Understanding Your Final Exam in English

1. Understanding Your Final Exam in English January 2013

2. Breakdown of English I Common Exam Standards Multiple Choice Constructed Response (33 to 37 items) (3 to 4 items) Language (L4, L5) 11-15% 0% Reading for Information RI1- R.3 20-29% 0% RI4- RI6 14-19% 2-8% Reading for Literature RL1- RL4, RL6 17-26% 0% RL5 6-9% 2-4% Total percent of items 89-92% 8-11% Total percent of score points 77-83% 17-23%

3. Breakdown of English III Common Exam Standards Multiple Choice Constructed Response (33 to 37 items) (3 to 4 items) Language (L4, L5) 12-16% 0% Reading for Information RI2, RI4 11-15% 0% RI1, RI3, RI5-6 24-34% 3-5% Reading for Literature RL1- RL4, RL6 22-31% 4-6% Total percent of items 89-92% 8-11% Total percent of score points 77-83% 17-23%

4. Breakdown of English IV Common Exam Standards Multiple Choice Constructed Response (33 to 37 items) (3 to 4 items) Language (L4, L5) 12-16% 0% Reading for Information RI1, RI4 13-18% 0% RI2, 3, 5, 6 21-31% 4-7% Reading for Literature RL1, 2, 4 18-27% 3-6% RL3, 5, 6 4-6% 0% Total percent of items 89-92% 8-11% Total percent of score points 77-83% 17-23%

5. What To Expect: How Many Questions? Timed Sections • 4 TOTAL reading passages: • (2) literature based • (2) from informational texts in or SS or science. • • Up to 10 multiple-choice items and up to 2 constructed response items per passage. • • 33-37 multiple-choice items and 3 to 4 constructed response items. • The test will be presented in (2) forty-five minute parts. • Students will be given forty minutes to complete each part • Total time: 80 minutes

6. How to ACE Constructed Response ACES Example • A- answer the question OR restate the prompt (1 specific, straightforward sentence) • C-ite evidence from the prompt(pull “quotes”) OR from your knowledge of C&E • E-xplain your examples in detail (2 to 3 sentences or bulleted ideas of examples and details) • S-um it up (1 to 2 sentences to conclude) Constructed Response– Short • There is a popular idiom that states, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” How does the poem “Diary” exemplify this idiom? Include at least two details from the poem to support your answer. • How would you begin to answer the CR item without reading the poem? • What does the prompt already tell you ?

7. “Diary” “Dear Diary,” she wrote, her pen poised pointed and sharp, thoughts twirling swirling cavorting in the air risking life and limb and maybe some blood. (5) The ink sat waiting, impatient, annoyed, for the clarity to settle in, for the words to coalesce into some form of sanity. But somewhere in the woven threads of thought when the next swipe of the pen touched (10) the puritanical canvas that threatened her equilibrium, there came not a letter formed, not a word whispered, but another kind of line – the dancing marks finding their own path, their own mind. Words protested, “No! It is our turn!” but were ignored (15) in favor of the image spilling forth from within – a wounded dragon, reared back in a rage, hissing and spitting flames of pain and fury, pierced through the heart by a spear of loneliness and neglect. The pen flew, spatters of ink transforming into blood and tears. (20) Words retreated, knowing they’d lost the battle, soundly defeated by a power they could not match, even a thousand strong. At last, she lay, silent, sated, staring at the open page, wondering when the next attack would come.

8. Sample Item for English I English I Sample Item Another Example Item • How would you begin to answer the CR item without reading the poem? • What does the prompt already tell you ? Multiple Choice In the poem, how are the girl and the dragon related? • A. The girl wants to write a story about a dragon. • B. The dragon represents the girl and her situation. • C. The girl wishes she could turn herself into a dragon. • D. The dragon illustrates the power the girl wants to have.

9. On Your Own Practice Short CR Item Practice What will your first sentence be? A- Answer the question/prompt • Identify the tone in the poem “Memory” and describe two examples from the poem in which the author’s use of imagery helps create the tone you identified.

10. Read the poem “Memory” by Margaret Walker I can remember wind-swept streets of cities on cold and blustery nights, on rainy days; heads under shabby felts and parasols and shoulders hunched against a sharp concern; seeing hurt bewilderment on poor faces, smelling a deep and sinister unrest these brooding people cautiously caress; hearing ghostly marching on pavement stones and closing fast around their squares of hate. I can remember seeing them alone,at work, and in their tenements at home.I can remember hearing all they said:their muttering protests, their whispered oaths, and all that spells their living in distress

11. C-ite from the text using E-xamples

12. S-um it up!

13. Designing Constructed Response Tasks for Reading Here are some example short CR to practice with in class. • • Explain why _____________ is a good title for this story (poem, article). Use information (details) from the story (passage) to support your answer. • • What are the main ideas in this article? Explain your answer by using information from the article. • • Write a paragraph explaining what you think will happen next. Use details from the passage in your response. • • In your own words, tell how to __________________. Use information from the article to support your answer. • • Write a paragraph describing the speaker’s feelings about ___________________/ at the beginning (or end) of the passage (poem). Use details from the passage to support your answer. • • In the story, the author/speaker says, “___________”. Use details from the story (poem) to explain what the a uthor/speaker means. • • What kind of person is ___________.? Explain his/her qualities by using specific details from the story (passage). • • Compare the mood (voice, tone…) in ___________ to the mood (voice, tone…) in • __________________. Use details from the passage (poem, etc.) to support your answer.