California Writing Standards Tests at Grade 4

The California Writing Standards Tests address the writing applications standards for grades 4 and 7.  At grade 4, the writing applications standards require students to produce four types of writing: narratives, summaries, information reports, and responses to literature.  The California Writing Standards Tests are designed to assess only those types of writing that lend themselves to a one-hour assessment.  At grade four these include all the types except informational reports.

Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection and the most significant details.

For this task, students were expected to summarize main ideas and important details in their own words. Students who did well included only information that was in the article and avoided extraneous commentary. Effective summaries were organized so the reader could easily follow the comparisons and contrasts.

 

Write narratives:

                        a. Relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience.

                        b. Provide a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience.

                        c. Use concrete sensory details.

                        d. Provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.

For this task, students were expected to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. Students who did well incorporated concrete details, established a clear point of view, and demonstrated a sound grasp of writing conventions. Effective narratives exhibited a range of strategies such as dialogue and use of descriptive detail.

                         

Write responses to literature:

                        a. Demonstrate an understanding of the literary work.

                        b. Support judgments through references to both the text and prior knowledge.

 

For this task, students were expected to demonstrate their understanding of a literary work. Students who did well provided an interpretation and supported their response with appropriate details from the literary work. Effective responses to literature interpret the meaning of a text, develop inferences about its characters, and synthesize earlier understanding and prior knowledge or experiences with new ideas that the text presents.


California Writing Standards Tests at Grade 7

The California Writing Standards Tests address the writing applications standards for grades 4 and 7. At grade 7, the writing applications standards require students to produce five types of writing: narratives, persuasive essays, summaries, responses to literature, and research reports.   The California Writing Standards Tests are designed to assess only those types of writing that lend themselves to a one-hour assessment. At grade seven they include all the types except re­search reports.

Write responses to literature:

                        a. Develop interpretations exhibiting careful reading, understanding, and insight.

                        b. Organize interpretations around several clear ideas, premises, or images from the literary work.

                        c. Justify interpretations through sustained use of examples and textual evidence.

 

For this task, students were expected to show an understanding of the story by discuss­ing how the main character comes to appreciate the importance of family. The most effective essays analyzed the characters, their interactions, and the story’s meaning and supported their interpretations with quotations, paraphrases, examples, and details. Essays with the highest scores made connections between the thesis and supporting evidence and demonstrated strong control of sentence structure.

 

Write summaries of reading materials:

                        a. Include the main ideas and most significant details.

                        b. Use the student’s own words, except for quotations.

                        c. Reflect underlying meaning, not just the superficial details.

 

For this task, students were expected to use their own words to relate the main idea and most significant details of the selection. Students who did well included only informa­tion that was in the article and avoided extraneous commentary. Effective summaries were clearly organized and included transitions, where necessary, to achieve coherence.

 

Write fictional or autobiographical narratives:

                        a. Develop a standard plot line (having a beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement) and point of view.

                        b. Develop complex major and minor characters and a definite setting.

                        c. Use a range of appropriate strategies (e.g., dialogue; suspense; naming of specific narrative action, including movement, gestures, and expressions).

 

For this task, students were expected to develop a distinct fictional plot line with a clear beginning, middle and end. Students who did well developed a consistent point of view and provided vivid details to create characters and setting. The most effective narratives used a variety of appropriate devices such as dialogue, concrete nouns, and active verbs.

 

Write persuasive compositions:

                        a. State a clear position or perspective in support of a proposition or proposal.

                        b. Describe the points in support of the proposition, employing well-articulated evidence.

                        c. Anticipate and address reader concerns and counterarguments.

 

For this task, students were expected to state a clear position or perspective and support this position with well-articulated evidence. Students who did well used well-organized and relevant arguments to support their positions. The most effective persuasive compo­sitions developed supporting evidence thoroughly and convincingly addressed readers’ concerns, biases, and expectations.