As a teacher, remember to:
-
Know what the question is asking.
- Teacher
thinks: Prompt
is asking students to evaluate the farmer's character.
The students have to figure out if the farmer is right
in saying that people will pretty much get the same
thing they give in their new home: if they are spiteful
and nasty, they will probably have awful neighbors,
but if they are helpful, they'll find nice folks.
In this case, the farmer might be stating the same
ideas of the author because, at the beginning of the
selection, it says this story is one of the author's
favorites.
-
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 the evaluation of the farmer's character
by agreeing or disagreeing with the prompt statement.
- Student
has to say WHY. The logical evaluation usesevidence
from the passage.
Let's see how Student 1 answers
this prompt.
Do you agree or disagree with
the following statement? Support your answer by
referring to the story.
Student 1 Answer:
I
disagree with this statement. The farmer isn't
a good judge of character. I think this because
he let both families stay on his land. He should
have only let the nice people stay. They are
the ones who think their neighbors were wonderful
and hope they find good neighbors where they
are going. Like the theme says, people get the
kind of respect they give, so why did he let
awful people stay on his land?
|
As a teacher, you'll use the scoring
criteria you gave your students so they'd know the target
to hit with their writing:
|
Score
|
Criteria
|
|
2
points
|
Does this student:
- evaluate appropriate information which
leads to decision about author's beliefs
- develop thoughtful interpretations of author's
beliefs
- use sufficient, relevant evidence from
essay to support evaluation
Teacher
thinks: Not
bad writing and the student explains their ideas from
the text, but the logic is flawed. It isn't correct.
The farmer really is a good judge of character becuase
he replies differently to both families. His statement,
"You will," proves the theme that
you get what you give. He knows the family who wants
to get away from spiteful, unhelpful neighbors is
probably the same way and will stay the same way.
They will find the same in their new neighborhood.
Just like the family who thinks people are helpful,
will find helpful people.
I'd
have to say that student 1 didn't evaluate "appropriate"
information to develop a thoughtful interpretation.
The reasoning of this student isn't accurate, so I
need to go back and read the passage again with this
student.
|
|
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).
Teacher
thinks: Yes,
student's answer fits here because they used evidence
from the text, but it was limited. The logic isn't
exactly accurate. See my notes in the 2 point section.
We just need to reread the selection and take into
account all the information. This is a one point answer.
|
|
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
Teacher
thinks: Student
one did much more than "I don't know."
|
As a teacher, what score would you assign
to Student 1's response? Why?
Let's score another response.
| Do you agree or disagree with
the following statement? Support your answer
by referring to the story.
Student
2 Answer:
I
agree that the farmer is a good judge of character.
He doesn't say much, but what he says shows
he understands the two different families.
He knows the first family will meet awful
neighbors, probably because they are awful
neighbors. The second family expects to find
wonderful neighbors, and the farmer says,
"You will." I think this is because
he knows they are nice people too. He judges
the two families right and that also is the
theme of the story - you get what you give.
|
|
Score
|
Criteria
|
|
2
points
|
Does this student:
- evaluate appropriate information which
leads to decision about author's beliefs
- develop thoughtful interpretations
of author's beliefs
- use sufficient, relevant evidence from
essay to support evaluation
Teacher
thinks: Yes,
yes and yes. It's all there. Evaluation of "appropriate"
information, logical reasoning, thoughtful interpretations
of the character's speech and ideas, proof from the
text, and even mention of the theme. Maybe this student
could help Student 1 with the revision!
And
as a teacher, you don't even need to consider
a one or zero point score!
|
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 develop a logical response
using appropriate information from the text?
Let's look at just one more quick example
before we begin practice items.
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