It's a good guess you remember the essay "Thoughts
on An Abacus." Click
on the book icon to the right and open the passage.
You have read it carefully already, so you might
skim or review the key points again for a refresher.
Again, in this example, you aren't doing the writing,
you're doing the evaluating! You be the teacher.
You're working with two students who are ready to
show off their skill of evaluating the author's
idea in a short answer format. Evaluate their evaluations!
|
Thoughts
on an Abacus |
Short Answer Prompt:
Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement? Refer to the selection to explain your answer.
The author of this passage is opposed
to modern technology.
|
As a teacher, remember to:
-
Know what the question is asking.
- Teacher
thinks: Prompt
is asking students to evaluate the theme or main idea
in this essay. They have to figure out if the author
is opposed to modern technology.
- Information
from the poem has to be in the answer.
-
Be very familiar with the passage
and know how you would answer the question.
- Teacher
does: Write
a complete answer yourself using the selection, so
that you have a good model to compare to the student
writing.
-
Know the key elements needed
for a response to be complete.
- Teacher
thinks: Student
must state their evaluation of the author's beliefs
from the passage. They have to say if they think the
author supports or opposes modern technology.
- Student
has to say WHY. They have to prove their logical evaluation
by using evidence from the passage.
-
Understand the scoring criteria.
|
Score
|
Criteria
|
|
2
points
|
- evaluates appropriate information which
leads to decision about author's beliefs
- develops thoughtful interpretations of
author's beliefs
- uses sufficient, relevant evidence from
essay to support evaluation
|
|
1
point
|
- evaluates limited information leading to decision
about author's beliefs
- develops average or simple interpretations of
author's beliefs
- attempts to use evidence from essay to support
claims; support may be limited or irrelevant (not
make sense).
|
|
0
points
|
- little or no understanding of the passage or figuring
out author's beliefs
- may answer, "I don't know."
- no evidence from essay
|
Let's see how Student
1 answers this prompt. We will use this chart
to figure out this student's score:
Prompt: Do you agree or disagree with
the following statement? Refer to the selection
to
explain your answer.
Student 1 Answer:
He
doesn't like modern technology because the abacus
is proved faster. I know this because Chan Kai
Kit was the guy who won the contest and he used
an abacus. The author even says he won, "of
course," so the author thinks abacus is
better than computers anyday.
|
Think about what score Student 1
earned for this response. Does the student include the
key elements?
| State whether the author opposes modern technology
or not? |
Does the student address this issue? |
| Evidence from the essay to show or prove the author's
belief. |
What does the student say to support
this answer? |
| Is the evidence "appropriate," or is
it the right evidence? Does the student get all the
information needed to form an opinion about the author's
beliefs? |
Does the student use all the information
from the essay or just part of it - not taking into
account other statements? |
How does this chart compare to the scoring criteria?
As a teacher, what score would you assign to Student
1's response?
As a teacher, write a comment to Student 1,
explaining the score earned by the answer.
Let's score another response.
|
Prompt: Do you agree or disagree with
the following statement? Refer to the selection
to explain your answer.
- The author of this passage is opposed
to modern technology.
I
disagree with that statement. The author says
pocket calculators are here to stay and maybe
they might "have their place." He
isn't opposed to modern technology. But he
doesn't want the older ways to go away. He
thinks the older simple ways are just as good
and maybe even better because they are art.
|
Think about what score Student
2 earned for this response. Does the student
include the key elements?
| State whether the author opposes modern technology
or not? |
Does the student address this issue? |
| Evidence from the essay to show or prove the author's
belief. |
What does the student say to support
this answer? |
| Is the evidence "appropriate," or is
it the right evidence? Does the student get all
the information needed to form an opinion about
the author's beliefs? |
Does the student use all the information
from the essay or just part of it - not taking into
account other statements? |
How does this chart compare to the scoring
criteria? As a teacher, what score would you assign
to Student 2's response?
As a teacher, write a comment to Student
2, explaining the score earned by the answer
Does it help to see the writing of other students?
Which student matched your own answer to the question?
How would you help Student 1 understand the bigger
picture presented by the author, that modern technology
has it's place too.
Let's look at one another writing example before
we begin practice items.
|
Example
2 >>
|
