Sample Performance Tasks for Informational Texts:
English Language Arts
• Students determine the point of view of John Adams in his “Letter on Thomas Jefferson” and analyze how he distinguishes his position from an alternative approach articulated by Thomas Jefferson. [RI.7.6]
• Students provide an objective summary of Frederick Douglass’s Narrative. They analyze how the central idea regarding the evils of slavery is conveyed through supporting ideas and developed over the course of the text.
[RI.8.2]
• Students trace the line of argument in Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” address to Parliament and evaluate his specific claims and opinions in the text, distinguishing which claims are supported by facts, reasons, and evidence, and which are not. [RI.6.8]
• Students analyze in detail how the early years of Harriet Tubman (as related by author Ann Petry) contributed to her later becoming a conductor on the Underground Railroad, attending to how the author introduces, illustrates, and elaborates upon the events in Tubman’s life. [RI.6.3]
• Students determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words such as wayfaring, laconic, and taciturnity as well as of phrases such as hold his peace in John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America. They analyze how Steinbeck’s specific word choices and diction impact the meaning and tone of his writing and the characterization of the individuals and places he describes. [RI.7.4]
English Language Arts
• Students determine the point of view of John Adams in his “Letter on Thomas Jefferson” and analyze how he distinguishes his position from an alternative approach articulated by Thomas Jefferson. [RI.7.6]
• Students provide an objective summary of Frederick Douglass’s Narrative. They analyze how the central idea regarding the evils of slavery is conveyed through supporting ideas and developed over the course of the text.
[RI.8.2]
• Students trace the line of argument in Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” address to Parliament and evaluate his specific claims and opinions in the text, distinguishing which claims are supported by facts, reasons, and evidence, and which are not. [RI.6.8]
• Students analyze in detail how the early years of Harriet Tubman (as related by author Ann Petry) contributed to her later becoming a conductor on the Underground Railroad, attending to how the author introduces, illustrates, and elaborates upon the events in Tubman’s life. [RI.6.3]
• Students determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words such as wayfaring, laconic, and taciturnity as well as of phrases such as hold his peace in John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America. They analyze how Steinbeck’s specific word choices and diction impact the meaning and tone of his writing and the characterization of the individuals and places he describes. [RI.7.4]