This set of performance assessment materials (2013-14 version) is intended to be completed in the Spring of Sixth Grade as a second round of assessments, if appropriate for your class (see additional Sixth Grade assessments linked below for additional materials designed to be administered earlier in the school year, or as alternate options). It can be used to assess the following Common Core standards using poetry texts and resources:
- Interpretive understanding of the poem(s) – a more than literal comprehension of the key ideas and details across the poem(s).
- A command of evidence, as revealed by student’s inclusion and analysis of relevant evidence to support interpretation.
The performance assessments you will find here were designed to align to particular Common Core State Standards in reading and writing, and to anchor specific units of study in data collection and close observation of student work. We recommend viewing these as both pre- and post-assessments: you may (and we suggest doing so) conduct the assessment in whole or in part before teaching the relevant units, as a measure of what students are capable of prior to your instruction; you will then use the data from this assessment to tailor your units to students’ specific strengths and needs, and then conduct the same assessment again at the end of the unit, to determine students' growth and to reflect on your instruction.
Please note that accessing these linked assessment materials may require an additional login to the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project (TCWRP). If prompted to do so after following the links below, look for the "Log In" button on the TCRWP site in order to create a new, free account.
These performance assessments were created by the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project for NYC Department of Education and some are owned by NYC Department of Education. The NYC Department of Education has agreed to allow Teachers College Reading and Writing Project to post the performance assessments online to support students' academic progress. You must obtain permission from the NYC Department of Education for any other use of the assessments.
Lastly, this task and rubric were developed by TCRWP as part of a specific New York City Department of Education project on Common Core aligned performance assessments. Since that time, TCRWP has developed additional reading and writing curricula that include a performance assessment system and accompanying learning progressions. For these latest assessment materials, please see http://www.heinemann.com/unitsofstudy/.
