ASK 5 Language Arts Resources
May
5, 6, 7, 8 2008
Regular Testing (Language Arts Literacy Days 1 and 2, Mathematics Days 1 and 2)
Students are tested on two basic components: Reading and Writing that will be tested over a two day assessment period.
The READING Assessment includes:
Some of the terms or vocabulary that students should know:
passage, article, focus, theme, central idea, supporting details, character, event, setting, story, composition, prewriting, web, checklist, explanation, sequence, opinion, conclusion
Reading Sections
The reading passages selected for NJ ASK are published stories (narratives) and articles (informational or everyday texts) that have been chosen by the assessment committee because they present engaging content and serve as models of good literature.
The stories contain rich language, strong character development, and a clear sequence of purposeful events.
The everyday or informational articles introduce topics that are familiar and age-appropriate for elementary school children.
Following each reading passage is a series of multiple-choice and open-ended questions that target meaningful aspects of the text and invite students to engage in critical thinking about the passage they have read.
NJ ASK Writing Assessment presents two kinds of writing:
Both prompts suggest ideas for writing, but the children are the ones to orchestrate the ideas and the vocabulary of their writing.
• Using a written prompt for writing a story (speculative writing)
Teachers can support their students by helping them understand and appreciate that there are many stories to tell.
• Writing a Persuasive Essay
For each writing prompt, the test booklet provides several pages so that students have the space they need to complete the task.
Two blank pages are included for students to use for prewriting. Prewriting allows writers to brainstorm or plan ideas before they actually begin to write. Students may use this space to draw webs or make lists.
They should not use this space to write a rough draft for their story or composition.
The Examiner Manual provides teacher instructions for this section that help students use their time effectively.
Students will be encouraged to use the first five minutes for prewriting.
Then, when there are only five minutes remaining, to review their work and make any necessary changes.
To help students in their planning, drafting, and review, the test booklet provides a Writer’s Checklist of things writers think about.
Scoring:
|
Text types/Strand
|
Reading Selections
|
MC
(Number of Items) |
OE
(Number of Items) |
Writing Tasks (Number of Items)
|
Total Points
|
Time on Task(s) in Approximate Minutes
|
|
Persuasive Prompt
|
|
1
|
10
|
45
|
||
|
Speculative Prompt
|
1
|
5
|
25
|
|||
|
Narrative Reading
|
2
|
20
|
4
|
|
36
|
80
|
|
Analyzing Text
per passage
|
|
4-6
|
||||
|
Working with Text
per passage
|
|
4-6
|
||||
|
Informational Text Reading
|
2
|
16
|
2
|
|
24
|
60
|
|
Analyzing Text
per passage
|
|
3-5
|
||||
|
Working with Text
per passage
|
|
3-5
|
||||
|
Total Items
|
|
36
|
6
|
2
|
|
|
|
Total Points by Item Type
|
|
36
|
24
|
15
|
75
|
|
|
Total LAL Testing Time
|
2 days, 2 hrs. per day
|
OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS
The open-ended questions are constructed to promote thoughtful reader response to the passages.
Each question focuses the students on some element of the text and then asks students to explain their ideas or opinion based on what they have read.
For example, students might be asked to decide whether a certain character would make a good friend and to identify something in the story that the character does or says that demonstrates why the character would or would not make a good friend.
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. What matters is that students respond to the question and that their response is based on what they have learned from their reading of the text.
The open-ended questions on NJ ASK are different from the questions that appear on other assessments in two ways.
First, NJ ASK questions focus the students on critical aspects of their reading rather than on minor or incidental details.
Second, the test booklets provide extended space for the students’ written responses. This feature ensures that student responses will not be limited by their handwriting and is meant to encourage students to develop the ideas in their written responses.
To help students develop complete responses, the test booklet contains a reminder each time they come across an open-ended question:
As with the open-ended questions for the reading passages, the test booklets provide more space than some students will use.
Emphasis in these sections of the test is on the organization and development of ideas and on the expression of those ideas rather than on the sheer length of the story or composition.
Resources for NJ Ask Preparation
•
|
Speculative Prompts |
Synopsis |
| 501 Prompts | PDF File - Pick and choose the best for your needs. |
| Writing Prompt for Middle School | PDF File - Pick and choose the best for your needs. |
| Sample Prompts from Wyoming DOE | PDF File - Pick and choose the best for your needs. |
| Can Teach Writing Prompts | Canadian source of short writing prompts |
| History Related Prompts | From Jim Wayne |
| Weekly speculative prompt by grade | Academy Resource |
|
Persuasive Prompts |
Synopsis |
| iDebate.org | Huge list of searchable prompts and their "Pros - Cons" list. Search for "Junior Prompts" |
| Persuasive Essay Collection | Excellent prompts |
| Persuasive Prompt from 6+1 Traits | Interesting prompts |
Links to Sample Tests
|
From "Peopleseducation.com" - Measuring Up" |
From Franklin Lakes School |
| Language Arts Literacy | Practice Test |
| Mathematics | Practice Test |
•
Links to Lesson Plans that Help Prepare Students for ASK Language Arts from Read/Write and Think
| Powerful Writing: Description in Creating Monster Trading Cards | Description can make a piece of writing come alive. This activity combines art and word play, emphasizing writing for an audience while drawing on multiple intelligences. Peer review and feedback reinforces the revision process as students create trading cards by drawing pictures of monsters and describing and categorizing them in detail. |
| Bright Morning: Exploring Character Development in Fiction | "If you were going to introduce the character you're reading about to someone who had never read the text, what words would you use to describe him or her?" With this question, students embark on an exploration of character in their reading, identifying traits and pointing to textual support. |
| My World of Words: Building Vocabulary Lists | This lesson uses students' areas of interest both in and out of school to generate personalized vocabulary lists. Working in small groups, students select their own vocabulary words and research their meanings. In a culminating activity that uses text and illustration, each student will create a "My World of Words Journal." |
| Fairy Tales from Life | With the help of the teacher, students will read fairy tales and identify common elements. Choosing common situations and working in small groups, students will draw storyboards of their fairy tale and then write the fairy tale. Project will conclude with class presentations. |
| Teaching Science Through Picture Books: A Rainforest Lesson | A study of the tropical rainforest is introduced through the picture book Welcome to the Green House by Jane Yolen. This science lesson, which incorporates reading, writing, and technology, is a template that can be used with other books by Jane Yolen to teach about the desert, the polar ice cap, and the Everglades. |
| Can You Convince Me? | Students are introduced to the basic concepts of lobbying for something that is important to them and making persuasive arguments. |
| Writing a Persuasive Letter | Students use persuasive writing skills as well as online tools to write a letter stating their case |
| Vote for Me! Developing, Writing, and Evaluating Persuasive Speeches | Students Learn the characteristics of effective persuasive speech writing and oral argument. |
| Environmental Issues | Students explore environmental issues that are relevant to their own lives, select topics, and gather information to write persuasive essays. |
| Wonka's New Product | Students write a persuasive letter to Willy Wonka asking him to manufacture their product, a new type of candy. |
| Case for Reading—Examining Challenged and Banned Books | Students will analyze the book then write a persuasive piece, on their view about the book |
| Can You Convince Me? Developing Persuasive Writing | While "Playing" a game, students are made aware of their inherent knowledge of persuasive argument |
| Vote for Me! Developing, Writing, and Evaluating Persuasive Speeches | This lesson encourages fourth- and fifth-grade students to think critically and write persuasively by focusing on preparing, giving, and evaluating mock campaign speeches. |
| Voting! What’s It All About? | Students learn about the voting process through read-alouds, partner and independent reading then share information through writing activities and discussions. |
| Analyzing Advice as an Introduction to Shakespeare | Students to explore an excerpt from Shakespeare’s Hamlet |
| Exploring Free Speech and Persuasion with Nothing But The Truth | After reading Avi’s Nothing But The Truth and examining the resources related to First Amendment students compose and present position statement and supporting evidence |
| Expository Escapade—Detective’s Handbook | Students will combine reading in the detective fiction genre with expository writing |
| Inventing and Presenting Unit 3: Persuasive Speaking and Invention Promotion | Students design, build, and test inventions, data is recorded using commonly accepted scientific principles. Students write an appropriate speech for sharing their results |
| Literary Characters on Trial: Combining Persuasion and Literary Analysis | Students exercise their oral and written persuasion skills by playing a role in a mock trial of a literary character. |
Graphic Organizers for Writing
Links to Websites That Feature Skills Assessed by the ASK