ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
QUARTER 3 (January 4-March 18, 2016)
Dates:
Topic:
Grade Level Information:
Target
Standard:
√+ 6.RL.2.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text.
Teacher Directed Reading
Instruction
Continue to revisit this standard as you integrate the additional ‘RN’ standards from your weekly pacing.
Instructional
Considerations:
Week 23
Feb. 2-6
ConstructedResponse
Question
Stem(s):
Writing Prompt
Aligned to
ISTEP+
Expectations
-orResponse to
Literature:
Test-Taking
Strategy:

This standard requires students to use their comprehension skills to analyze the text, make inferences and support
their inferences with evidence from the text.

Making inferences requires reasoning from the reader. (Inferences = background knowledge and experience + text
evidence) An additional component requires citing text evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly
in addition to identifying evidence to support inferences drawn by the reader.

When inferring from the text, students should cite what the author said that lead to that conclusion and should
cite specific examples and details to support all inferences.

Students should have opportunities to practice analyzing text.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-text-as-a-group

Analyze – examine methodically and in detail the constitution or structure of something, especially information,
typically for purposes of explanation and interpretation

Words that are helpful in the instruction of this standard: analyze, explicit, inference, textual evidence, conclude
author’s purpose

Inferences = background knowledge and experience + text evidence
Continue to revisit this standard as you integrate the additional ‘RN’ standards from your weekly pacing.
These are some ways this standard could be assessed.

Why did the author write this piece? What details from the text support your response?

What inferences can you make? What information from the text supports your inferences?

Analyze the passage, what can you conclude? What details from the passage, support your conclusion?

When you analyze the text, what inference can you make? What details support your inference?

What can you conclude from the text? How does the textual evidence support your conclusion?
Response to Literature – Text-Based Writing
Select a paragraph or two from a piece of literature. Ask students to complete the following writing task, filling in the
“blanks” with information that pertains to your selected text.

Read the text. Think about what you know about (CHARACTER) just from this section of the text. What inferences
can you make regarding this character’s (actions, personality, traits)? Why do you think the author presents the
character in this manner? Use details from the text to support your response.
Constructed-Response Strategy: Many constructed-response items require student to use the information from the text
(author) along with their own experiences (me). The student has to offer a personal opinion (me) and support it with
details from the reading (author). Teach students to use strategies to help them craft a response that will earn them full
credit. The “Yes, Ma’am” acronym can help students remember to format their response in using the acronym as a
reminder. ( Additional information - http://www.smekenseducation.com/constructed-responses-require-textualevidence.html )

Yes Ma’am (Me – Author – Author – Me)

M = Me: Within the first sentence restate the question and provide a general answer.

A = Author: The first “A” prompts students to look at what the author said and to include one specific detail from
the text to support their answer. (Suggested sentence starters: In the text . . .; The text states . . .; According to
the passage . . . ; One example from the text . . .; The author states . . .)

A = Author: The second “A” reminds students that a constructed response requires multiple supporting details
from the author. Support answer with a second specific detail from the text. (Sentence starters: In the text . . .;
The text also states . . . ; According to the passage . . .; A second example from the text . . . ;The author also states .
..)

M = Me: The second “M” prompts the student (me) to explain or interpret the significance of the evidence.
Explain why does the evidence fit and prove your point. (Sentence starters: This shows . . . ; This demonstrates . . .
; I believe . . . ; Now I know . . . ; This proves . . . )
Page 1 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Resources:





Assessment
for
Feb. 6, 2016:
Rigorous Read- “A Study in Scarlett from A. Conan Doyle” This text can be used if you need a resource written at
the higher end of your grade-level Lexile band or is more complex for this grade level. It is an optional instructional
resource.
http://www.theliteracystore.com/product_images/184hr.jpg (Yes Ma’am Poster)
http://msccc.net/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/rl1-resources.pdf Instructional Support for Text-Based
Writing Experiences)
http://www.smekenseducation.com/text-based-conversations.html (Engage Students in Text-Based
Conversations)
http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/assessment/item-sampler-3-8-revised-2015docx.pdf
(Released ISTEP Samplers)
“The Sea Turtle’s Built-in Compass” (6.RN.2.2) – two multiple-choice items and one constructed-response item AND
“Shackleton’s Stowaway” (6.RL.2.1) –two constructed-response items
Page 2 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Rigorous Read for Grade 6
excerpt from
... A Study in Scarlet by A. Conan Doyle
CHAPTER II. THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION.
WE met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, Baker Street, of which he had
spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sittingroom, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows. So desirable in every way were the
apartments, and so moderate did the terms seem when divided between us, that the bargain was concluded upon
the spot, and we at once entered into possession. That very evening I moved my things round from the hotel,
and on the following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with several boxes and portmanteaus. For a day or
two we were busily employed in unpacking and laying out our property to the best advantage. That done, we
gradually began to settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new surroundings.
Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways, and his habits were regular. It
was rare for him to be up after ten at night, and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out before I rose in the
morning. Sometimes he spent his day at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting-rooms, and
occasionally in long walks, which appeared to take him into the lowest portions of the City. Nothing could
exceed his energy when the working fit was upon him; but now and again a reaction would seize him, and for
days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from
morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might
have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his
whole life forbidden such a notion.
As the weeks went by, my interest in him and my curiosity as to his aims in life, gradually deepened and
increased. His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In
height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes
were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like
nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and
squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with
chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe
when I watched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments.
The reader may set me down as a hopeless busybody, when I confess how much this man stimulated my
curiosity, and how often I endeavoured to break through the reticence which he showed on all that concerned
himself. Before pronouncing judgment, however, be it remembered, how objectless was my life, and how little
there was to engage my attention. My health forbade me from venturing out unless the weather was
exceptionally genial, and I had no friends who would call upon me and break the monotony of my daily
existence. Under these circumstances, I eagerly hailed the little mystery which hung around my companion, and
spent much of my time in endeavouring to unravel it.
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Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
He was not studying medicine. He had himself, in reply to a question, confirmed Stamford’s opinion upon
that point. Neither did he appear to have pursued any course of reading which might fit him for a degree in
science or any other recognized portal which would give him an entrance into the learned world. Yet his zeal for
certain studies was remarkable, and within eccentric limits his knowledge was so extraordinarily ample and
minute that his observations have fairly astounded me. Surely no man would work so hard or attain such precise
information unless he had some definite end in view. Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness
of their learning. No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing
so.
His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he
appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he
might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was
ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being
in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such
an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
“You appear to be astonished,” he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. “Now that I do know it I shall
do my best to forget it.”
“To forget it!”
“You see,” he explained, “I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to
stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so
that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other
things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as
to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work,
but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little
room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every
addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not
to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”
“But the Solar System!” I protested.
“What the deuce is it to me?” he interrupted impatiently; “you say that we go round the sun. If we went round
the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/244/244-h/244-h.htm
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Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Grade 6 Assessment: Part 1 (6.RN.2.2)
Read the article and answer the questions.
The Sea Turtle’s Built-In Compass
by Sudipta Bardhan
1
If you were bringing friends home to visit, you could show them the way. You know the
landmarks—a big red house, a bus-stop sign, or even a pothole in the front of your driveway. But
what if you were swimming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where everything looks almost the
same? Could you find your way home?
2
A loggerhead sea turtle could. It’s born with a magnetic sense that tells it how to find its way
from any place on Earth.
3
These big turtles swim thousands of miles each year. But somehow, they know
which way to turn to stay in warm waters where there is a lot of food.
4
Loggerheads also seem to have a good memory for places, even for places they have seen
just once before. Each female will lay eggs only on the beach where she was born, even if she hasn’t
returned since she hatched. Each year, she goes back to the same beach. That means a baby
loggerhead must figure out exactly where it is from the moment it hatches.
5
“We think that the loggerhead turtles have a global-positioning system of sorts,”
explains Dr. Ken Lohmann, “and that it is somehow based on Earth’s magnetic field.”
6
This global-positioning system, or magnetic sense, is important. It helps the turtles locate what
they need to live—from the best spots for finding food to their home beaches. Understanding the
turtles’ magnetic sense will help researchers figure out which areas are important for the survival of
this endangered species.
7
It isn’t such a stretch to think that loggerheads may have a magnetic sense. Scientists already
know of several animals that can detect magnetic fields. Whales, honeybees, birds, fish, and even
some bacteria use Earth’s magnetic field to find their way. Many of these animals, including
loggerheads, have a substance called magnetite in their bodies. That’s what may give them their
magnetic sense.
8
A difference between other animals and loggerheads, though, is the way they learn to use their
magnetic sense. Young whales, honeybees, and birds can learn from adults. Loggerheads are
abandoned as eggs.
9
With no adults to learn from, how do hatchlings figure out how to use their magnetic sense?
Lohmann thinks they use cues from the environment. One of the cues he tested was light on the
horizon.
Page 5 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
10
Baby loggerheads hatch only at night. However, a small amount of light reflects off the ocean.
The light makes that region brighter than the rest of the sky. Heading toward the light helps
loggerheads get quickly out to sea, where they can find food.
11
Turtles hatching in eastern Florida first swim east, since that is the direction of the light.
Lohmann tested whether hatchlings use this light source to set their magnetic
compasses.
12
“We outfitted each hatchling with a cloth bathing suit that was attached to a fishing line and set
them free in the tank,” says Lohmann. The fishing line was connected to a tracking system so a
computer could record which way the turtles swam.
13
Around the tank, the scientists set up electrical coils to create a magnetic field that matched
the Earth’s. They set a dim light to either the “east” or the “west” of the magnetic field. Then they let
the hatchlings go.
14
At first, the hatchlings swam toward the light, no matter where it was. After scientists turned off
the light, the turtles that had seen the light in the “east” always swam toward “east.” When the
researchers reversed the magnetic field, these turtles turned around and swam toward the new
“east.” They had learned how to use their built-in compass.
15
Turtles that had seen the light in the “west” swam toward “west.” In the wild,
swimming west would take them the wrong way—away from the ocean. So the light
helped set the built-in compass, even if it did give the wrong direction.
16
Turtles that had their first swim in total darkness swam in random directions.
17
These experiments showed that loggerheads use cues from the outside world to set their
magnetic sense. Loggerheads can detect magnetic fields from birth, but at first they don’t know what
they mean. After they follow the cues from their surroundings, they remember the “correct” magnetic
direction.
18
Lohmann’s work has led others to protect the loggerheads’ habitat. For example, if a turtle
hatches on a beach with a bright boardwalk, the turtle may be confused about which lights to follow. If
it turns the wrong way, its magnetic sense may be warped forever. That would make survival hard for
the turtle.
19
Lohmann is working to find other factors that are important in helping sea turtles find their way
around the world. Many questions about these beautiful ocean creatures have still not been
answered, so researchers have a lot of ideas to study.
Page 6 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
1. Which statement from the article BEST represents a central idea?
A “It’s born with a magnetic sense that tells it how to find its way from any place
on Earth.” (paragraph 2)
B “Loggerheads also seem to have a good memory for places, even for places
they have seen just once before.” (paragraph 4)
C “In the wild, swimming west would take them the wrong way—away from the
ocean.” (paragraph 15)
D “Lohmann is working to find other factors that are important in helping sea
turtles find their way around the world.” (paragraph 19)
2. Which detail is MOST helpful for understanding the central idea of the article?
A Loggerhead turtles hatch in eastern Florida.
B Loggerhead turtles prefer to feed in warm waters.
C Scientists are interested in protecting animal habitats.
D Scientists have studied how different animals navigate.
3. How does including Dr. Lohmann’s work help convey the central idea of the article?
Use details from the article to support your answer.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 7 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Grade 6 Assessment: Part 2 (6.RL.2.1)
Read the passage and answer the questions.
Shackleton’s Stowaway
by Victoria McKernan
Once on deck, Perce stopped and stared. The flat, endless ice plain they had lived in for
months was torn apart. But rather than opening up the sea for their escape, it was trapping them
more than ever.
Great jagged slabs of ice were piled up all around the ship, lifting her hull half out of the water,
tipping the Endurance until she was almost on her side. Deck planks were
snapping, and metal halyards screeched like fingernails on a chalkboard. Shackleton stood on the
bridge, calmly giving orders in the chaos. Wild directed the men as they came on deck.
“Billy,” Wild shouted. “Help McNeish with the lifeboats.” The Endurance was heeled so far
over, the lifeboats on the port side were in danger of being crushed against the ice.
“Blackie, Tim,” Wild commanded. “Help get the dogs on board.” Dogloo city was a wreck. The
dogs howled with fright. Some of the chains had come free, and the loose dogs ran everywhere.
Others were trapped and buried in their dogloos. Huge slabs of ice stuck straight up like tombstones
in a giant’s graveyard. Perce grabbed an ax in one hand and a pike in the other. It was hard even
getting to the dogs through the maze of broken ice. Perce began to chop the chains free. Crean was
digging Sampson out of his collapsed dogloo.
“What’s happening?” Perce had to shout to be heard over the noise of crunching ice.
“Pressure!” Crean shouted back. “Ice starts to break up, and the current jams it all together.
Then the wind catches the broken slabs like sails and pushes it up more.”
It was scary to see blocks of ice that weighed ten tons piled up around them like a child’s
building blocks. Crean freed Sampson and led him to the safety of the ship, with the four grown pups
running right behind. Hurley had his hands full with Shakespeare but grabbed another dog from
Perce. They bolted in opposite directions, almost pulling him in two. Hurley swore, yanked on the
leashes, and muscled the dogs back to his side. It was a frantic race, but within ten minutes every
dog was securely on board the ship. They were so terrorized, they even forgot to fight. They just
cowered in corners and whined.
McNeish came running, as much as anyone could run on the sloping deck.
“She’s sprung fore an’ aft, Boss!” he announced. “There’s two foot of water in the hold, and the
pump’s froze up.”
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Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
“Very well,” Shackleton said evenly. “Get some men on the hand pumps. Can you stem the
leaks?”
“Timbers is split, sir. I might build a cofferdam, though. Might keep the water back
from the engines.”
“Take whatever men you need.”
“You two—” Wild pointed at Perce and Tim. “Help Hurley secure the dogs, then
relieve the men on the pumps. You there—Bill, Vincent, the rest of you there—get the
pikes, let’s try to push some of this ice back from the ship. The rest of you with McNeish.”
They worked all day and all night. McNeish and his crew sloshed waist deep in the freezing
water as they tried to stop the leaks. The sailors, officers, and scientists worked shoulder to shoulder.
They were so wet and dirty, you could hardly tell one man from another. Fifteen minutes on the hand
pumps—fifteen minutes’ rest, half hour chopping at the ice or helping with the dam down below.
Perce pounded nails and stuffed blankets into cracks, then went back to the pumps. The labor was
extreme. The water was pouring in so fast, they had to pump full out. After five minutes, his arms
ached. After ten minutes, his shoulders and neck were in a spasm.
The night became a blur. Once Perce fell asleep while holding a board in place on the dam.
Once he found a mug of soup in his hand and didn’t know how it got there. The strangest thing was
how the Boss was everywhere all the time. When a shift finished on the pumps, there he was with
mugs of chocolate. When the strips of blanket floated out of the cofferdam, it was Shackleton’s hand
that caught them. His clothes were as wet and dirty as any of theirs, but he never rested, never
seemed tired.
Finally, late the next morning, the efforts began to show success. Water still came in, but
slower. Shackleton ordered an hour’s rest. Charlie had somehow managed to cook with the galley at
a crazy tilt and now dished out big bowls of porridge. The men ate hunched over, too tired to speak.
Some fell asleep at the table, their heads beside the empty bowls. And always, the terrible screech
and groaning of the pressing ice continued all around them.
4. Why must the crew of the Endurance work through the night? Use details from the story
to support your answer.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Page 9 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
5. Which details from the passage support the inference that Shackleton was experienced
in handling emergency situations? Use details from the passage to support your
answer.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Page 10 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Answer Key for Grade 6 Assessment (6.RN.2.2 and 6.RL.2.1)
Part 1: The Sea Turtle’s Built-In Compass by Sudipta Bardhan
1. Answer: A
(6.RN.2.2: Determine how a central idea of a text is conveyed through particular details; provide
an objective summary of the text.)
2. Answer: D (6.RN.2.2: Determine how a central idea of a text is conveyed through particular details; provide
an objective summary of the text.)
3. How does including Dr. Lohmann’s work help convey the central idea of the article?
Use details from the article to support your answer. (6.RN.2.2: Determine how a central idea of a
text is conveyed through particular details; provide an objective summary of the text.)
Score 2 Response – Student demonstrates complete understanding of the task.
Dr. Lohlmann’s work helps the reader understand the important role of the environment on Loggerhead turtles’ ability to
navigate the ocean. He believed that these turtles had a global-positioning system based on Earth’s magnetic field. He
conducted experiments that showed that loggerheads use cues from the outside world to set their magnetic sense and
can remember the correct magnetic direction.
A score 2 response should include two of the following details from the article:




“We think that the loggerhead turtles have a global-positioning system of sorts,”
explains Dr. Ken Lohmann, “and that it is somehow based on Earth’s magnetic field.”
With no adults to learn from, how do hatchlings figure out how to use their magnetic sense? Lohmann thinks they
use cues from the environment. One of the cues he tested was light on the horizon.
Turtles hatching in eastern Florida first swim east, since that is the direction of the light. Lohmann tested whether
hatchlings use this light source to set their magnetic compasses.
These experiments showed that loggerheads use cues from the outside world to set their magnetic sense.
Loggerheads can detect magnetic fields from birth, but at first they don’t know what they mean. After they follow
the cues from their surroundings, they remember the “correct” magnetic direction.
Score 1 Response – Student demonstrates partial understanding of the task.
Dr. Lohlmann’s work helps the reader understand the important role of the environment on Loggerhead turtles’ ability to
navigate the ocean.
A score 1 response should include one of the following details from the article:




“We think that the loggerhead turtles have a global-positioning system of sorts,”
explains Dr. Ken Lohmann, “and that it is somehow based on Earth’s magnetic field.”
With no adults to learn from, how do hatchlings figure out how to use their magnetic sense? Lohmann thinks they
use cues from the environment. One of the cues he tested was light on the horizon.
Turtles hatching in eastern Florida first swim east, since that is the direction of the light. Lohmann tested whether
hatchlings use this light source to set their magnetic compasses.
These experiments showed that loggerheads use cues from the outside world to set their magnetic sense.
Loggerheads can detect magnetic fields from birth, but at first they don’t know what they mean. After they follow
the cues from their surroundings, they remember the “correct” magnetic direction.
Page 11 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
Score 0 Response – Inaccurate answer.
Dr. Lohmann liked to study the Loggerhead turtles because he thought they were interesting.
A score 0 response does not include details that support the central idea.
Part 2: Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan
4. Why must the crew of the Endurance work through the night? Use details from the story
to support your answer. (6.RL.2.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.)
Score 2 Response – Student demonstrates complete understanding of the task
The crew of the Endurance had to work through the night to keep too much water from coming in and to do as much
repair as they can to all of the cracks and leaks. For example the passage says, “They worked all day and night.
McNeish and his crew sloshed in the freezing water as they tried to stop the leaks.” The crew had to use hand pumps to
keep the water out. Therefore the crew of the Endurance had to work through the night.
A score 2 response should include two of the following details from the article:




Circumstances and situations, such as the ice buckling and puncturing the aft section of the ship, causing it to
leak, may be used to support the inference and reason why they work so diligently.
Other evidence that may be used is that the engine compartment is in danger of flooding and the leak must be
shored up so the engines are not damaged. Students may the line from the text which states that the crew
“worked all day and all night” trying to repair the damage.
There were leaks in the boat and water was coming in very quickly – Can you stem the leaks? The crew had to
use hand pumps to keep the water out.
Additional concrete details that support the inference that the crew had to work through the night.
Score 1 Response – Student demonstrates partial understanding of the task.
The crew of the Endurance had to work through the night to keep too much water from coming in and to do as much
repair as they can to all of the cracks and leaks.
A score 1 response only includes one of the following details from the article:






Circumstances and situations, such as the ice buckling and puncturing the aft section of the ship, causing it to
leak, may be used to support the inference and reason why they work so diligently.
Keep water from coming in and repair the cracks and leaks.
They had to use hand pumps to keep the water out.
Other evidence that may be used is that the engine compartment is in danger of flooding and the leak must be
shored up so the engines are not damaged. Students may the line from the text which states that the crew
“worked all day and all night” trying to repair the damage.
There were leaks in the boat and water was coming in very quickly – Can you stem the leaks? The crew had to
use hand pumps to keep the water out.
Additional concrete details that support the inference that the crew had to work through the night.
Score 0 Response – Inaccurate answer.
Page 12 of 13
Curriculum and Instruction Department
ELA ISTEP+ Support Framework Grade 6
2015-2016
There were not enough men on the ship. They need more people watching out for ice chunks.
A score 0 response does not include details that support the central idea.
5. Which details from the passage support the inference that Shackleton was experienced
in handling emergency situations? Use details from the passage to support your
answer. (6.RL.2.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.)
Score 2 Response – Student demonstrates complete understanding of the task
Shackleton demonstrated that he was experienced in handling emergencies by his ability to remain calm, supportive and
focused during the crisis on the ship. The passage says “Shackleton stood on the bridge, calmly giving orders in the
chaos.” The crew referred to him as boss. In the passage they said “Boss was everywhere all the time. When a shift
finished on the pumps, there he was with mugs of chocolate.” These details support the inference that Shackleton has
experience with crisis situations.
A score 2 response should include two of the following details from the article:




Shackleton stood on the bridge, calmly giving orders in the chaos.
“Very well,” Shackleton said evenly. “Get some men on the hand pumps. Can you stem the leaks?”
The strangest thing was how the Boss was everywhere all the time. When a shift finished on the pumps, there he
was with mugs of chocolate.
When the strips of blanket floated out of the cofferdam, it was Shackleton’s hand that caught them. His clothes
were as wet and dirty as any of theirs, but he never rested, never seemed tired.
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Score 1 Response – Student demonstrates partial understanding of the task.
The crew referred to him as boss. In the passage they said “Boss was everywhere all the time. When a shift finished on
the pumps, there he was with mugs of chocolate.” These details support the inference that Shackleton has experience
with crisis situations.
A score 1 response only includes one of the following details from the article:




Shackleton stood on the bridge, calmly giving orders in the chaos.
“Very well,” Shackleton said evenly. “Get some men on the hand pumps. Can you stem the leaks?”
The strangest thing was how the Boss was everywhere all the time. When a shift finished on the pumps, there he
was with mugs of chocolate.
When the strips of blanket floated out of the cofferdam, it was Shackleton’s hand that caught them. His clothes
were as wet and dirty as any of theirs, but he never rested, never seemed tired.
Score 0 Response – Inaccurate answer.
The sailors, officers, and scientists worked shoulder to shoulder. They were so wet and dirty, you could hardly tell one
man from another.
A score 0 response does not include details that support Shackleton’s experience with crisis.
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Curriculum and Instruction Department