NJ ASK 3 - Language Arts

Testing Dates
 March 10,11,12, 2007
Regular Testing (Language Arts Literacy Days 1 and 2, Mathematics)
 
Content and Format 

The READING Assessment

     Narrative (story) - comprehension and analysis
     Informational - comprehension and analysis
   

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  are published stories (narratives) and articles (informational or everyday texts) that 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

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.

    1.   Using a picture as a guide (or prompt) for writing a story  (speculative writing)

                  -  The pictures are taken from a published story, but the children are not expected to tell that story.
                  -  Teachers can support their students by helping them understand and appreciate that there are many stories to tell, and that for each picture there will be as many stories as there are children to write them.

     2. Writing a composition in response to a verbal prompt (listen and read) that is linked to a poem.

                  -  The poems that are selected for NJ ASK are taken from published collections that appeal to children.
                  -  The students are not asked to write about the poem or to write a poem of their own.
                  -   Instead, the poem serves as a springboard for the writing prompt that follows.
                  -  This prompt is a verbal writing prompt, which may seem to provide a more formal and limiting structure than the picture prompt, but the ideas given are intended only as suggestions to help students develop the content for their sustained writing.

    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 25 minutes allotted for each writing task does not provide enough time for students to complete both a rough draft and a final version.
 

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.

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.

Scoring

The Open-ended Scoring Rubric, a 0-4 point scale, is used to score student responses to open-ended items for reading.  This rubric, which is annotated in the Open-ended Scoring Guide, emphasizes students' use of appropriate situations and ideas in the text as support for their explanation and analysis.