Work Sample & Commentary: I Discover Columbus

Work Sample & Commentary: I Discover Columbus

The task
Students were asked to read I Discover Columbus by Robert Lawson and to separate the historical facts from the fictional elements in a report.

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

This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following part of the standards:

a	Literature: Respond to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama.

What the work shows a Literature: The student responds to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes; that is, the student:
•	identifies recurring themes across works;
•	analyzes the impact of authors’ decisions regarding word choice and content;
•	considers the differences among genres;
•	evaluates literary merit;
•	considers the function of point of view or persona;
•	examines the reasons for a character’s actions, taking into account the situation and basic motivation of the character;
•	identifies stereotypical characters as opposed to fully developed characters;
•	critiques the degree to which a plot is contrived or realistic;
•	makes inferences and draws conclusions about contexts, events, characters, and settings.

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The student recognized that the author’s decision to use the bird as the narrator was a good strategy for keeping the reader interested and adding humor to the book.

The lists indicate a clear distinction between those events the author borrowed from history and those events which were contrived by the author to make the story interesting.

The recognition that the book is not simply a historical account or a humorous tale demonstrates a knowledge of various genres.

The student stated that although the book was difficult to understand because of the blending of fact and fiction, this technique actually made the book more interesting.

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