English Language Arts and Reading.3.7.B

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The student is expected to

write a response to a literary or informational text that demonstrates an understanding of a text;

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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.

Consider pairing SE 3.7.B with SE 3.7.C and assess both SEs at the same time. With SE 3.7.C, students use text evidence to support an appropriate response. Put students in pairs to read an informational text. Pose a question about a text feature that is included in the text. Then, task students with working in pairs to respond to the text feature question. Student responses should be supported with text evidence.

Further Explanation

This assessment example requires students to respond to a question about a text that demonstrates their understanding of the information in the text. The text evidence used by students should help a teacher to assess the level of understanding students have achieved.

Students need to understand how literary and informational texts are constructed in order to provide a reasonable response that could be supported by the text. Although reflective of a personal interpretation of the text, written responses should not be based solely on personal experience or opinion.
a text that presents information to explain, clarify, and/or educate
written works that are generally recognized as having artistic value and have the purpose of entertaining the reader (e.g., prose fiction, drama, poetry, and literary nonfiction)
Students should communicate in writing their understanding of a text's purpose, key ideas, overall messages, and impact on the reader. The length of the students’ responses will vary based on the specific demands of the assignment, but responses should be long enough to accurately convey understanding.

Research

1. Zuckerbrod, N. (2019). The Power of Stories: Develop Social-emotional skills and Empathy using fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Scholastic Teacher, 128(3), 45+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A580773753/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=b300f1ba

Summary: The author shows the impact that fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have on students in grades 3 through 6, especially when teachers choose texts that resonate with students. Teacher recommendations are provided, along with stories of how teachers help students make the connection from texts to personal experience and to the experiences of others.

2. Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2010). Teaching literacy in context: choosing and using instructional strategies: to help students become proficient with expository text, educators need to focus on how to choose and use the most appropriate instructional strategies for their students. The Reading Teacher, 64(3), 154+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A242897421/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=f1360380

Summary: This case study examines instructional strategies for teaching expository texts. The article provides an instructional process with both pre-teach strategies and the classroom implementation, focused upon students' ability to comprehend and summarize the text.

3. Fisk, C., & Hurst, B. (2003). Paraphrasing for comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 57(2), 182+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A109218181/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=5259f22e

Summary: The study acknowledges that most students think paraphrasing is copying from the source and changing a word or two. Noting that this short-circuits students' ability to fully synthesize and understand a text, the authors provide a four-step paraphrasing for comprehension strategy.