OWA - · PDF file · 2009-09-25How does using OWA across one grade or throughout a school benefit students, ... Grades 1–8: Language (2006)? ... • Step 3: Record the level for

OWAOntario Writing Assessment

6Authors:Steven ReidMary Reid

Contributor:Heather McGowan

Foreword by:David Booth

Advisory Panel:Gwen Babcock, Teacher, Limestone District School Board

Roz Doctorow, Educational ConsultantJill Foster, English Facilitator, Durham District School Board

Michelle Haddad, Elementary Instructional Resource Teacher, Peel District School BoardColleen Hayward, Language Arts Resource Teacher, Toronto Catholic District School Board

Lee Jones-Imhotep, Literacy Coordinator, Toronto District School BoardMaureen Mancini, Teacher, Ottawa-Carleton Catholic District School Board

Kelly Rilley, Board Literacy Teacher, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School BoardAnn Varty, Program Consultant, Trillium Lakelands District School Board

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Table of Contents* Italic font indicates a reproducible

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

An Introduction to Ontario Writing Assessment (OWA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Why does OWA provide on-demand Writing Tasks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Why is OWA an effective writing assessment tool? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2How was OWA developed and validated?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2What are OWA’s criteria for assessment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2How will OWA help you with assessment and ongoing instruction? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Can OWA be used with other assessment practices? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4How does using OWA across one grade or throughout a school benefit students, teachers,

and school leaders? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Case Study: Mountaintop Public School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

OWA Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

OWA Writing Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11When do you administer the Writing Tasks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Why is each Writing Task designated a specific text form, genre, and format? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12How do the Writing Tasks and the Writing Self-Assessment questionnaire correspond

to the expectations of The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language (2006)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Administering the OWA Writing Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Assessing the OWA Writing Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Accommodations for Special Education and ESL Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Example of the OWA Scoring Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20OWA Across the Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Writing Task 1—Start of Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Writing Rubric 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Writing Task 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Writing Task 1 Anchors and Rationales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Writing Task 2—Mid-Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Writing Rubric 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Writing Task 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Writing Task 2 Anchors and Rationales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Writing Task 3—End of Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Writing Rubric 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Writing Task 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Writing Task 3 Anchors and Rationales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Ontario Writing Assessment Class Tracking Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89OWA Overall Level Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Student Writing Self-Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Writing Self-Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Student Writing Attitude Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Writing Attitude Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

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How OWA Can Help Your Writing Program Succeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97What constitutes an effective writing program?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Why is assessment crucial to an effective writing program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97How does OWA help your writing program succeed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97What tools can you use with OWA to assess writing performance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Elements of an Effective Writing Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98What are the key instructional elements of an effective writing program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98How do you use the four key instructional elements? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98How do you decide which of the four instructional elements to use, and when? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99How do you move students from supported writing and reading toward

independent practice? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99What are other elements of an effective writing program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100How can you use process writing and on-demand writing strategies? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100How can you teach spelling and word study effectively? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102How can you use your classroom resources to support student writing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Next Steps for Teaching Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Why is the writing conference an essential teaching strategy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105What other key writing strategies target writing skills? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105How else can you plan and incorporate next steps for teaching? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Planning Guide: OWA Instructional Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Instructional Writing Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Next Steps for Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131How can OWA on-demand Writing Tasks be used to improve school achievement?. . . . . . . . . . . 131How can OWA results be used by a school to guide professional development? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133How can OWA be used in the teacher moderation process? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133How can OWA results be used by a school to improve student achievement? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Case Study: Applegate Public School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

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An Introduction to Ontario WritingAssessment (OWA)

The skillful use of classroom data allows us to identify strengths andweaknesses in student learning, monitor student progress towardspecified goals, make adjustments in instruction, measure the degree towhich students meet standards, and distinguish effective fromineffective instructional practice. Without data, instruction becomes aseries of well-intentioned but essentially “random acts of teaching.”

~FOX 2001

Learning how to become an effective writer is a highly complex process.Writing involves using a wide range of skills and tasks to constructmeaningful messages for various audiences and purposes.

As a teacher, you require an understanding of each student’s strengthsand gaps in writing skills in order to plan and implement a targetedwriting program. When you are able to provide explicit instructionalstrategies based on this assessment, you help students develop the skillsnecessary to become effective writers for a variety of audiences andpurposes.

Ontario Writing Assessment has been developed to assist you inachieving these goals.

Why does OWA provide on-demand Writing Tasks?

OWA helps you to gather the information about students’ skills that youneed in order to plan effective writing instruction. OWA provides on-demand Writing Tasks that are specific to each grade level, from SeniorKindergarten to Grade 8. They provide students with opportunities towrite independently for an intended purpose and audience.

By completing these Writing Tasks, students demonstrate their ability tomeet the overall expectations of The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8:Language (2006), which include the following:

• generate, gather, and organize ideas and information

• use a variety of literary and graphic forms and stylistic elements

• use editing and proofreading skills and strategies, and knowledge oflanguage conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and presenttheir work effectively

• reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, and areas forimprovement

1Ontario Writing Assessment 6NEL

An effective writing programincludes both on-demand andprocess writing opportunities.Most of us seldom publish ourwriting; on-demand writing iswhat we typically do everyday in e-mails, letters, andother work- and school-related writing. The OWA on-demand Writing Tasks arecompleted by the studentindependently, which isconsistent with the revisedOntario Achievement Chart(2006).

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Why is OWA an effective writing assessment tool?

OWA is a consistent writing assessment tool that can be used by allteachers—new and experienced—in assessing the OWA on-demandWriting Tasks, as well as the many other pieces of writing that studentscreate for various purposes during the year. OWA helps you build on yourunderstanding of how to level student work in line with the revisedOntario Achievement Chart (2006), and more easily make confidentdecisions when analyzing and assessing students’ writing. OWA supportsyou in your analysis of students’ strengths and needs, allowing you tohelp students improve their skills. This common assessment toolfacilitates your professional sharing with other teachers in your school oracross schools by providing a common understanding of what studentwork looks like at various levels of achievement.

How was OWA developed and validated?

OWA was developed in response to an identified need for a commonwriting assessment tool for use across Ontario. The following validationstrategies were used to ensure that OWA is both a valid and a reliableassessment tool:

• An eight-member OWA Advisory Team consisting of classroomteachers, school administrators, system curriculum leaders, anddistrict leaders was formed. This Advisory Team reviewed andcommented on the program construct, structure, and all content,including the on-demand Writing Tasks, task-specific Rubrics,Anchors, and Rationales.

• During the 2006–2007 school year, the OWA Writing Tasks were field-tested in a number of school districts across Ontario. More than26 000 Writing Tasks were completed by students as part of this field-test study.

• Student Anchors were selected from the field-test data. These Anchorsprovided specific examples of writing performance for each categoryof the revised Ontario Achievement Chart for language based on afour-level scale. They were field-tested as Anchors by more than 500teachers. Feedback supported modifications to the Writing Tasks,teacher support material, and the development of Rubrics.

• An 18-member Validation Committee, consisting of classroomteachers, school administrators, system curriculum leaders, anddistrict leaders, conducted a final review of the task-specific Rubrics,Writing Tasks, Anchors, and Rationales.

What are OWA’s criteria for assessment?

OWA uses the criteria identified in each of the categories of knowledgeand skills outlined in the revised Ontario Achievement Chart forlanguage as the basis for assessing student writing. As you learn to scorestudent writing using OWA, you will gain a deeper understanding of howto assess writing using the four achievement chart categories: Knowledgeand Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application. Each

OWA has been developed for students in SeniorKindergarten and Grades 1through 8.


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category provides important criteria that can be used to determine thelevel of student achievement. When you assess writing in each categorythrough the OWA process, your programming and next steps areintentional, purposeful, and targeted.

How will OWA help you with assessment and ongoing instruction?

• Step 1: Three times throughout the school year, you provide eachstudent with an OWA on-demand Writing Task and, if you wish, theWriting Self-Assessment and/or the Writing Attitude Survey.

• Step 2: Use the criteria outlined in the task-specific Writing Rubric,and the Anchors and Rationales, to assign a level for each of the fourcategories that reflects the student’s performance.

• Step 3: Record the level for each of the four categories on the ClassTracking Sheet. Use these results to help determine the strengths andneeds of individual students, and of the class as a whole, in each ofthe four categories. You can also use the Class Tracking Sheet tomeasure the progress over time of individual students and the class.


Six Traits of Writing and OWAAssessment of specific traits of writing (organization, ideas, voice, word choice, conventions, and sentencefluency) is embedded in the OWA process of scoring student work through the four categories of knowledge andskills of the Achievement Chart. Although the traits of writing overlap across the four categories, each traitcorrelates most strongly with one or two particular categories. This chart identifies specific writing traits and theassessment criteria that correlate to each of the four categories.

Knowledge and Understanding

Organization The writing demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the text form throughorganization, features, order, and structure. The writing includes effective sequencing,transitions, and appropriate features for the text form. Major text forms include narrative,recount, report, explanation, opinion, and procedural.

Thinking

Ideas andContent

The writing demonstrates ideas that are clear and focused. Details are relevant and support themain idea. The student generates ideas that are connected, and is able to support ideas witheffective reasons. Critical and creative thinking processes are demonstrated to enhance ideas(e.g., perspective, imagination, bias).

Communication

Voice

Word Choice

Conventions

SentenceFluency

The writing communicates an awareness of audience and purpose, and an understanding ofthe needs of the reader (e.g., style and tone).

Appropriate vocabulary is used throughout the writing to enhance the piece (e.g., wordchoice, descriptive language, linking words, action verbs).

Throughout the writing, conventions are used effectively (e.g., grammar, spelling,punctuation).

Sentences are effectively crafted, with varied structures that allow for fluent reading.

Application

Ideas andContent(transfer andconnection)

There is a transfer of knowledge and skills to the writing task to develop the content. Thewriting demonstrates connections among topic, personal experiences, and life situations toenhance the main idea.


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Can OWA be used with other assessment practices?

OWA is meant to be used in conjunction with other assessment practicesincluding observation, conferences, anecdotal notes, and portfolios.When you incorporate all these methods of assessment, you will gain afull and accurate picture of students’ writing abilities.

OWA Assessment Process

Step 1: Administer

Step 2: Assess

Step 3: Record

Step 4: Plan

If you administered the Writing Task as a summative assessment atthe end of an instructional unit, refer to the Overall Level Guide, andcalculate an overall level for each student’s writing performance.

• Step 4: Review Next Steps for Teaching Writing to guide yourinstructional writing strategies for individual students and the class inthe four categories of knowledge and skills as identified in theAchievement Chart.

The following graph illustrates the sequence of use of some of the toolsprovided for student and class assessment.

Copyright © 2008 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Ontario Writing Assessment Writing Task 6–2

Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

You’ve been asked by a children’s publishing company to select any animal andwrite a tale or legend that tells how it came to be or how it got one of its specialor unique features.

Brainstorm ideas here.

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WRITING TASK 2

LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4

OWA Grade 6 Writing Rubric 2: Animal Tale Narrative


Knowledge andUnderstanding

Thinking

Categories and Criteria

Demonstrates knowledge andunderstanding of the text form, genre,and format

A narrative includes

• beginning, middle, and end, and iswritten sequentially

• characters, setting, problem, andresolution

• details that relate to main idea orevent

• Demonstrates limitedknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with limitedeffectiveness)

• Demonstrates someknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with someeffectiveness)

• Demonstratesconsiderable knowledgeand understanding ofthe text form, genre,and format (e.g.,develops characterswhose actionscontribute to the plotand events in the story,with considerableeffectiveness)

• Demonstrates thoroughknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with a highdegree of effectiveness)

Generates ideas that are connected andis able to support ideas with details andreasons (e.g., supports main ideas withrelevant information)

Demonstrates critical and creativethinking processes to enhance writing(e.g., understands/writes from aperspective, writes with imagination)

• Generates and supportsideas with limitedeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with limitedeffectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with someeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with some effectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with considerableeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with considerableeffectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with a highdegree of effectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with a high degree ofeffectiveness

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LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4Communication


Expresses and organizes ideas innarrative form (e.g., logicalorganization)

Communicates for audience (anyreader) and purpose (to entertain) (e.g., style, voice, tone)

Uses conventions (e.g., grammar,spelling, punctuation) and appropriatevocabulary (e.g., descriptive language,linking words, action verbs)

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith limitedeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith limitedeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with limitedeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith some effectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith some effectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with someeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith considerableeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith considerableeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary withconsiderableeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith a high degree ofeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith a high degree ofeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with a highdegree of effectiveness

Transfers knowledge and skills (e.g.,concept of the features of an animal) tothe writing task

Demonstrates an ability to makeconnections among topic (an animal),personal experiences, and life situationsto enhance writing (e.g., connectinganimal’s feature to personal knowledgeand/or world experiences)

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with limitedeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with limitedeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with someeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with someeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with considerableeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations withconsiderableeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with a high degreeof effectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with a highdegree of effectiveness

Application LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4


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Ontario Writing Assessment Class Tracking Sheet

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Writing Strategy

Anticipation Guide to Writing X X

Brainstorming X X

Checking Conventions X

Collective Book Writing X X X X

Descriptive Writing X X X X

Exploring Sentence Structure X

Free Write X X

Graphic Organizers X X X

Highlighting Notes X X

Journal Writing X X X X

Literary Letters X X X

Mirror an Author X X X

Paragraph Rebuilding X X X

R.A.F.T.S.: Role, Audience, Format, Topic, X X XStrong Verb

Ranking Text Samples X

R.I.O. Questioning X X X X

Similarities and Differences X X

Text Dissection X X X

Text Rebuilding X X

The 5 Ws and 1 H X X X

Whose Point of View? X X

Word Lists X X

Word Wall X


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How does using OWA across one grade or throughout a schoolbenefit students, teachers, and school leaders?

OWA provides students, classroom teachers, grade teams, division teams,and school leadership teams with

• consistency in writing expectations for students

• common understanding of the criteria for assessing student work

OWA enables educators to

• assess students’ writing in a consistent manner

• determine patterns and trends

• set goals for individual student progress

• investigate key instructional strategies

• plan and deliver next steps for instruction

• re-assess to measure students’ writing progress and determine theeffectiveness of implemented strategies

• set goals for class and school improvement


The following Case Study is an example of how a school could use OWAand the teacher moderation process to address writing achievement andplan targeted next steps for success in the classroom.

CASE STUDY: MOUNTAINTOP PUBLIC SCHOOL

Addressing Writing Achievement

The Mountaintop staff meets at the beginning of the year to discuss thecurrent status of writing achievement and to plan next steps. The teachersrequire specific information about the strengths and needs of individualstudents and groups of students. The following professional learning plan isdetermined:

1) Staff meet to review the OWA resource and to ensure a consistentunderstanding of the resource, including its components and how toadminister the Writing Tasks.

2) Within one week, teachers administer an OWA Writing Task; staffteaching the same grade choose and administer the same Writing Taskso that they can discuss their students’ responses as a group.

3) Teacher moderation sessions are held soon after teachers have finishedadministering an OWA Task.

Assessing the OWA Writing Tasks through Teacher Moderation

The staff decides to form three teacher moderation groups: SK–Grade 3,Grades 4–6, and Grades 7–8. Each teacher brings the following to themoderation session:

• their students’ responses to the OWA Writing Task (i.e., completedwriting samples)

• multiple copies of at least two students’ writing samples to share withthe moderation group continued

Is OWA developmental?

OWA is not intended to bedevelopmental. All Rubrics,Anchors, and Rationalesrepresent end-of-yearachievement; they do notincrease in difficulty within agrade. This allows teachers toidentify strengths and needsbased on the writing skillsrequired to exit the grade atthe provincial level.

Teacher moderation is aprofessional learningstrategy in which teacherscome together tocollaboratively assessstudents’ work. Moderationsessions promoteconsistency of assessmentand provide the opportunityto collectively planinstructional next steps.


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• their students’ responses to the OWA Writing Self-Assessment (p. 92)

• their students’ responses to the OWA Writing Attitude Survey (p. 94)

• OWA Planning Guide (p. 108)

• OWA Class Tracking Sheet (p. 89)

• Ontario Language Curriculum and other Ministry resources (e.g., Guides to Effective Instruction and Expert Panel Reports)

• various literacy resources to use for planning next steps

Moderation session begins:

• The student writing samples that each teacher brought to share aredistributed to the moderation group.

• A teacher reads aloud a student’s writing sample to listen for fluency.

• The group discusses the pre-set criteria in the task-specific WritingRubric, and reviews the Anchors and Rationales, to build a commonunderstanding of the four levels of achievement.

• The group collaboratively scores the writing sample in one of the fourcategories of knowledge and skills, using the four levels of achievement.

• The group moves on to score the writing sample in the remaining threecategories.

• The teacher makes detailed notes about each category of knowledgeand skills, to use for planning next steps.

• The teacher records the student’s levels on the Class Tracking Sheet.

• After collectively scoring one or two student writing samples from eachclass, teachers continue assessing their students’ writing on their own,but ask for support from the group when questions arise.

Planning Next Steps through Teacher Moderation

After the assessment of the Writing Tasks is completed, teachers review theirClass Tracking Sheets and notes to determine possible patterns and trends intheir classes.

As a group, teachers • discuss the patterns and trends and identify areas for improvement

• collaborate on culminating tasks that can be used to assess studentgrowth in the identified areas after a period of targeted instruction

• collectively plan next steps by working backwards from the culminatingtasks to design scaffolded learning activities that move students towardindependence

For example, through the teacher moderation process, a Grade 6 teachernotices that• most students demonstrated strengths in the categories of Knowledge

and Understanding, Thinking, and Application

• many students demonstrated areas for improvement in the category ofCommunication

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After reviewing students’ writing samples again, as well as the observationnotes made during scoring, the teacher realizes that a particular aspect ofcommunication is weak: the students lack a sense of style, voice, and tone.Also, word choice often does not meet the needs of the intended audience.

The teacher determines that a goal for many students in the class isimproving their skills in communicating to an intended audience using style,voice, and tone. The teacher uses the sections entitled How OWA Can HelpYour Writing Program Succeed (p. 97) and Next Steps for Teaching Writing(p. 105) to facilitate planning a four-week unit of study to target theseaspects of communication.

Inside the Classroom

Implementing Next StepsDuring the four-week unit of study, the teacher immerses the class inlistening and responding to rich literature that has a distinct style, voice, andtone. The teacher helps students closely examine elements of writing suchas descriptive word choice, metaphoric language, strong verbs, and how anauthor creates a distinct voice. The teacher carefully selects texts thatinterest students and demonstrate a unique style. Using read alouds, sharedreading, and guided reading lessons, these texts are revisited over a periodof several days. Students have ample opportunity to analyze the texts fromthe writer’s perspective. Questions are explored such as “How does thisauthor’s style make you feel as the reader? What writing techniques doesthe author use to create a unique voice? What powerful words and phrasesdoes the author use to express the voice?”

During modelled, shared, guided, and individual writing activities, theteacher employs various instructional strategies, including:

• Descriptive Writing (p. 114): students study descriptive writing and thenwrite descriptive passages using specific prompts

• Literary Letters (p. 120): students take on the roles of characters in atext and write a letter in the voice of that character

• Mirror an Author (p. 121): students study an author’s stylistic elementsand write or revise pieces of writing using that style

Assessing Progress and Adapting InstructionThe teacher continually assesses student progress using various strategiessuch as observation and writing conferences. Students are supported withcarefully scaffolded learning opportunities that allow them to independentlydemonstrate effective style, voice, and tone in their writing. At the end ofthe unit, the teacher administers a culminating task similar to the OWAWriting Task used to do the initial assessment. (This culminating task may beone that was developed during teacher moderation or one developedindependently.) The teacher assesses student responses to the culminatingtask, using the OWA Anchors and Rationales as general guidelines, todetermine progress made over the four-week unit of study.


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OWA Components

OWA consists of several components to help you assess student writing,identify students’ writing strengths and needs, and inform yourinstructional practices.

OWA and The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language (2006)Expectations (p. 14)

This chart shows how the OWA Writing Tasks and the OWA Writing Self-Assessment correspond to the expectations of the Ontario LanguageCurriculum.

Example of the OWA Scoring Process (p. 20)

This is an example of one Anchor scored in each of the four categories ofthe revised Ontario Achievement Chart for language. It provides insightinto a teacher’s reasoning during the assessment of the student work todetermine the level in each category.

OWA Text Forms, Genres, and Formats Across the Grades: SK–8 (p. 22)

This chart provides an overview of the text forms, genres, and formatsthat OWA covers for each grade, from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8.

OWA Task-Specific Writing Rubrics, one for each Writing Task (pp. 24, 46, 68)

The three Writing Rubrics provide a guideline for assessing students’writing on the Writing Tasks for this grade level. They are organized intothe four categories of knowledge and skills in writing as outlined in therevised Ontario Achievement Chart: Knowledge and Understanding,Thinking, Communication, and Application.

Each Rubric outlines four levels of writing performance:

• Level 4—identifies writing achievement that surpasses the grade levelstandard

• Level 3—identifies writing achievement that is at grade levelstandard. (This level is shaded in the Writing Rubric.)

• Level 2—identifies writing achievement that is approaching the gradelevel standard

• Level 1—identifies writing achievement that falls much below thegrade level standard while still reflecting a passing grade

• Not Enough Evidence for Level 1 (NE1)—the student’s writing fallsmuch below the Level 1 Anchor and Rationale or the student writingsection is left blank


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LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4Communication


Expresses and organizes ideas innarrative form (e.g., logicalorganization)

Communicates for audience (anyreader) and purpose (to entertain) (e.g., style, voice, tone)

Uses conventions (e.g., grammar,spelling, punctuation) and appropriatevocabulary (e.g., descriptive language,linking words, action verbs)

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith limitedeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith limitedeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with limitedeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith some effectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith some effectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with someeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith considerableeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith considerableeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary withconsiderableeffectiveness

• Expresses and organizesideas in narrative formwith a high degree ofeffectiveness

• Communicates foraudience and purposewith a high degree ofeffectiveness

• Uses conventions andvocabulary with a highdegree of effectiveness

Transfers knowledge and skills (e.g.,concept of the features of an animal) tothe writing task

Demonstrates an ability to makeconnections among topic (an animal),personal experiences, and life situationsto enhance writing (e.g., connectinganimal’s feature to personal knowledgeand/or world experiences)

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with limitedeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with limitedeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with someeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with someeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with considerableeffectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations withconsiderableeffectiveness

• Transfers knowledgeand skills to the writingtask with a high degreeof effectiveness

• Makes connectionsamong topic, personalexperiences, and lifesituations with a highdegree of effectiveness

Application LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4

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WRITING TASK 2


OWA Grade 6 Writing Rubric 2: Animal Tale Narrative



Thinking


Demonstrates knowledge andunderstanding of the text form, genre,and format

A narrative includes

• beginning, middle, and end, and iswritten sequentially

• characters, setting, problem, andresolution

• details that relate to main idea orevent

• Demonstrates limitedknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with limitedeffectiveness)

• Demonstrates someknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with someeffectiveness)

• Demonstratesconsiderable knowledgeand understanding ofthe text form, genre,and format (e.g.,develops characterswhose actionscontribute to the plotand events in the story,with considerableeffectiveness)

• Demonstrates thoroughknowledge andunderstanding of thetext form, genre, andformat (e.g., developscharacters whoseactions contribute tothe plot and events inthe story, with a highdegree of effectiveness)

Generates ideas that are connected andis able to support ideas with details andreasons (e.g., supports main ideas withrelevant information)

Demonstrates critical and creativethinking processes to enhance writing(e.g., understands/writes from aperspective, writes with imagination)

• Generates and supportsideas with limitedeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with limitedeffectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with someeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with some effectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with considerableeffectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with considerableeffectiveness

• Generates and supportsideas with a highdegree of effectiveness

• Demonstrates criticaland creative thinkingprocesses (e.g., developsimaginative ideas aboutthe animal’s feature)with a high degree ofeffectiveness


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OWA On-Demand Writing Tasks, three for each grade (pp. 26, 48, 70)

Three OWA Writing Tasks are provided at each grade level from SeniorKindergarten to Grade 8. One is to be completed early in the fall, one atmid-year, and one at the end of the year. Each Writing Task has beencreated to engage student interest and establish a purpose and audiencefor writing. The amount of space provided for student responses has beenchosen deliberately to guide the length of the responses. Additional papercan be provided to students if required.

The Writing Tasks require on-demand writing to be done in onecontinuous sitting to quickly provide an effective snapshot of students’writing strengths and needs. Some steps of process writing areaccomplished through the OWA Writing Tasks, such as brainstorming,drafting, revising, and editing; however, they are independentlyaccomplished by each student in a short period of time during thiswhole-class assessment.

OWA Anchors and Rationales, sixteen for each Writing Task (pp. 29–44, 51–66, 73–88)

For each of the Writing Tasks, OWA provides sixteen samples (or Anchors)of student writing. These comprise four samples (each one representing alevel, 1, 2, 3, or 4) of student writing for each of the four categories of theachievement chart. Note that all names on the writing samples have beenchanged to protect privacy.

A Rationale accompanies each Anchor and clearly explains why thewriting sample was determined to be a representative example for thatlevel of performance.

OWA Class Tracking Sheet (p. 89)

The Class Tracking Sheet provides a place to record the term results ofeach OWA Writing Task for every student in the class for each of the fourcategories, including each student’s overall score and overall level.

OWA Overall Level Guide (p. 90)

OWA Overall Level Guide helps you find the overall level thatcorresponds to the student’s overall score. The overall level is helpful if aWriting Task has been administered as a summative assessment.

Writing Self-Assessment (p. 92)

The one-page Writing Self-Assessment provides an opportunity forstudents to reflect on their writing. Students respond to the fourquestions by checking one of four answers, and they respond to an open-ended question.



Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

You’ve been asked by a children’s publishing company to select any animal andwrite a tale or legend that tells how it came to be or how it got one of its specialor unique features.


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WRITING TASK 2

Knowledge and Understanding—Level 2Rationale

The student demonstrates some knowledge and understandingof a narrative text form. For example, the writing includescharacters, a setting, and a problem (… there was no more leaves,except for the one’s out of reach! Eventually the girafe’s started to get

hungry … ). The student develops the events with someeffectiveness (e.g., there was a big crash and the sky lit up);however, the resolution occurs abruptly.



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Term: ____________________________ Date: _____________________________



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Writing Attitude Survey (pp. 94–95)

The two-page Writing Attitude Survey provides an opportunity forstudents to reflect on their attitudes toward writing. Students respond tothe five questions on the Survey by checking one of four answers, andthey respond to three open-ended questions.

Planning Guide: OWA Instructional Next Steps (pp. 108–109)

This planning guide provides you with an opportunity to use theassessment results gathered from OWA in combination with OWA NextSteps to plan instructional opportunities for the class, small groups, orindividual students.

Instructional Writing Strategies (pp. 110–130)

The writing strategies address the specific learning needs of studentsidentified through the OWA assessment. These strategies target the fourcategories of knowledge and skills.




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Planning Guide: OWA Instructional Next Steps (Cont'd)

Small Group Foci

Topics/Activity: Instructional Strategies:

❏

❏

❏

❏

Knowledge and Skills

❏ Knowledge and

Understanding

❏ Thinking

❏ Communication

❏ Application

Small Group Foci


❏

❏

❏

❏


❏ Knowledge and

Understanding

❏ Thinking

❏ Communication

❏ Application



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Planning Guide: OWA Instructional Next Steps

Entire Class Foci


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❏

❏

❏


❏ Knowledge and

Understanding

❏ Thinking

❏ Communication

❏ Application

Individual/Exceptional Student Intervention

Student Focus/Topic/Activity Strategies


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OWA Writing Tasks

When do you administer the Writing Tasks?

Administer a Writing Task at these approximate times:

• start of year (mid-September/early October)• mid-year (late January/mid-February)• end of year (late May/early June)

All OWA Rubrics, Anchors, and Rationales represent end-of-yearachievement; therefore it is not necessary to administer the Writing Tasksof a particular grade in the order that they appear. However, a school ordistrict may decide to administer tasks in a specific order to allow forcomparing results and for professional learning opportunities such asteacher moderation. Also, note that some tasks work best at particulartimes of the year, for example, the Grade 1 task about a snow day worksbest in the winter months, and the Grade 3 task about an end-of-yeartrip, or the Grade 8 task about reflecting upon the school year, work bestnear the end of the year.

Each of the Writing Tasks can be used as a diagnostic, formative, orsummative assessment, depending on how you plan to use the results.

Using OWA Results for Diagnostic Assessment:Use the results to gather information about students’ writing strengthsand needs. Use results to determine entry points for writing instruction,for example, to plan explicit instruction to promote students’understanding and control of a particular text form, genre, or format.

Using OWA Results for Formative Assessment:Use the results gathered midway through an instructional unit on aparticular text form, genre, or format to review each student’s writingprogress and tailor literacy programming accordingly.

Using OWA Results for Summative Assessment:Use the results to determine students’ writing progress at the end of aninstructional unit on a particular text form, genre, or format.


Grade 6 OWA Start of Year Mid-Year End of Year

Text Form Report Narrative Opinion Writing(Persuasive/Exposition)

Examples of Genre

InformationPiece

Legend/Fable/Myth InformationPiece

Format Interview Story Letter

This chart identifies a possibleorder for administering theGrade 6 Writing Tasks.Teachers, school teams, ordistricts should choose whento administer tasks based ontheir assessment needs.


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Why is each Writing Task designated a specific text form, genre, and format?

The Ontario Language Curriculum states that “students will identify thetopic, purpose, and audience for a variety of writing forms” (OntarioMinistry of Education 2006, 100). As noted in A Guide to EffectiveInstruction in Writing, Kindergarten to Grade 3, “students’ developingunderstanding of text forms, genres, and formats provides them with thetools they need to express themselves effectively and to reach their targetaudience” (Ontario Ministry of Education 2005, 1.20). A Guide to EffectiveInstruction in Writing, Grades 4–6 goes on to emphasize the importance ofstudents’ learning to recognize characteristics of texts, for example,organizational patterns in some informational texts, and how theyconvey meaning.

To assist teachers, OWA includes a variety of text forms, genres, andformats. The chart on the previous page shows the text form, genre, andformat for each OWA Writing Task at the Grade 6 level. Ensure that youexpose students throughout the year to various writing opportunities thatinclude the text forms, genres, and formats for your grade. (Refer to page22 for a planning chart covering each grade level.)

Text Forms

The OWA writing tasks are classified into six major text forms. Text formsgenerally describe the function and structure of the text. The six textforms selected for the OWA writing assessments are those most oftentaught in primary, junior, and intermediate divisions.

Text form: Opinion Writing(Persuasive/Exposition)

Example of Genre: InformationPiece

Format: Letter

The function and structure of the text

The style or literary category of the text

General organization andarrangement of the text

For a list of all text forms, seeA Guide to Effective LiteracyInstruction, Grades 4 to 6:Volume 1, p. 37.

All six text forms in OWA areassessed by the end of Grade3 to ensure early exposure toa variety of forms. Each textform is assessed again duringGrades 4–8. Within eachgrade, the text forms provideboth fiction and nonfictionwriting opportunities.

It is important to note thatstudents should be providedwith opportunities to write ina variety of forms in additionto the three forms addressedby OWA for a particulargrade.

OWA Text Forms Across the Grades: SK–8

Grade

Text Form SK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Opinion X X X X X X X

Recount X X X X X X

Narrative X X X X

Report X X X X

Explanation X X X

Procedure X X X


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Text forms offer a general framework that enables readers and writers tocreate meaning and communicate their ideas. As students becomefamiliar with various text forms, their ability to convey messagesimproves due to a deepened understanding of purpose and audience.The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy in Grades 4 to 6 in Ontario states:“Students need to be aware of many different text forms if they are tocompose with increasing independence for a variety of purposes acrosssubject areas” (Ontario Ministry of Education 2006, 83).

Genres

Generally, genre refers to the style or literary category of a text, and maybe informational or imaginative. The differences between text forms andgenres are not absolute, and there may be overlap between the categories.

Over the course of Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8, students may respondto the OWA Writing Tasks using various genres such as

• adventure • information piece

• autobiography • legend

• biography • memoir

• drama • realistic fiction

• fantasy • science fiction

• humour • tale

Genre is not prescribed for OWA Writing Tasks. Students will complete aWriting Task using the genre of their choice. For example, students askedto write a story may write a narrative piece in the genre of adventure,humour, mystery, or realistic fiction.

You may observe and record anecdotal notes concerning the student’sability to communicate using the chosen genre.

Formats

Format can be thought of as the general organization and arrangement oftext that accommodates the specific needs of an audience. There may besome overlap with text forms.

Over the course of the grade levels, the OWA Writing Tasks requirestudents to write in these formats:

• advertisement • letter

• announcement • list

• blog • magazine article

• essay • newspaper article

• instructions • speech

• interview • story

• journal


A Guide to EffectiveInstruction in Writing,Kindergarten to Grade 3states that “genres can lendthemselves to a variety offormats” (Ontario Ministry ofEducation 2005, 1.20). OWAWriting Tasks provide studentswith opportunities to write inthree different formats ateach grade level.

Various aspects of textpatterns are assessed in theKnowledge and Understand-ing category outlined in eachtask-specific Rubric.

The student’s choice of genrecan affect the style, voice, andtone of the writing. Theseelements are assessed in theCommunication category.


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Overall Expectations

1. generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience;

2. draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylisticelements appropriate for the purpose and audience;

3. use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, tocorrect errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively;

4. reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, [as well as] areas for improvement …

Specific Expectations for Grade 6

Purpose and Audience

1.1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for avariety of writing forms

Developing Ideas

1.2 generate ideas about a potential topic andidentify those most appropriate for the purpose

Classifying Ideas

1.4 sort and classify ideas and information for theirwriting in a variety of ways that allow them to viewinformation from different perspectives and makeconnections between ideas

Form

2.1 write longer and more complex texts using awide range of forms

Voice

2.2 establish a distinctive voice in their writingappropriate to the subject and audience

Word Choice

2.3 use some vivid and/or figurative language andinnovative expressions to enhance interest

Sentence Fluency

2.4 create complex sentences by combining phrases,clauses, and/or simple sentences

Point of View

2.5 identify their point of view and other possiblepoints of view; determine, when appropriate, if theirown view is balanced and supported by theevidence; and adjust their thinking and expression ifappropriate

Spelling Familiar Words

3.1 spell familiar words correctly

Spelling Unfamiliar Words3.2 spell unfamiliar words using a variety ofstrategies that involve understanding sound-symbolrelationships, word structures, word meanings, andgeneralizations about spelling

Vocabulary3.3 confirm spellings and word meanings or wordchoice using a variety of resources appropriate forthe purpose

Punctuation3.4 use punctuation appropriately to communicatetheir intended meaning in longer and morecomplex sentences, with a focus on the use of:commas to separate words in a list or after anintroductory word or phrase; quotation marks indialogue; and some uses of the colon, semi-colon,and brackets

Grammar3.5 use parts of speech correctly to communicatetheir meaning clearly, with a focus on the use of:personal subject and object pronouns (e.g., I, me)indefinite pronouns (e.g., someone, nobody);conjunctions; subordinate clauses; adverb phrases;and present, past, and future verb tenses

Proofreading3.6 proofread and correct their writing …

Metacognition4.1 identify a variety of strategies they used before,during, and after writing, explain which ones weremost helpful, and suggest further steps they can taketo improve as writers

How do the Writing Tasks and the Writing Self-Assessmentquestionnaire correspond to the expectations of The OntarioCurriculum, Grades 1–8: Language (2006)?

Each of the OWA Writing Tasks corresponds to the overall and specificexpectations shown on the chart below, as outlined in the Writing strandof the curriculum, excluding Overall Expectation 4 and SpecificExpectation 4.1. The OWA Writing Self-Assessment questionnairecorresponds to Overall Expectation 4 and Specific Expectation 4.1.


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Administering the OWA Writing Tasks1. Provide each student with a copy of the Writing Task.

If required, students may use additional sheets of paper to complete theWriting Task.

2. Describe the Writing Task to students.

Tell students that this is an independent writing activity. Show themwhere space is provided for their writing and/or drawings and/orbrainstorming notes. Discuss the suggested timelines.

Provide additional time for any student who is unable to complete thewriting task within the suggested time, as long as the writing takes placein one continuous sitting.

3. Read aloud the Writing Task verbatim for the class, group, or student.

Reread it for any students who request this.

4. Instruct students to independently brainstorm ideas fortheir writing in the space provided before they beginwriting, and to proofread and edit their writing prior tohanding it in.

Students may use brainstorming templates or graphic organizers, but onlyon their own initiative. Do not direct them to use these.

Students may independently choose to use a writing tool such as adictionary, thesaurus, or word wall.

Students may use a word processor to complete the Writing Task.

5. Provide no further support.

Assessing the OWA Writing Tasks

1. Read the student’s response.

Carefully read the student’s response to the Writing Task to get a sense ofthe quality of the writing and a general idea of level.

Assess only the written performance portion of the student’s WritingTask. Do not assess any student recording in the brainstorming section ofthe Task. However, read and consider carefully what the student writes inthe brainstorming section and use it to help you make programmingdecisions for the student. For example, if you notice that a student listsmany creative ideas in the brainstorming section but doesn’t includethese in the writing piece, you may decide to implement some directedteaching strategies to assist the student in linking the purpose ofbrainstorming to the writing piece.


Suggested timelines for Writing Tasks

SK–Grade 3: 30 minutes

Grade 4–Grade 5: 45 minutes

Grade 6–Grade 8: 60 minutes

Note: Provide additional timefor any student who is unableto complete the Writing Taskwithin the suggested time, aslong as the writing takes placein one continuous sitting.

Steps in brief for assessingthe OWA Writing Tasks:

1. Read the student’sresponse.

2. Refer to the Rubric.

3. Read the Anchor.

4. Read the Rationale.

5. Determine the level.

6. Record the level.

7. Determine the overall leveland record it, if forsummative purposes.

8. Repeat for each student.

9. Plan next steps.


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Repeat the following Steps 2–6 for each category on the Rubric:

2. Refer to the task-specific Writing Rubric.

Choose one of the four categories on the Rubric.

• Read and consider the descriptions of the expectations listed for thatcategory.

• Read the descriptions of the four performance levels of eachassessment criterion.

• Reread the Writing Task. Compare the descriptions of theexpectations and the four levels of performance to the writing. Askyourself: Where does this writing piece most closely fit?

What if the criteria seem to overlap?

The categories of knowledge and skills work in an integrated fashion, and sometimes criteria can have an impact on other criteria across the categories. For example, when assessing text form, notice that theKnowledge and Understanding category requires you to assess thestudent’s understanding of the text form’s features and structure, and theCommunication category requires you to assess the student’s use of style,tone, and vocabulary based on the text form.

Are text form, genre, and text format to be assessed with equal weight?

When assessing a student’s knowledge and understanding in writing, youwill observe and make note of the student’s knowledge andunderstanding of the genre and text format, but you will primarily lookfor the student’s knowledge and understanding of the text form. Askyourself: Does the student’s writing demonstrate the general features,patterns, and structures of the text form?

3. Read the appropriate Anchors.

Identify the Anchor that seems to most closely reflect the level of thestudent’s writing in that category. Make comparisons to the Anchors onelevel up and one level down from it. (For example, if you determine thata piece of writing seems close to a Level 2, examine the Level 2 Anchorand also make comparisons to the Level 1 and Level 3 Anchors.)

As you gain more experience with scoring students’ writing, you will findthe scoring process straightforward. You will be able to determine theapproximate level of writing in each category, and use the Anchors andRubrics to confirm your judgments, with precision.

When assessing the level of awriting achievement category,consider all the criteria in thecategory and use yourprofessional judgment inconjunction with the OWARubric, Anchors, andRationales.

“The four categories shouldbe considered as interrelated,reflecting the wholeness andinterconnectedness oflearning.” ~ONTARIO MINISTRY OFEDUCATION, LanguageCurriculum, 17

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The student generates and supports ideas with considerableeffectiveness. The writing includes ideas that connect to theimportant person with considerable effectiveness. For example,the student provides details about the new environment thatconnects to the grandmother (e.g., … white and fluffy … PeaceLane … uncle David, he was the first person to greet me …). The

student effectively demonstrates creative thinking processes byimaginatively choosing to interview a relative who has passedaway. Critical thinking is demonstrated with considerableeffectiveness as Grandma’s perspective is developed (e.g.,Watching over you! I saw grandpa’s 75th Birthday! You grew up sowell!)


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4. Read the Rationale.

Read the Rationale that corresponds to the Anchor that most closelyreflects the level of the student’s writing in that category.

The Rationales are not comprehensive. They do not necessarily commenton every criterion in a category. The Rationales highlight the criteria thatcan best be assessed in the anchor to determine the writing level. Theyprovide guidelines to the thinking behind the scoring of particularcategories of knowledge and skills, and they include suggestions on howto perceive and evaluate differences in writing.

5. Make a professional judgment using the Writing Rubric,Anchors, and Rationales to determine a level ofperformance.

Assessing writing skills can be challenging. It is not a matter ofdetermining whether an answer is correct or incorrect. Instead, you aredetermining a level of performance for each category of knowledge andskills. “Score” the student’s work by using your professional judgment toassess the quality of the student’s writing and by rating the student’swork according to the set of predetermined criteria.

What if each criterion is not at the same level within a category?

Sometimes a student may not achieve at the same level for each criterionwithin a category. For example, a student may effectively organize ideas(Level 3) and effectively communicate to the audience (Level 3), butstruggle in the area of spelling (Level 1 or 2). Reread the Writing Task andconsider whether or not the spelling hinders the student from effectivelycommunicating overall. If you judge that, overall, the student consistentlycommunicates in an effective manner, score Communication at Level 3.(You may also wish to make a note of the student’s need for support inspelling for planning next steps.)

What are some other strategies for assessing students’ writing?

• You can assess the same category in all student Writing Tasks at onetime. For example, assess Knowledge and Understanding in allstudent Writing Tasks, then assess another category, such as Thinking,in all the Writing Tasks. As you assess the same category for allstudents, you become more familiar with its criteria andcorresponding levels, and more confident in assessing for it.

• Work on assessment with other grade team teachers or division teamteachers. This process of “teacher moderation” provides opportunitiesfor professional dialogue about assessment that informs instruction.


Using the Rubric, Anchors,and Rationales togetherpromotes consistency and willhelp you develop anunderstanding of thecategories of knowledge andskills and the writingexpectations of students ateach level.

All Rubrics, Anchors, andRationales represent end-of-year achievement. This allowsyou to identify strengths andneeds based on the writingskills required to exit thegrade at the provincial level.

Refer to the Example of theOWA Scoring Process (page 20) to review anexample of how a student’swriting is scored across allfour categories.


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6. Record the student’s level of performance for thatcategory on the Class Tracking Sheet (page 89).

Continue to assess and record the results for each of the categories.

Ove

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Student Name

Term: ____________________________ Date: _____________________________


1. Asia 3 3 3 4 13 3+

2. Katie 3 2 3 3 11 3

3. Evan 2 2 1 2 7 2

1 Sept. 28th

7. If using an OWA Task as a summative assessment,determine the overall level of the student’s writing, andrecord it on the Class Tracking Sheet (page 89).

Use the Overall Level Guide (p. 90) to find the overall level thatcorresponds to the student’s overall score.

It is important to note that the overall level provides only a snapshot ofan individual student’s writing achievement at one moment in time.

Students’ overall levels can be used to• identify overall patterns in a class or grade• track the progress of classes or grade levels over time, from one year

to the next• set classroom or school goals

However, an overall level will not support you in planning instruction orprovide the individual student with relevant feedback. It is critical toidentify a student’s particular strengths and needs within each categoryin order to plan next steps. For example, if a student demonstrates gapsin the category of thinking, it will be important for you to determinewhich thinking criteria (e.g., critical literacy, details to support main idea,creativity) are areas for growth. Identifying strengths and needs willsupport you in implementing effective instructional practices, and allowyou to provide valuable feedback to students.

8. Repeat these steps for the other students in the class.

Record the levels of the other students on the Class Tracking Sheet.

This will give you a comprehensive visual record of the OWA WritingTask results of every student in the class for each of the four categories.

Consider the followinggeneral criteria when scoringthe four categories:


• Demonstrates knowledgeand understanding of thetext form, genre, andformat

• Develops topic andinformation

Thinking

• Generates ideas (connectedand supported)

• Demonstrates critical andcreative thinking processes

• Develops writing withperspective

Communication

• Organizes ideas • Communicates for different

audiences and purposes • Uses conventions and

appropriate vocabulary

Application

• Transfers knowledge andskills to the writing task

• Demonstrates an ability tomake connections amongtopic, personal experiences,and life situations


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9. Plan instructional next steps based on strengths and needs

Once you have your OWA results, you can begin to plan and adapt yourwriting instruction to address the needs identified. Use the followingsections to facilitate planning next steps:

• How OWA Can Help Your Writing Program Succeed (p. 97)• Next Steps for Teaching Writing (p. 105)

Accommodations for Special Education andESL StudentsConsider the following suggestions:

Administer and assess the OWA Writing Task at the grade level ofmodified expectations.

For example, if a Grade 5 student requires modified expectations inwriting at the Grade 2 level, administer the Grade 2 OWA Writing Taskand use its task-specific Rubric and the Grade 2 Anchors and Rationalesfor assessment.

Administer the grade-appropriate Writing Task to the student andassess it with the Anchors at the grade level of modified expectations.

For example, if a Grade 5 student requires modified expectations inwriting at the Grade 2 level, administer the Grade 5 OWA Writing Taskand assess it using the Grade 2 OWA Anchors. Although the Anchors arespecific to the Tasks, they will provide an overall comparison to identifystrengths and needs.

• Find Anchors at the grade level of modified expectations with a textform that matches the text form being assessed (for example, opinionwriting is assessed in both Grade 2 and Grade 5). If one is notavailable, choose an Anchor that seems most closely aligned to theWriting Task you are assessing (for example, if the student writes theGrade 5 narrative task, you might assess with the Grade 2 recountAnchors).

• When you assess using an Anchor from a different grade level, it isimportant to look for the overall impression of student writing atLevels 1–4.

Use alternative writing assessments if students experience difficultyresponding to the writing tasks.

Example:

• Increase your use of portfolio assessments and anecdotal observations.

• Assess the writing of ESL students in their first language, if possible.

Allow students with an IEP who, on a regular basis, require the use ofassistive technology to cope with writing tasks to use the assistivetechnology when completing the Writing Task.


Note: Writing Tasks fromlower grade levels may notappeal to older students.


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OWA Across the GradesThe following chart enables school teams to map out an instructionalscope and sequence for students across the grades. This will deliverconsistency and continuity in writing instruction and assessment forstudents as they move from grade to grade.

OWA Text Forms, Genres, and Formats Across the Grades: SK–8

Grade Start of Year Mid-Year End of Year

SK

Text Form: ProcedureExample of Genre:

Information PieceFormat: List

Text Form: RecountExample of Genre:

Information PieceFormat: Journal/Story

Text Form: Opinion Writing(Persuasive/Exposition)

Example of Genre: Information Piece

Format: Journal/Story

1


Information PieceFormat: List

Text Form: RecountExamples of Genre:

Realistic Fiction/Humour/Adventure

Format: Journal


Example of Genre: Information Text

Format: Letter

2


Realistic FictionFormat: Letter

Text Form: Explanation Example of Genre:

Science FictionFormat: Essay


Example of Genre: Realistic Fiction

Format: Advertisement

3

Text Form: NarrativeExamples of Genre:

Fantasy/Humour/Adventure

Format: Story

Text Form: ReportExample of Genre:

Information PieceFormat: Letter



Format: Speech

4


Realistic FictionFormat: Essay


Realistic FictionFormat: Journal

Text Form: Explanation Example of Genre:

Information PieceFormat: Magazine Article

5


Adventure/Humour/DramaFormat: Story


Information PieceFormat: Newspaper Article



Format: Announcement

6


Information PieceFormat: Interview

Text Form: Narrative Examples of Genre:

Legend/Fable/MythFormat: Story



Format: Letter

7


Information PieceFormat: Instructions

Text Form: RecountExamples of Genre:

Memoir/Short BiographyFormat: Blog



Format: Newspaper Article

8


Adventure/Humour/Drama/Realistic Fiction

Format: Story

Text Form: ExplanationExample of Genre:

Information PieceFormat: Magazine Article

Text Form: Recount Example of Genre: MemoirFormat: Journal/Diary

This chart identifies a possibleorder for administering theOWA Writing Tasks. Teachers,school teams, or districtsshould choose when toadminister tasks based ontheir assessment needs.


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More paper is available.


Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________


Remember to check your work, including spelling, punctuation, and grammar.


Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

Write your report here.


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Writing Task 1—Start of Year

Contents

OWA Writing Rubric 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

OWA Writing Task 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Writing Task 1 Anchors and Rationales• Knowledge and Understanding: Levels 1–4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29• Thinking: Levels 1–4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33• Communication: Levels 1–4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37• Application: Levels 1–4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Text form: Report

Examples of Genre: Information Piece

Format: Interview



Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

You have interviewed someone that is very important in your life.

Write a report for a television interview that includes

• the questions you asked

• the answers given by the important person youinterviewed


02-Grade6-WritingTasks.qxd 4/21/08 11:44 AM Page 23

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Sample

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Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

You have interviewed someone that is very important in your life.

Write a report for a television interview that includes

• the questions you asked

• the answers given by the important person youinterviewed



Sample

r


Remember to check your work, including spelling, punctuation, and grammar.


Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

Write your report here.


Sample

r


More paper is available.


Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________


Sample

r


Kn

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Sample

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WR

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enes

s.

For

exam

ple

, th

e w

riti

ng

incl

ud

es s

ome

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut

the

“wh

o” (

the

imp

orta

nt

per

son

) (e

.g.,

Wel

l I

got

into

act

ing

by j

ust

wan

ting

to

act

…).

Th

e in

terv

iew

in

clu

des

qu

esti

ons

and

answ

ers

from

bot

h t

he

inte

rvie

wer

an

d t

he

inte

rvie

wee

wit

hso

me

effe

ctiv

enes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

, th

e q

ues

tion

s d

o n

ot t

arge

tth

e “w

hy”

(w

hy

the

per

son

is

bein

g in

terv

iew

ed)

oth

er t

han

esta

blis

hin

g th

at t

he

inte

rvie

wee

is

an a

ctor

.


Sample

r


Kn

ow

led

ge

and

Un

der

stan

din

g—

Leve

l 3R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

dem

onst

rate

s co

nsi

der

able

kn

owle

dge

an

du

nd

erst

and

ing

of t

he

rep

ort

form

. T

he

wri

tin

g in

clu

des

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut

wh

o, w

hat

, w

her

e, w

hen

, an

d w

hy

wit

hco

nsi

der

able

eff

ecti

ven

ess.

For

exa

mp

le,

the

wri

tin

g in

clu

des

con

sid

erab

le i

nfo

rmat

ion

abo

ut

the

“wh

o” (

e.g.

, sh

e w

ent

back

to s

choo

l, is

a s

tay-

at-h

ome

mom

an

d a

tuto

r, an

d fe

els

her

fam

ilysu

pp

orts

her

th

rou

gh t

ough

tim

es).

Th

e in

terv

iew

in

clu

des

qu

esti

ons

and

an

swer

s th

at e

ffec

tive

ly p

rovi

de

info

rmat

ion

abou

t th

e im

por

tan

t p

erso

n (

e.g.

, W

ho a

re y

our

grea

test

supp

orte

rs …

? …

My

husb

and,

my

dog

(ha,

ha)

, an

d m

y 3

boys

.)


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Kn

ow

led

ge

and

Un

der

stan

din

g—

Leve

l 4R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

dem

onst

rate

s th

orou

gh k

now

led

ge a

nd

un

der

stan

din

g of

th

e re

por

t fo

rm.

Th

e w

riti

ng

incl

ud

esin

form

atio

n a

bou

t w

ho,

wh

at,

wh

ere,

wh

en,

and

wh

y w

ith

ah

igh

deg

ree

of e

ffec

tive

nes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

, th

e w

riti

ng

incl

ud

esde

taile

d in

form

atio

n a

bout

th

e “w

ho”

(e.

g., s

he

is a

fem

ale

hoc

key

play

er b

reak

ing

thro

ugh

th

e ge

nde

r ba

rrie

r an

d le

ft h

er

hom

etow

n t

o pl

ay h

ocke

y). T

he

inte

rvie

w in

clud

es q

uest

ion

s an

dan

swer

s th

at p

rovi

de t

hor

ough

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut t

he

impo

rtan

tpe

rson

(e.

g., P

leas

e te

ll ho

w d

oes

it f

eel t

o be

the

onl

y fe

mal

e …

I f

eel I

am a

goo

d ro

le m

odel

for

gir

l hoc

key

play

ers

ever

ywhe

re).

Add

itio

nal

info

rmat

ion

em

phas

izes

th

e te

levi

sion

inte

rvie

w f

orm

at (

e.g.

,(L

augh

), (B

ig C

lap)

, (Sm

ile +

look

into

cam

era)

).


Sample

r


Thin

kin

g—

Leve

l 1R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

gen

erat

es a

nd

su

pp

orts

id

eas

wit

h l

imit

edef

fect

iven

ess.

Th

e w

riti

ng

incl

ud

es i

dea

s ab

out

the

imp

orta

nt

per

son

wit

h l

imit

ed e

ffec

tive

nes

s; f

or e

xam

ple

, id

eas

are

sup

por

ted

wit

h s

imp

le d

etai

ls (

Why

is

it a

cat

? B

ecau

se t

hey

are

so c

ute!

) C

riti

cal

and

cre

ativ

e th

inki

ng

is d

emon

stra

ted

wit

hli

mit

ed e

ffec

tive

nes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

, th

e st

ud

ent

pro

vid

es a

mot

her

’s p

ersp

ecti

ve o

f li

kin

g ve

geta

bles

(…

the

y ar

e he

alth

y).


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Thin

kin

g—

Leve

l 2R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

gen

erat

es a

nd

su

pp

orts

id

eas

wit

h s

ome

effe

ctiv

enes

s. T

he

wri

tin

g in

clu

des

id

eas

that

con

nec

t to

th

eim

por

tan

t p

erso

n w

ith

som

e ef

fect

iven

ess.

For

exa

mp

le,

the

stu

den

t p

rovi

des

det

ails

abo

ut

the

imm

edia

te f

amil

y of

his

fath

er (

Whe

re d

id y

ou l

ive

whe

n yo

u ha

d yo

ur s

econ

d so

n …

).

Cri

tica

l th

inki

ng

is d

emon

stra

ted

wit

h s

ome

effe

ctiv

enes

s; f

orex

amp

le,

the

wri

tin

g co

mp

ares

liv

ing

in T

oron

to t

o O

wen

Sou

nd

(fa

ther

des

crib

es h

ow h

ouse

s ar

e cl

ose

toge

ther

an

d h

owli

ttle

tim

e it

tak

es t

o cu

t th

e la

wn

in

an

urb

an s

etti

ng,

as

opp

osed

to

wh

ere

he

curr

entl

y li

ves)

.


Sample

r


Thin

kin

g—

Leve

l 3R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

gen

erat

es a

nd

su

pp

orts

id

eas

wit

h c

onsi

der

able

effe

ctiv

enes

s. T

he

wri

tin

g in

clu

des

id

eas

that

con

nec

t to

th

eim

por

tan

t p

erso

n w

ith

con

sid

erab

le e

ffec

tive

nes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

,th

e st

ud

ent

pro

vid

es d

etai

ls a

bou

t th

e n

ew e

nvi

ron

men

t th

atco

nn

ect

to t

he

gran

dm

oth

er (

e.g.

, …

whi

te a

nd f

luff

y …

Pea

ceLa

ne …

unc

le D

avid

, he

was

the

fir

st p

erso

n to

gre

et m

e …

). T

he

stu

den

t ef

fect

ivel

y d

emon

stra

tes

crea

tive

th

inki

ng

pro

cess

es b

yim

agin

ativ

ely

choo

sin

g to

in

terv

iew

a r

elat

ive

wh

o h

as p

asse

daw

ay.

Cri

tica

l th

inki

ng

is d

emon

stra

ted

wit

h c

onsi

der

able

effe

ctiv

enes

s as

Gra

nd

ma’

s p

ersp

ecti

ve i

s d

evel

oped

(e.

g.,

Wat

chin

g ov

er y

ou!

I sa

w g

rand

pa’s

75t

h B

irth

day!

You

gre

w u

p so

wel

l!)


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Thin

kin

g—

Leve

l 4R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

gen

erat

es a

nd

su

pp

orts

id

eas

wit

h a

hig

h d

egre

e of

effe

ctiv

enes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

, th

e st

ud

ent

pro

vid

es d

etai

ls a

bou

tth

e u

ncl

e’s

care

er (

e.g.

,…

rea

lly i

nter

este

d in

MR

I’s …

diag

nose

an

illne

ss e

arly

on)

. T

he

stu

den

t d

emon

stra

tes

crea

tive

th

inki

ng

pro

cess

es w

ith

a h

igh

deg

ree

of e

ffec

tive

nes

s by

pro

vid

ing

imag

inat

ive

det

ails

(e.

g.,

Bei

ng a

ble

to d

isco

ver

wha

t's

insi

de t

he

body

thr

ough

the

se m

achi

nes

can

help

sic

k pe

ople

get

bet

ter)

.C

riti

cal

thin

kin

g is

dem

onst

rate

d w

ith

a h

igh

deg

ree

ofef

fect

iven

ess.

Th

e w

riti

ng

dev

elop

s th

e u

ncl

e’s

per

spec

tive

by

pro

vid

ing

his

per

son

al f

eeli

ngs

abo

ut

his

mov

e to

Mon

trea

l(e

.g.,

I am

exc

ited

, ne

rvou

s an

d ve

ry h

appy

. …

hop

eful

ly m

ake

adi

ffer

ence

in

the

heal

th s

yste

m).


Sample

r


Co

mm

un

icat

ion

—Le

vel 1

Rat

ion

ale

Th

e st

ud

ent

exp

ress

es a

nd

org

aniz

es i

dea

s w

ith

lim

ited

effe

ctiv

enes

s. S

ente

nce

str

uct

ure

an

d v

ocab

ula

ry a

re s

imp

le.

Th

ere

are

erro

rs i

n s

pel

lin

g (e

.g.,

allo

t, g

ardi

n) a

nd

gra

mm

atic

aler

rors

th

rou

ghou

t th

e p

iece

(e.

g.,

pu

nct

uat

ion

, ca

pit

aliz

atio

n).

Th

e st

ud

ent

com

mu

nic

ates

to

ente

rtai

n o

r in

form

by

pro

vid

ing

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut

an i

mp

orta

nt

per

son

wit

h l

imit

ed u

se o

fst

yle,

voi

ce,

and

wor

d c

hoi

ce (

e.g.

, W

hat

is y

our

favo

rite

ani

mal

?it

is

a ra

bbit

.)


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

—Le

vel 2

Rat

ion

ale

Th

e st

ud

ent

exp

ress

es a

nd

org

aniz

es i

dea

s w

ith

som

eef

fect

iven

ess.

Th

e st

ud

ent

use

s co

nve

nti

ons

and

voc

abu

lary

wit

h s

ome

effe

ctiv

enes

s (e

.g.,

I’d

like

to w

ith

som

e qu

esti

ons

…)

Th

e st

ud

ent

com

mu

nic

ates

to

ente

rtai

n o

r in

form

by

pro

vid

ing

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut

an i

mp

orta

nt

per

son

wit

h s

ome

effe

ctiv

e u

seof

sty

le,

voic

e, a

nd

wor

d c

hoi

ce (

e.g.

,… I

hav

e ac

com

plis

hed

thin

gs …

tot

ally

wor

th i

t).


Sample

r


Co

mm

un

icat

ion

—Le

vel 3

Rat

ion

ale

Th

e st

ud

ent

exp

ress

es a

nd

org

aniz

es i

dea

s cl

earl

y an

d l

ogic

ally

in t

his

rep

ort.

Con

ven

tion

s an

d g

ram

mar

are

use

d w

ith

con

sid

erab

le e

ffec

tive

nes

s. T

he

sen

ten

ce s

tru

ctu

re i

s va

ried

wit

hap

pro

pri

ate

use

of

pu

nct

uat

ion

. T

he

stu

den

t co

mm

un

icat

es t

oen

tert

ain

or

info

rm b

y p

rovi

din

g in

form

atio

n a

bou

t an

imp

orta

nt

per

son

th

rou

gh t

he

effe

ctiv

e u

se o

f st

yle,

voi

ce,

and

wor

d c

hoi

ce.

For

exam

ple

, th

e st

ud

ent

com

mu

nic

ates

in

ap

osit

ive

voic

e ab

out

her

cou

sin

(It

’s m

y co

usin

Jen

nife

r! …

Oh,

that

’s g

ood!

… W

ow,

I gu

ess

your

who

le f

amily

are

rea

lly i

nto

spor

ts.)


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

—Le

vel 4

Rat

ion

ale

Th

e st

ud

ent

exp

ress

es a

nd

org

aniz

es i

dea

s w

ith

a h

igh

deg

ree

ofef

fect

iven

ess.

Th

e st

ud

ent

use

s co

nve

nti

ons

and

voc

abu

lary

wit

h a

hig

h d

egre

e of

eff

ecti

ven

ess

(e.g

., C

omin

g up

now

on

our

inte

rvie

w s

egm

ent

… t

he l

ives

tock

exp

ert

…).

Th

e st

ud

ent

com

mu

nic

ates

to

ente

rtai

n b

y p

rovi

din

g in

form

atio

n a

bou

t an

imp

orta

nt

per

son

wit

h a

hig

hly

eff

ecti

ve u

se o

f st

yle,

voi

ce,

and

wor

d c

hoi

ce.

For

exam

ple

, th

e st

ud

ent

com

mu

nic

ates

in

avo

ice

of e

xcit

emen

t an

d s

ince

re r

esp

ect

for

the

imp

orta

nt

per

son

(So

, si

nce

you’

r a

farm

ing

insp

irat

ion

to u

s al

l, I

supp

ose

you

wou

ldn’

t m

ind

answ

erin

g so

me

F.A

.Q’s

whi

le y

ou’r

her

e?)


Sample

r


Ap

plic

atio

n—

Leve

l 1R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

tran

sfer

s kn

owle

dge

of

the

con

cep

t of

tel

evis

ion

inte

rvie

w t

ech

niq

ues

wit

h l

imit

ed e

ffec

tive

nes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

,th

e w

riti

ng

dem

onst

rate

s a

lack

of

un

der

stan

din

g of

a t

alk

show

en

viro

nm

ent

by p

rese

nti

ng

the

inte

rvie

w a

s a

basi

c li

st o

fsi

mp

le q

ues

tion

s an

d a

nsw

ers.

Th

e st

ud

ent

mak

es l

imit

ed

con

nec

tion

s am

ong

the

top

ic (

base

d o

n t

he

inte

rvie

wee

),p

erso

nal

exp

erie

nce

s, a

nd

lif

e si

tuat

ion

s (e

.g.,

the

stu

den

tm

akes

sim

ple

ref

eren

ces

to t

he

Toro

nto

Map

le L

eafs

an

d m

eat

love

r’s

piz

za).


Sample

r


WR

ITIN

GTA

SK

1

Ap

plic

atio

n—

Leve

l 2R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

tran

sfer

s kn

owle

dge

of

the

con

cep

t of

tel

evis

ion

inte

rvie

w t

ech

niq

ues

wit

h s

ome

effe

ctiv

enes

s. F

or e

xam

ple

, th

ein

trod

uct

ion

th

at t

he

stu

den

t w

rite

s is

sim

ilar

to

wh

at m

igh

t be

on a

tal

k sh

ow (

e.g.

, “H

ello

thi

s is

the

Bra

ndie

Sho

w,

Wel

com

ebr

ad.”

) T

he

stu

den

t m

akes

con

nec

tion

s am

ong

the

top

ic (

base

d

on t

he

inte

rvie

wee

), p

erso

nal

exp

erie

nce

s, a

nd

lif

e si

tuat

ion

sw

ith

som

e ef

fect

iven

ess.

For

exa

mp

le,

the

stu

den

t co

nn

ects

to

the

wri

tin

g ta

sk a

n u

nd

erst

and

ing

that

wh

en a

bu

sin

ess

ista

ken

ove

r by

new

man

agem

ent,

im

pro

vem

ents

are

oft

en m

ade

(“W

hat

have

you

don

e to

im

prov

e th

e ca

mp”

).


Sample

r


Ap

plic

atio

n—

Leve

l 3R

atio

nal

e

Th

e st

ud

ent

tran

sfer

s kn

owle

dge

of

the

con

cep

t of

tel

evis

ion

inte

rvie

w t

ech

niq

ues

wit

h c

onsi

der

able

eff

ecti

ven

ess.

Th

est

ud

ent

has

th

e in

terv

iew

er b

egin

an

d e

nd

th

e in

terv

iew

in

ast

yle

sim

ilar

to

wh

at m

igh

t h

app

en i

n a

tel

evis

ion

in

terv

iew

,an

d t

he

inte

rvie

wer

sp

eaks

an

d a

cts

as a

tal

k sh

ow h

ost

wou

ld(e

.g.,

Tha

t’s o

k, e

very

one

I ta

lk t

o is

ner

vous

e!)

Th

e st

ud

ent

mak

es

con

nec

tion

s am

ong

the

top

ic (

base

d o

n t

he

inte

rvie

wee

),p

erso

nal

exp

erie

nce

s, a

nd

lif

e si

tuat

ion

s w

ith

con

sid

erab

leef

fect

iven

ess.

For

exa

mp

le,

the

stu

den

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Student Name

Term: ____________________________ Date: _____________________________


03-Grade6-WritingAssess.qxd 4/21/08 11:42 AM Page 89

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90

0–1 NE1

2 1–

3–4 1

5 1+

6 2-

7–8 2

9 2+

10 3–

11–12 3

13 3+

14 4-–

15 4

16 4+

To calculate an overall score for To calculate an overall level for each student add the scores for each student match the overall score each category. to the appropriate level in this

calculation guide.

Overall Score Overall Level

OWA Overall Level Guide

It is important to note that the overall level provides only a snapshot of an individual student’s writingachievement at one moment in time.

Students’ overall levels can be used to• identify overall patterns in a class or grade• track the progress of classes or grade levels over time, from one year to the next• set classroom or school goals

However, an overall level will not support you in planning instruction or provide the individual student withrelevant feedback. It is critical to identify a student’s particular strengths and needs within each category inorder to plan next steps.

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Instructional Writing StrategiesThese key writing strategies target writing skills related to the categoriesof the Ontario Achievement Chart for language (Grades 1–8). This chartlists the strategies in alphabetical order and indicates which categories ofknowledge and skills are targeted by that particular strategy. Details of thestrategies are on the following pages.

Notice that the name of each writing strategy has letters beside it; theseletters refer to the categories of knowledge and skills that are targeted bythat particular strategy:

K&U—knowledge and understanding T—thinking C—communication A—application

Ap

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Writing Strategy

Anticipation Guide to Writing X X

Brainstorming X X

Checking Conventions X

Collective Book Writing X X X X

Descriptive Writing X X X X

Exploring Sentence Structure X

Free Write X X

Graphic Organizers X X X

Journal Writing X X X X

Literary Letters X X X

Mirror an Author X X X

Paragraph Rebuilding X X X

R.A.F.T.S.: Role, Audience, Format, Topic, X X XStrong Verb

Ranking Text Samples X

R.I.O. Questioning X X X X

Similarities and Differences X X

Taking Jot Notes X X

Text Dissection X X X

Text Rebuilding X X

The 5 Ws and 1 H X X X

Whose Point of View? X X

Word Lists X X

Word Wall X

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Documents

OWA - · PDF file · 2009-09-25How does using OWA across one grade or throughout a school benefit students, ... Grades 1–8: Language (2006)? ... • Step 3: Record the level for