The task
Students were asked to take an entry from their writer’s notebook
and develop it into a picture book. This student chose two entries
describing her grandmother’s house. After reciting them as a
story in a small response group, she wrote a rough draft that eventually
developed into the picture book she titled “The Stained Glass
Tree.” |
Circumstances of performance
This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions: |
| alone |
in a group |
| in class |
as homework |
| with teacher feedback |
with peer feedback |
| timed |
opportunity for revision |
What the works shows
 c
Writing: The student produces a narrative
account (fictional or autobiographical) that: |
| • |
engages the reader by establishing
a context, creating a point of view, and otherwise developing reader
interest; |
| • |
establishes a situation, plot,
point of view, setting, and conflict (and for autobiography, the significance
of events); |
| • |
creates an organizing structure; |
| • |
includes relevant details
and concrete language to develop plot and character; |
| • |
excludes extraneous details
and inconsistencies; |
| • |
develops complex characters; |
| • |
uses a range of appropriate
strategies, such as dialogue and tension or suspense; |
| • |
provides a sense of closure
to the writing. |
| The work engages the reader by establishing the point
of view of the narrator walking the reader through her grandmother’s
home while providing a detailed description of the house. |
| The process of moving through the house provides the
organizing structure for the work. The short paragraphs represent
a halt in the movement while the narrator and the reader pause to
look at or listen to something. |
| The work includes the appropriate details to describe
the house and its contents. In addition, the narrative stays focused
on the tour, rather than veering off on other subjects. |
 The impression
of repeatedly starting and stopping allows the narrator to communicate
a wide variety of impressions regarding the objects or rooms being
considered. |
The title, “The Stained Glass Tree,” orients the reader
and creates a focal point for the plot sequence. At the end, the narrative
returns to the focal point, reorienting a reader who toured behind
the stained glass tree, and providing a sense of closure to the work. |
 a
Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English
Language: The student demonstrates a basic 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: |
| • |
grammar; |
| • |
paragraph structure; |
| • |
punctuation; |
| • |
sentence construction; |
| • |
spelling; |
| • |
usage. |
The student demonstrated an age-appropriate control of written language.
The sentences are simple, subject-verb-object constructions which
focus the reader’s attention on the descriptions. This simple
construction has the additional advantage of being appropriate for
the intended audience and it provides a rhythm for the picture book.
|
 b
Literature: The student produces
work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of
the genre. |
| The picture book tells an effective story and uses a full color
format consistent with picture books produced by professional writers
and artists. |
 Using “you”
as the subject of the sentences (and therefore the beginning word
in most of the paragraphs) draws the reader into the text. This device
also provides a narrative rhythm that is characteristic of picture
books. |
 The sensory
details become visual in the pictures accompanying the text, e.g.,
a picture of the entire cabinet, viewed from afar, and a picture of
a single large tea cup, viewed up close, accompany the line, “You
look at all the tea cups for at least five minutes.” These drawings
provide a clear context for the text. |
 The use
of poetic imagery is appropriate to both the tone and the setting
of the piece. |
|
