Since we are on the topic of wolves, here's one you might be familiar with already. Have you heard the story "The Boy That Cried Wolf"? Here it is written in poetry form by Louis Untermeyer. Read "The Boy and the Wolf" by clicking on the book icon on the right. Then we'll see how to summarize the poem in a short answer format. Keep the passage open as we work through this example.

The Boy and the Wolf

Question Prompt:

Write a sentence that tells what the poem is about. Then quote two things in the poem that helped you know what the poem is about.

• Read the question before reading the passage.
• Identify the key elements needed in a complete short answer response.

Think:

Remember from the rubrics section we learned to figure out what key elements needed to be answered in a complete response. For this short answer, and for a complete 2 point score, what three elements need to be included in an answer?

1. A sentence summarizing the poem.
2. One section of the poem quoted to show what the poem is about.
3. A second section of the poem quoted to show what the poem is about.

Let's see how Student 1 answers this prompt. We will use this chart to figure out this student's score:

Think about what score Student 1 earned for this response. Why?

1. Does the student write a sentence that summarizes the poem, or tells what is about?
   No, Student 1 says "A wolf tries and tries to eat the sheep. Finally he does." This is a misunderstanding of what happens in the poem. The boy calls "Wolf" several times, but there is no wolf. The one time there really is a wolf, no body believes the boy, and the wolf has a tasty meal. The wolf only appears one time in the poem, not over and over.
   
   
2. Does this student quote two sections of the poem that help tell what the poem is about?
   No, Student 1 must not have reviewed the prompt to be sure the answer was complete. There are not sections of the poem quoted to show what the poem is about.

Student 1 writes a summary statement to tell what the poem is about, but it is incorrect. And part two is missing.

Incorrect: Student 2 draws the wrong conclusion: "A wolf tries and tries to eat the sheep. Finally he does." because the wolf appears only one time. The boy cries "Wolf," many times, but the real wolf only shows up once. He does get to eat the sheep and the boy though.

Missing: There is no response to the second part of the prompt: "Then quote two things in the poem that helped you know what the poem is about."

If you scored the response from Student 1, it would have to be a zero (0).

Let's see how a couple other students answer the same prompt.

Student 2 Answer: There is this boy guarding sheep and one day he gets eaten by a wolf. The sheep get eaten too. I think this is what the poem is about because the poem says, "Wolf! yelled the boy." Also the poem says, "And let the hungry wolf enjoy His feast of mutton, lamb--and boy."

Think about what score Student 2 earned for this response. Look at the question again to be sure everything was answered.

Question Prompt: Write a sentence that tells what the poem is about. Then quote two things in the poem that helped you know what the poem is about.

Then use the table below to match your score with the criteria and explanation.

If Student 2 had added information about the boy repeatedly calling "Wolf," when there wasn't a wolf, and that was the reason nobody came to rescue him when he really needed it, the response would have been complete. As it is, the score would be a 1.

Student 2 calling for help! See if we can revise Student 2's response so that it earns a score of 2 points.

First - we'll revise the summary sentences: "There is this boy guarding sheep and one day he gets eaten by a wolf. The sheep get eaten too." It doesn't quite tell the whole story does it?

Remember a summary is:

Does the revise summary meet this definition? It surely does!

Now we just need to add Part 2 - two quotes from the poem to that help us figure out what the poem is about. Look at the poem again.

Student 2 had previously written:

Because we have now included the fact that he lied several times about the wolf being there, and that was why he wasn't rescued, let's include the quotes that support our new summary statement.

Do you agree that this new response would earn a full 2 point score? Does it makes sense and completely answer the prompt? We can all say a great big YES!!

And now this means you're ready to try some reading passages, and some questions on your own! Let's go!