1. Read the following excerpt from a poem by Walt Whitman. Whitman’s poem suggests that certain objects become important to us and remain important to us even if we no longer have them.
Write a story in which you tell about an object that remains important to the main character over a period of years. The main character could be you or someone you know.
In your story, describe the main character’s first encounter with the object, why the object is so important to the character, and how, over the years, it remains a part of the character’s life.
Scoring Guide
| Score & Description |
| Excellent
• Tells a clear story that is consistently well developed and detailed; details enhance story being told. • Is well organized; integrates narrative events into a smooth telling; effective transitions move the story forward. • Consistently exhibits variety in sentence structure and precision in word choice. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation are few and do not interfere with understanding. |
| Skillful
• Tells a clear story that is well developed and elaborated with details in much of the response. • Is well organized with story elements that are connected across most of the response; may have occasional lapses in transitions. • Exhibits some variety in sentence structure and uses good word choice; occasionally, words may be used inaccurately. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding |
| Sufficient
• Tells a clear story that is developed with some pertinent details. • Is generally organized, but transitions among parts of the story may be lacking. • Sentence structure may be simple and unvaried; word choice is mostly accurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding. |
| Uneven
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Tells a story that may be clear and developed in parts; other parts are unfocused, repetitive, or minimally developed OR response is no more than a well-written beginning. • Is organized in parts of the response; other parts are disjointed and/or lack transitions. • Exhibits uneven control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; may exhibit some inaccurate word choices. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation sometimes interfere with understanding. |
| Insufficient
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Attempts to tell a story, but is very undeveloped, list-like, or fragmentary. • Is disorganized or unfocused in much of the response OR the response is too brief to detect organization. • Minimal control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may often be inaccurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation interfere with understanding in much of the response. |
| Unsatisfactory
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Responds to prompt but provides little or no coherent content OR merely paraphrases the prompt. • Has little or no apparent organization. • Minimal or no control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may be inaccurate in much or all of the response. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation severely impede understanding across the response. |
2. Your school has a program in which a twelfth grader acts as a mentor for a tenth grader at the beginning of each school year. The mentor’s job is to help the tenth grader have a successful experience at your school. The tenth grader you are working with is worried about being able to write well enough for high school classes.
Write a letter to your tenth grader explaining what kind of writing is expected in high school classes and what the student can do to be a successful writer in high school.
As you plan your response, think about your own writing experiences. How would you describe “good” writing? What advice about writing has been helpful to you? What writing techniques do you use?
Scoring Guide
| Score & Description |
| Excellent
• Information is presented effectively and consistently supported with well-chosen details. • Is focused and well organized, with a sustained controlling idea and effective use of transitions. • Consistently exhibits variety in sentence structure and precision in word choice. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation are few and do not interfere with understanding. |
| Skillful
• Information is presented clearly and supported with pertinent details in much of the response. • Is well organized, but may lack some transitions. • Exhibits some variety in sentence structure and uses good word choice; occasionally, words may be used inaccurately. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding. |
| Sufficient
• Information is presented clearly and supported with some pertinent details. • Is generally organized, but has few or no transitions among parts. • Sentence structure may be simple and unvaried; word choice is mostly accurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding. |
| Uneven
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Information is presented clearly in parts; other parts are undeveloped or repetitive OR response is no more than a well-written beginning. • Is organized in parts of the response; other parts are disjointed and/or lack transitions. • Exhibits uneven control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; may exhibit some inaccurate word choices. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation sometimes interfere with understanding. |
| Insufficient
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Provides information that is very undeveloped or list-like. • Is disorganized or unfocused in much of the response OR the response is too brief to detect organization. • Minimal control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may often be inaccurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation interfere with understanding in much of the response. |
| Unsatisfactory
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Responds to prompt, but may be incoherent OR provides very minimal information OR merely paraphrases the prompt. • Exhibits little or no apparent organization. • Minimal or no control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may be inaccurate in much or all of the response. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation severely impede understanding across the response. |
3. Your school is sponsoring a voter registration drive for 18-year-old high school students. You and three of your friends are talking about the project. Your friends say the following,
| Friend 1: | “I’m working on the young voters’ registration drive. Are you going to come to it and register? You’re all 18, so you can do it. We’re trying to help increase the number of young people who vote and it shouldn’t be too hard — I read that the percentage of 18- to 20-year-olds who vote increased in recent years. We want that percentage to keep going up.” |
| Friend 2: | “I’ll be there. People should vote as soon as they turn 18. It’s one of the responsibilities of living in a democracy.” |
| Friend 3: | “I don’t know if people should even bother to register. One vote in an election isn’t going to change anything.” |
Do you agree with friend 2 or 3? Write a response to your friends in which you explain whether you will or will not register to vote. Be sure to explain why and support your position with examples from your reading or experience. Try to convince the friend with whom you disagree that your position is the right one.
Scoring Guide
| Score & Description |
| Excellent
• Takes a clear position and supports it consistently with well-chosen reasons and/or examples; may use persuasive strategy to convey an argument. • Is focused and well organized, with effective use of transitions. • Consistently exhibits variety in sentence structure and precision in word choice. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation are few and do not interfere with understanding. |
| Skillful
• Takes a clear position and supports it with pertinent reasons and/or examples through much of the response. • Is well organized, but may lack some transitions. • Exhibits some variety in sentence structure and uses good word choice; occasionally, words may be used inaccurately. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding. |
| Sufficient
• Takes a clear position and supports it with some pertinent reasons and/or examples; there is some development. • Is generally organized, but has few or no transitions among parts. • Sentence structure may be simple and unvaried; word choice is mostly accurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not interfere with understanding. |
| Uneven
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Takes a position and provides uneven support; may lack development in parts or be repetitive OR response is no more than a well-written beginning. • Is organized in parts of the response; other parts are disjointed and/or lack transitions. • Exhibits uneven control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; may exhibit some inaccurate word choices. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation sometimes interfere with understanding. |
| Insufficient
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Takes a position but is very undeveloped. • Is disorganized or unfocused in much of the response OR clear but very brief. • Minimal control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may often be inaccurate. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation interfere with understanding in much of the response. |
| Unsatisfactory
(may be characterized by one or more of the following:) • Attempts to take a position (addresses topic) but position is very unclear OR takes a position, but provides minimal or no support; may only paraphrase the prompt. • Exhibits little or no apparent organization. • Minimal or no control over sentence boundaries and sentence structure; word choice may be inaccurate in much or all of the response. • Errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation severely impede understanding across the response. |