Practice Literacy Test (OSSLT)

Scoring GuideSt. Mary’s HS - November 2014

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – TEACHER / STUDENT MARKING INSTRUCTIONS

Short Writing Task (Section V – Writing) – Topic Development

1. Review the Topic Development scoring guide for the question (slides 4 – 5)

2. Slowly go through what a Topic Development Code 10, a Code 20 and a Code 30 student answer looks like (slides 6, 7 & 8)

3. Students should accurately try to assess whether their own answer scores a 10, a 20 or a 30. Share your answer with your teacher and/or classmates to verify your score.

4. Students should then record a mark for Topic Development (10/30, or 20/30, or 30/30) on the question (in the booklet)e.g. “Topic Development 20/30”

Remember, an “off-topic response” is not related to improving the school building or improving the school grounds. An “off-topic response” receives a score of 0/30.e.g. “The cafeteria should serve more soup.” off-topic 0/30e.g. “St. Mary’s needs a junior boys hockey team.” off-topic 0/30

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – SECTION V – WRITING - QUESTION

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – SCORING GUIDE (1st half) (topic development)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – SCORING GUIDE (2nd half) (topic development)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – STUDENT EXAMPLE – Score of 10 (topic development)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test –STUDENT EXAMPLE – Score of 20 (topic development)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – STUDENT EXAMPLE – Score of 30 (topic development)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – TEACHER / STUDENT MARKING INSTRUCTIONS

Short Writing Task (Section V – Writing) – Writing Conventions

1. Review the Writing Conventions scoring guide for the question (slide 10)

2. Slowly go through what a Writing Conventions Code 10 and a Code 20 student answer looks like (slides 11 & 12)

3. Students should accurately try to assess whether their own answer scores a 10 or a 20. Share your answer with your teacher and/or classmates to verify your score.

4. Students should then record a mark for Writing Conventions (10/20, or 20/20) on the question (in the booklet)e.g. “Writing Conventions 20/20”

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – SCORING GUIDE (writing conventions)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – STUDENT EXAMPLE – Score of 10 (writing conventions)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – STUDENT EXAMPLE – Score of 20 (writing conventions)

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – TEACHER / STUDENT MARKING INSTRUCTIONS

Multiple Choice (Section II – Writing)

1. Slowly go through the Multiple Choice questions 1, 2, 3 & 4 (slides 15, 16, 17 & 18)

2. Have students assign themselves 5 marks for every correct answer.

3. Students should then record a mark on the STUDENT ANSWER Sheete.g. Three correct answers would result in a mark of 15/20

4. Explanations for the correct answer have been provided and can be discussed when taking up this section (thank you Ms. Cowan)

5. Please bundle your tests and answer sheets together and drop them off in Room 204 by the end of period 1 on Friday, November 21.

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – Section II – Writing – Multiple Choice QUESTIONS

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – Section II – Writing – MC Question 1 - ANSWER

CORRECT ANSWER: C

Issue: Punctuation and syntax (word order) problems:

a. Poor syntax, incorrect punctuation. “I was waiting in the cold,” Omar said.b. Question mark incorrectly inserted. “Wasn’t it hot outside?” Oliver responded.d. Poor syntax. “I went to a scary movie at two o’clock,” Maria said.

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – Section II – Writing – MC Question 2 - ANSWER

CORRECT ANSWER: A

Issue: Organization of Ideas

• This piece is organized into chronological (time-related) order.

• The word “first”, the date “1700s” and the word “today” establish that order.

• Because the random sentence contains the word “originally”, it most logically connects with the word “first” in sentence (1).

• That is why a. is the best choice.

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – Section II – Writing – MC Question 3 - ANSWER

CORRECT ANSWER: C

Issue: Correct use of Capitalization

a. Lacks capitals on the proper noun Northern News – a newspaper title.b. Unnecessary use of a capital. Here, “northern” is an adjective describing the common noun “part”.d. Lacks capitals on the proper nouns “Queenston Mining Inc.”– a company title

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test – Section II – Writing – MC Question 4 - ANSWER

CORRECT ANSWER: D

Issue: Organization of Ideas

• All good writing — even a short paragraph — requires purpose and structure.

• Every sentence serves a function: to introduce, to provide examples, to further develop, to conclude.

• To make the best choice here, knowing the purpose of the paragraph is key.

• a. Is too vague. The main paragraph discusses feature of “a good website” while a. says “any website”.

• b. Does not have the sound of a concluding sentence — it adds details.

• c. Is too specific and does not connect to the general ideas of a “good website”.

St. Mary’s HS – Nov. 2014 – Practice Literacy Test –