English Language Arts Grade 3 Final

Students who score at the Advanced level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the ability to

• identify word meanings using a variety of strategies;

• demonstrate both literal and inferential understanding of what they read by making inferences, generalizations, and predictions; drawing conclusions; extending ideas; and making connections between what they read and their own experiences;

• identify story elements, literary devices, and author’s purpose;

• research a topic by locating, selecting, and evaluating appropriate information from multiple print and electronic sources for a specified purpose;

• identify parts of a bibliographic entry using a model;

• use critical and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop a response with a central idea, logical organization, thorough elaboration, and transitional words and/or phrases;

• demonstrate an awareness of audience through use of effective vocabulary, sentence patterns, and personal style; and

• maintain consistent command of sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling.

 

 Students who score at the Mastery level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the ability to

• identify words with multiple meanings using various strategies;

• demonstrate understanding of what they read by making inferences, drawing conclusions, and identifying main ideas and cause/effect relationships;

• identify story elements, literary devices, and an author’s purpose for writing;

• make connections between different elements within the text and their own experiences;

• research a topic by locating information from a variety of print and electronic sources for a specified purpose;

• identify parts of a bibliographic entry using a model;

• use critical and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop a response with a central idea, logical organization, elaboration with supporting details, and transitions;

• demonstrate audience awareness through use of selected vocabulary, varied sentence patterns, and a personal style; and

• demonstrate reasonable command of sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling.

Students who score at the Basic level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the ability to

• use knowledge of basic decoding skills to identify word meanings;

• demonstrate understanding of what they read by locating specific details and information, identifying main ideas, making simple inferences, and drawing simple conclusions;

• make obvious connections between elements within texts and their own experiences;

• identify an author’s purpose for writing, including informing;

• research a topic by locating information from multiple commonly used print and electronic sources;

• identify parts of bibliographic entries using a model;

• use some critical and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop a response with a central idea, observable organization, supporting details, and some transitions;

• demonstrate audience awareness through use of grade-appropriate vocabulary and sentence patterns; and

•demonstrate partial command of sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling.

 Students who score at theApproaching Basic level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the ability to

• identify meanings of some grade-appropriate vocabulary;

• demonstrate understanding of what they read, including identifying main events and details, making simple predictions, and sequencing events;

• identify how elements within a text relate to each other and their personal experiences;

• research a topic by locating information in commonly used sources;

• identify some parts of bibliographic entries using a model;

• demonstrate a partial response to a writing task;

• develop a response with a vague central idea, weak organization, and minimal detail;

• demonstrate limited audience awareness through use of simple and/or inappropriate vocabulary, simple sentences, and minimal evidence of personal style; and

• demonstrate inconsistent or little command of sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling.

 Students who score at the Unsatisfactory level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level have not demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling. Students scoring at this level need to develop the ability to

• demonstrate an understanding of what they read;

• make connections between information in texts and their own experiences;

• locate information in commonly used sources;

• develop an appropriate response to a writing task;

• construct a response with a focused central idea, observable organization, and sufficient supporting details;

• show audience awareness through use of appropriate vocabulary, varied sentence structure, and personal style; and

• demonstrate acceptable command of sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling