists are worried about polar bears. Most scientists
agree that there are less polar bears now than in the past. One reason for this
may be that not enough sea water freezes into ice during the Arctic winter. The
ice that does freeze each year isn’t as thick as it was years ago. Less ice means
that polar bears have fewer places to hunt for food. If polar bears can’t find
enough food, they may starve. For these reasons, many scientists worry that one
day there may be no more polar bears. Polar bears may become extinct.
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