Student Work 1      

 

ELA

Performance Task

10-1 final

(Content Area)

 

(Grade Level-Task Number)

 

 

 

Standard(s):

 

Literature

 

E5a -- The student responds to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes; that is, the student:

E5a 1.  makes thematic connections among literary texts, public discourses, and

             the media

E5a 6. makes inferences and draws conclusions about fictional and non-fictional

            contexts, events, characters, settings, themes, and styles.

Writing

 

E2c --  The student produces a narrative (fictional or autobiographical) account that:

E2c 1. engages the reader by establishing the context, creating a point of view,

           and otherwise developing reader interest

E2c 2. establishes a situation, plot, point of view, setting, and conflict (for

           autobiographical, the significance of events and of conclusions that can be

           drawn from the events).  

 

Conventions, Grammar and Usage of English Language

 

E4b -- The student analyzes and subsequently revises work to clarify it or make it more effective in communicating the intended message or thought. The student’s revisions should be made in light of the purposes, audiences, and contexts that apply to the work. Strategies for revising include:

E4b 1. adding or deleting details

E4b 2. adding or deleting explanations

E4b 3. clarifying difficult passages

E4b 4. rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to improve or clarify 

            meaning

E4b 5. sharpening the focus

E4b 6. reconsidering the organizational structure.

 

The Performance Task:

 

           

  We have recently read several selections about adults whose high expectations for success have influenced students or children.  The expectations may have had positive or negative effects on the children/students.  

As part of the life skills course (insert wording appropriate to local district), each of you has probably discussed an adult who has made a lasting impression on your life.

Your final product will be an essay about that influential person.

 

1.  First, work with a partner to prepare a graphic organizer which compares and contrasts the narrator’s mother in  ”Two Kinds,” Miss Hurd in the essay “A Teacher Who Changed My Life,” and Mark Mathabane’s mother in Kaffir Boy. 

 

You should compare and contrast these characters’ personalities, values, and their effects on others.  You will consider these elements when you write your essay about the adult you’ve selected. 

 

2.  Write an essay of no more than 500 words about that influential person in your life.

 

(The person you’ve selected may have helped you when you were upset or discouraged; may have taught you a skill or hobby; may have influenced your goals or beliefs; may have pushed you to what you thought were unrealistic levels of performance.)

 

You should model your essay on the examples of autobiographical writing we have read during this unit.  When you write your essay, consider your relationship with the adult, the event or circumstances you wish to relate, and how the event influenced your life, either positively or negatively.  You should refer to the graphic organizer you created for other elements to include in your essay.

           

Your essay must employ appropriate structures and features of the English language for autobiographical writing, as well as conventions for writing.  Be sure to analyze and revise your work to make sure it clearly communicates the message you want to share.

 

3. Work with your partner again to edit each other’s work.  Look for purpose, audience, supportive details, ways to help clarify and strengthen the message, as well as the conventions of writing  (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.)

 

4.   Revise your essay.

 

These essays will provide examples and/or non-examples of character attributes necessary in providing positive modeling for students/children.  They will become the focus for a presentation/display for a specific grade level or the entire school.

 

5.  Turn in your graphic organizer, your rough draft, and your edited copy of your essay.

           

 

Circumstances of Performance

 

The student work is produced under the following conditions:

  X

alone

  X

in a group

 

 

 

 

  X

in class

  X

as homework

 

 

 

 

 

with teacher feedback

  X

with peer feedback

 

 

 

 

 

timed

  X

extended project

 

 

 

 

 

 

  X

opportunity for revision

 

Criteria for Success:

 

ü      Prepares a graphic organizer appropriate to a compare/contrast task (personality, values, effects on others).

ü      Identifies a significant adult in life.

ü      Analyzes the personality, values, and effect of this adult.

ü      Uses effective organizational structure for a 500 word autobiographical essay.

ü      Follows the features, conventions of English (as appropriate) in writing.

ü      Produces a final, written essay that is complete, neatly presented, and engaging.

 

Related Standard(s):

 

Conventions, Grammar and Usage of English Language

 

E4a -- The student independently demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work.  The student demonstrates control of:

E4a 1. grammar

E4a 2. paragraph structure

E4a 3. punctuation

E4a 4. sentence construction

E4a 5. spelling

E4a 6. usage.

 

E2b  The student produces a response to literature.

E2f   The student produces a reflective essay.

E1a  The student reads at least twenty-five books or books equivalents each year.