Assessment Overview Culminating Writing Task Cold-Read ... - CDN

Assessment Overview

Each unit assessment has three parts, which together measure the following claims:

● Students read and comprehend a range of complex texts independently.

● Students write effectively when using and/or analyzing sources.

Culminating Writing Task Cold-Read Task Extension Task

Students write a multiparagraph essay in response to the prompt: Has Charlie fundamentally changed from the beginning of “Flowers for Algernon”? Is his life improved as a result of the surgery?

Students read “Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence?”: and “IQ Tests are ‘Meaningless and Too Simplistic’ Claim Researchers.” Then students answer a combination of questions.

Students engage in a series of conversa tions and conduct research to write an informative essay which (1) presents different theories of intelligence, (2) identifies who developed each theory and how, and (3) explains why each theory is or is not widely accepted today. Students also share their information with the class.

● Student copy of the task ● Exemplar student response ● Writing rubric

● Assessment ● Answer Key

● Exemplar student response ● Writing rubric

Grade 8: Flowers for Algernon

Culminating Writing Task Exemplar Student Response #1

Charlie Gordon is 37 years old, but he has a mind like a young child. Even though he isn’t very smart, Charlie is

very motivated and kind. He desperately wants to be smart, so when Charlie is selected for an experiment to triple his

intelligence, he willingly participates. The experiment is a success because it increases Charlie’s intelligence, but it is

also temporary. Although he returns to the same level of intelligence by the end of the story, Charlie does change

from the beginning of the text. Charlie’s life improves because he is more knowledgeable about other people and

thankful for what he has.

At the beginning of the story, Charlie is not aware of what people think about him, which changes by the end

of the story. He says, “all my frends are smart people but there good. They like me and they never did anything that

wasnt nice.” (April 15). Charlie doesn’t understand that Joe and Frank and the other guys at his job keep him around

to make fun of him because he isn’t very smart. They take Charlie out and get him drunk and then leave him. Miss

Kinnian gets upset when she realizes what they are doing to Charlie. As Charlie’s intelligence increases, he begins to

realize what Joe and Frank are doing. He becomes upset and ashamed. When his coworkers sign a petition for Charlie

to leave his job, Charlie says, “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and

loved” (April 30). Being upset and ashamed doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it is for Charlie. While he learns a

painful lesson, Charlie improves because he is knowledgeable about other people.

Charlie’s life is also improved because his experiences from the surgery make him thankful for what he has.

Throughout the story, Charlie learns that he is a good person. Miss Kinnian recommends Charlie for the surgery

because he is the “bestist pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardist and I reely wantid to lern” (March 7).

Miss Kinnian also teaches Charlie to be proud of what he has done. She says, “for a person who god gave so little to

you done more then a lot of people with brains they never even used” (April 15). Charlie learns that while he may not

be “smart” he has a lot to offer others, like hard work ethic and willingness to get better. At the end of the story,

when Charlie loses his intelligence, he says, “Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things

that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit” (July 28). Charlie decides he is

going to continue to try really hard to be smart and he will always remember that he did something for science. So,

even though Charlie loses his intelligence, he is thankful for what knowledge he does have and the opportunities he

got.

Even though the surgery is temporary and Charlie loses his intelligence, he has a different understanding of

who he is. He has more knowledge about people and what a friend is. He also feels good about what he has done and

learned, even though he was only able to keep the learning for a little bit. Charlie is better off in the end because of

the surgery.


Culminating Writing Task Exemplar Student Response #2

Charlie Gordon is motivated and hardworking, but he isn’t very smart. What Charlie lacks in intelligence, he

makes up for by getting along with others and being kind. Charlie is selected for an experiment to triple his

intelligence which works at first. While it could be said that Charlie is better off from the surgery because he did

become smart for a little bit, he doesn’t stay smart. In the end, Charlie doesn’t benefit from the surgery because he

realizes his friends make fun of him and then he ends up completely isolated and feeling incredibly lonely.

Charlie doesn’t benefit from the surgery because as he becomes more cognitively aware, he realizes that

others have been making fun of him and taking advantage of him. For example, Charlie’s friends, Joe and Frank, aren’t

very kind to him and they keep Charlie around to make fun of him. The reader realizes this dramatic irony, but Charlie

is not aware of how his “friends” invite him to parties to get him drunk, and then laugh at him. Also, Charlie isn’t

aware at first that at work, when someone makes a mistake, they all say that person “pulled a Charlie Gordon.” As the

story progresses and Charlie gets smarter, he realizes what Joe, Frank, and his other friends at work are doing. When

Charlie realizes this, he says, “Now I know what it means when they say ‘to pull a Charlie Gordon.’ I'm ashamed” (April

20). Having more intelligence doesn’t make Charlie better. It makes him feel embarrassed.

Charlie also doesn’t benefit from the surgery because he ends up isolated and lonely. Charlie wants to be

smart more than anything, but it doesn’t end up being good for him. As he gets smarter, Charlie learns that being

smart isolates him from his friends and his loved ones. Charlie says, “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me

and all the people I once knew and loved” (April 30). Once Charlie becomes intelligent, people like Ms. Kinnian cannot

understand him or follow his logic because it is so advanced. When he loses his intelligence, Charlie admits, “I dont

want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry for me. Evry body feels sorry at the factery and I dont want that eather so Im going

someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite

good” (July 28). Even though Charlie says he is “glad he got a second chanse to be smart,” Charlie decides to leave

New York because he doesn’t want people to feel sorry for him. He ends the short story in an even worse situation

than he began. Whereas he may not have been that smart at the beginning of the story, at least he had friends and a

home. As a result of the surgery, Charlie is isolated from his friends, his teacher, and his home.

Charlie changes throughout the story. He goes from being not very smart to incredibly intelligent to not very

smart again. He learns lots of information about people and the world when he is smart, but he doesn’t keep any of it.

While Charlie changes throughout the text, he isn’t fundamentally different at the end than he is at the beginning,

and so he isn’t any better off as a result of the surgery. Instead he is negatively impacted by the surgery emotionally

and in his despair, he choses to leave his friends and his home.


Culminating Writing Task Rubric

3 2 1 0

Reading and Understanding Text

● Shows full comprehension of ideas both explicit and inferential indicated by grade-level reading standards

● Accurate analysis and reasoning is demonstrated through ample textual evidence

● Shows comprehension of ideas indicated by grade-level reading standards

● Mostly accurate analysis and reasoning is demonstrated through adequate textual evidence

● Shows limited comprehension of ideas indicated by grade-level reading standards

● Minimally accurate analysis and reasoning is demonstrated through minimal textual evidence

● Shows no comprehension of ideas indicated by grade-level reading standards

● Inaccurate or no analysis and reasoning is demonstrated with little or no textual evidence

Writing about Text

● Addresses the prompt and introduces claim(s), acknowledging counterclaims or a topic and previewing what is to follow

● Development is logically organized with relevant support 1

● Language creates cohesion and clarifies relationships among ideas

● Formal style consistently demonstrates awareness of purpose and audience

● Addresses the prompt and states claim(s) or topic

● Development is organized with some support and cohesion

● Language creates cohesion and links ideas

● Style demonstrates awareness of purpose and audience

● Addresses the prompt and has an introduction

● Development and support are minimal

● Language links ideas ● Style demonstrates

limited awareness of purpose or audience

● Does not address the prompt

● Lacks organization, is undeveloped, and does not provide support

● Language and style demonstrate no awareness of purpose

● or audience

Language Conventions

● Full command of conventions indicated by grade-level standards

● Few minor errors do not interfere with meaning

● Some command of conventions indicated by grade-level standards

● May have errors that occasionally interfere with meaning

● Limited command of conventions indicated by grade-level standards

● Errors often interfere with meaning

● No command of conventions indicated by grade-level standards

● Frequent and varied errors interfere with meaning

1 Support includes evidence from accurate, credible sources, facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, other information and examples.


Cold-Read Task Answer Key

1. __C__

Standards: RI.8.2, RI.8.10

2. __C__ Part A

__A__ Part B

Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.6, RI.8.8, RI.8.10

3. __D__

Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.8, RI.8.10

4. __B__ Part A

__B__ Part B

Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.6, RI.8.8, RI.8.10

5. __D__ Part A

__B__ Part B

Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.9, RI.8.10


6. Standards: RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.9, RI.8.10, W.8.9b

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Write AGREE or DISAGREE

Evidence Write FACTS or

INTERPRETATION

Research on IQ tests AGREE

Both texts cite a survey of 100,000 participants that discovered there are three different components to intelligence: short-term memory, reasoning, and verbal ability. Both texts indicate surprise by how many people contributed to the study.

What IQ tests measure AGREE

Both texts say that IQ tests oversimplify brain functioning. Both texts indicate that different measurements might make a person seem really smart on one and not so smart on the other, depending on what the test measures.

Usefulness of IQ tests DISAGREE

“Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence?” says,

“Some very valuable research has been carried

out using classical IQ testing.”

“IQ Tests are ‘Meaningless and Too Simplistic’

Claim Researchers” says, “ We have now shown

that on the evidence, these texts are

meaningless.”

INTERPRETATION

7. Score this response with the writing rubric for the culminating writing task.

Standards: RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RI.8.1, RI.8.2, W.8.2a, W.8.2b, W.8.2c, W.8.2d, W.8.2e, W.8.4, W.8.9a, W.8.9b, W.8.10,

L.8.1b, L.8.1c, L.8.1d, L.8.2a, L.8.2b, L.8.2c, L.8.3

Three characters in “Flowers for Algernon” have different opinions on intelligence. Dr. Nemur believes IQ

tests are a good measure of how intelligent a person is. Dr. Strauss believes IQ tests don’t measure how much

intelligence a person has but how intelligent a person could be. Burt believes IQ tests measure the knowledge you’ve

gained by learning but the tests aren’t good for measuring intelligence. Of these three characters, the one whose

opinion is most supported by the two articles is Burt’s opinion.


Both “Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence?” and “IQ Tests are ‘Meaningless and Too Simplistic’ Claim

Researchers” provides details of a survey about IQ tests. What the survey found is that IQ tests measure three types

of intelligence, verbal ability, short-term memory, and reasoning. “Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence” says that

one test might make a person seem “super-intelligent, but if they picked another, they may seem average.” This

supports Burt’s opinion because it seems the tests are measuring things people already know or are good at and that

they don’t measure intelligence like Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss think.

Burt also says that an IQ test “really isn’t any good at all.” In “IQ Tests are ‘Meaningless and Too Simplistic’

Claim Researchers,” it says, “‘IQ tests are pretty meaningless--if you are not good at them, all it proves is that you are

not good at IQ tests. It does not say anything about your general intelligence.’” This supports Burt’s opinion. Unlike

Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss who believe IQ tests tell us about a person’s intelligence, Burt believes that IQ tests

measure prior knowledge that is learned, which is about education, not intelligence.

Both of the articles support the idea that there are many different types of intelligence, and using one test to

measure intelligence oversimplifies what we know about intelligence. Based on the quotation from “Flowers for

Algernon,” Burt would agree with these articles.


Extension Task Student Exemplar

In “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie learns about intelligence. He says he wants to be smart, but what he learns

about people when he gains intelligence isn’t very positive. In the end, Charlie loses everything he gained, including

his intelligence and is emotionally scarred by the experience, expressing his loneliness and isolation. Scientists have

also debated the topic of intelligence and have conducted research to figure out what makes people smart. There are

many theories of intelligence. Some researchers believe intelligence is best measured by IQ, whereas other

researchers believe that there are multiple intelligences that all work together to make humans smart in different

ways.

Some scientists believe that intelligence is best measured by an intelligence quotient, or IQ. It is “a score

derived from a set of standardized tests developed to measure a person's cognitive abilities (‘intelligence’) in relation

to their age group” (“Intelligent Quotient”). Many researchers originally believed that a person’s IQ determined how

intelligent that person was, and they believed that it was the most important test scientists could use to determine a

person’s intelligence. As time has gone on, though, people have found issues with IQ as a measurement of a person’s

intelligence. In “Flowers for Algernon,” for example, the doctors and Burt have different opinions about the value of

IQ. Dr. Nemur believes IQ is “something that measured how intelligent you were--like a scale in the drugstore weighs

pounds” (Keyes). Dr. Strauss believes IQ shows “how much intelligence you could get, like the numbers on the outside

of a measuring cup” (Keyes). Burt believes “IQ measures a lot of different things some of the things you learned

already and it really isn’t any good at all” (Keyes). The different opinions expressed in the story are similar to the

opinions held by real-life researchers. For example, according to Stephen Ceci, “At the very least, intelligence can be

defined as the ability for complex thinking and reasoning. One thing the research shows for sure: much of the ability

for complex reasoning depends on the situation.” So, Stephen Ceci is saying that a person might be more or less

intelligent depending on the situation they are in. This kind of thinking is different from how people used to look at IQ

as the best measure of human intelligence.

Another way of measuring intelligence is to look at multiple types of intelligence. As Kaufman says, “Most (but

not all) researchers fully admit that IQ tests only measure a piece of the intelligence pie (although they argue it is an

important piece).” What that means is that people may be intelligent in different ways, and IQ tests do not seem to

measure all of the different ways people can be intelligent. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences further

asserts this; his theory says that there are more than eight different kinds of intelligences that people can have. That

means that being “smart” and good in school is just one of the ways a person can be intelligent. Some of the other

intelligences are things like being smart at music or sports or working with people. Howard Gardner says his theory of

multiple intelligences is “a critique of the notion that there’s a single intelligence which we’re born with, which can’t

be changed, and which psychologists can measure” (“Howard Gardner”).

The understanding of what intelligence is and how we can determine the level of a person’s intelligence in

comparison to others has changed over time. At first researchers thought IQ was the most important and reliable

indicator of a person’s intelligence. That has changed, though, as more people believe an IQ score does not represent

all aspects of intelligence. Now many researchers believe that there are multiple ways to be smart. If what these

researchers believe is true, Charlie may have been smart in different ways all along!


Works Cited

Ceci, Stephen. “IQ to the Test.” Psychology Today. 1 July 2001. Web. 22 November 2015.

“Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.” Genius. n.d. Web. 22 November 2015.

“Intelligent Quotient.” ScienceDaily. 2015. Web. 22 November 2015.

Kaufman, Scott. “Intelligent Testing.” Beautiful Minds. Psychology Today. 25 October 2009. Web. 22 November 2015.

Keyes, Daniel. “Flowers for Algernon.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 1 April 1959. Print.


Extension Task Writing Rubric

Construct Measured 3 2 1 0

Reading: Comprehension, analysis, and evidence

● Full comprehension of ideas both explicit and inferential

● Accurate analysis ● Effective textual

evidence

● Comprehension of ideas

● Mostly accurate analysis

● Adequate textual evidence

● Limited comprehension of ideas

● Minimally accurate analysis

● Limited textual evidence

● No comprehension of ideas

● Inaccurate or no analysis

● Little to no textual evidence

Written Expression: Development, reasoning, coherence, and use of language

● Effective and comprehensive development of claim or topic that is appropriate to the task

● Addresses the prompt with clear reasoning and relevant support

● Response is coherent and cohesive

● Uses language effectively to clarify and connect ideas

● Some development of claim or topic that is mostly appropriate to the task

● Addresses the prompt with mostly clear reasoning and support

● Response is coherent and cohesive

● Uses language to clarify and connect ideas

● Minimal development of claim or topic that is limited in its appropriateness to the task

● Addresses the prompt with limited reasoning and limited support

● Response has limited coherence and/or cohesion

● Uses language that demonstrates limited awareness of the norms of the discipline

● Undeveloped and/or inappropriate to task, purpose, and audience

● Does not address the prompt and/or does not provide support

● Response lacks coherence and cohesion

● Uses language that demonstrates no clear awareness of the norms of the discipline

Knowledge of Language and Conventions: Command of conventions and mechanics/clarity

● Full command of the conventions of standard English

● Few minor errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage

● Meaning is clear

● Some command of the conventions of standard English

● May have errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that occasionally impede understanding

● Meaning is generally clear

● Limited command of the conventions of standard English

● Errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage often impede understanding

● No command of the conventions of standard English

● Frequent and varied errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage impede understanding


Assessment Overview Culminating Writing Task Cold-Read ... - CDN

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