Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (Lessons 8-9) | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G6:M2:U3:L8

Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (Lessons 8-9)

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RI.6.1, RI.6.7, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.6, W.6.8, W.6.9b, SL.6.2, L.6.6

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RI.6.10
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can draft a problem and solution essay about my research. (RI.6.1, RI.6.7, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.8, W.6.9b, SL.6.2, L.6.6)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket
  • Work Time A: Mid-Unit 3 Assessment (RI.6.1, RI.6.7, RI.6.10, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.6, W.6.8, W.6.9b, W.6.10, SL.6.2, L.6.6)
  • Closing and Assessment A: Track Progress (W.6.2)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Return End of Unit 2 Assessments (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (65 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Track Progress - W.6.2 (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Independent Research Reading: Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • Work Time A: Students complete the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, in which they compose the problem-solution essay they have planned from their own research about a critical problem and design solution. Two lessons have been allocated for this assessment to ensure sufficient time for students to complete the essay. If these are taught in two separate lessons rather than together as one block, revisit the learning targets and the task at the beginning of the second 45-minute lesson to remind students of the task and purpose. Be sure to collect all written work at the end of each session. (RI.6.1, RI.6.7, RI.6.10, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.6, W.6.8, W.6.9b, W.6.10, SL.6.2, L.6.6)

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Some students may not require the level of scaffolding provided in this unit. Prompt students toward deeper levels of understanding and increased rigor by becoming familiar with Levels 3 and 4 of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge, a concept developed by Norman Webb to plan and provide complex instruction and assessments.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the first half of this unit, students have been analyzing a model, writing collaboratively, and planning their own independent essay. This lesson assesses those skills as students use their plans to compose their problem-solution essays based on their research in Unit 2.

Support All Students

  • If students receive accommodations for assessments, communicate with the cooperating service providers regarding the practices of instruction in use during this study as well as the goals of the assessment.
  • Support ELLs in the mid-unit assessment by reminding them of the related tasks that they have already successfully completed. Make sure that all assessment instructions are expressed very clearly. Consider asking students to paraphrase the instructions as a way to gauge understanding and/or provide ELLs with simpler or additional input. ▲
  • Provide feedback on the assessment that emphasizes effort, improvement, and achieving a standard rather than on relative performance. Remind students that they are not competing against their peers; their measure of success should be how much they personally have improved in mastery of a standard.

Assessment Guidance

  • Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (student and teacher version) are included in the Assessment download on this page.
  • Save a copy of the scored essays to use as a continued assessment of progress in writing. These pieces can be used to measure the progress of individual students throughout the year, as well as to identify common instructional needs in a class.
  • When assessing and providing feedback to students on this assessment, use the Informative Writing Rubric (see Tools Page) and the annotated sample essay to help complete the student Track Progress: Informative Writing. Make notes in the appropriate column for each criterion in a different color than student responses. There is also space provided to respond to student comments.
  • Decide in what format students will compose their essays. Provide lined paper or a computer with word processing software, depending on students’ needs and preferences.
  • In this assessment, students are tracking progress toward anchor standard W.6.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will engage in the Peer Critique Protocol, in which they pair up with another peer to critique the use of sentence variety in the essays they wrote for the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment.

In Advance

  • Prepare
    • Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (see Assessment download)
    • Track Progress folders
  • Thoroughly review the directions and rubric for the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, anticipating areas of challenge.
  • Review the student tasks and example answers to get familiar with what students will be required to do in the lesson (see Materials list).
  • Ensure End of Unit 2 Assessments with feedback are available for each student at desks as they enter.
  • Decide in what format students will compose their essays. Provide lined paper or a device with word processing software, depending on the students' needs and preferences. Ensure that devices are in good working order, fully charged, and logged into before students begin composing their essays, to avoid wasting work time.
  • Prepare copies of handouts for students, including the entrance ticket (see Materials list).
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: Students could compose the essay using an online word-processing tool, such as http://eled.org/0158.
  • Closing and Assessment A: Students may prefer to complete their Track Progress handouts in a word-processing document using speech-to-text facilities activated on devices or using an app or software such as http://eled.org/0103.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 6.I.B.6, 6.I.B.7, 6.I.C.10, 6.I.C.11, 6.I.C.12, 6.II.A.1, 6.II.A.2, 6.II.B.5, 6.II.C.6, and 6.II.C.7.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson invites students to complete assessment tasks similar to classroom tasks in Lessons 1-7. Across two class periods, students have 65 minutes to write independent problem-solution essays that explore the critical problem and design solution that students researched independently during Unit 2.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to independently complete the mid-unit assessment without scaffolding. Remind students of all their planning and preparation, as well as the practice they had when completing collaborative essays in class. Encourage students to do their best, and assure them that they will continue learning together after the assessment. Tell them, too, that, in the next lesson, they will receive feedback on their essays and have the opportunity to revise them.

Vocabulary

  • N/A

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (one to display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • End of Unit 2 Assessment: Research Process (returned with feedback; from Unit 2,
  • Lesson 11 , Work Time A)
  • Problem-Solution Writing Planner: Research (from Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 7, Work Time A)
  • Informative Writing checklist (from Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Track Progress folders (one per student; from Module 1 , Unit 1, Lessons 15-16, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Writing Record (one per student; from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 12, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Independent reading journal (one per student; begun in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, Work Time B)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (example for teacher reference) (See Assessment download)
  • Grade 6 Informative/Explanatory Writing Rubric (see Tools Page)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lessons 8-9 (one per student)
  • Device with word-processing software (one per student) or lined paper (three per student)
  • Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (one per student; see Assessment download)
  • Track Progress: Informative Writing (one per student)
  • Sticky notes (three per student)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Download this Lesson’s Assessment

Opening

Opening

A. Return End of Unit 2 Assessments (10 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as previous lessons to distribute and review Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lessons 8–9. Students will also need their End of Unit 2 Assessment with feedback.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (65 minutes)

  • Distribute devices with word-processing capabilities or lined paper on which students will compose their essay.
  • Invite students to retrieve the following materials:
    • Completed Problem-Solution Writing Planner: Research
    • Their research sources
    • Informative Writing checklist
  • Display and distribute Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay.
  • Invite students to follow along, reading silently in their heads, while it is read aloud. Make sure students understand the assessment directions; paraphrase some instructions, if needed. ▲
  • Remind students that because this is an assessment, they should complete it independently in silence. Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and review perseverance and what this looks and sounds like. Remind students that as they will be writing independently for the assessment, they may need to practice perseverance.
  • Remind students that they planned this essay in the previous lessons.
  • Invite students to begin the assessment.
  • While students are taking the assessment, circulate to monitor and document their test-taking skills. Remind students that they may refer to the any of the Unit 3 materials as necessary during the assessment.
  • Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target, using a checking for understanding technique. Scan student responses and make note of students who might need support. Check in with them moving forward.
  • Repeat, inviting students to self-assess how well they persevered in this lesson.
  • Give students specific, positive feedback on their completion of the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment. Refer to Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay (example for teacher reference) to assess.

For Lighter Support 

    • Before the assessment of Work Time A, underline key vocabulary in the assessment directions and prompt and read aloud together as a class to ensure that students understand each task included in the assessment. Invite students who need lighter support to restate or clarify information for students who need heavier support.

    For Heavier Support

    • Before the mid-unit assessment of Work Time A, review the criteria on Track Progress: Informative Writing to help clarify the objectives. This will help students understand expectations as well as offer a way for students to review the learning that has taken place throughout the unit to prepare them for the assessment.
    • It may be challenging for students who need heavier support to adequately gauge their own speed and progress during the mid-unit assessment. If productive, incorporate a classroom "pause" halfway through the allotted time and inviting the class to take a stretch break or have a drink of water. Use this time to check in with students who need heavier support and help them celebrate their progress, adjust their goals, implement new writing strategies, and/or move past roadblocks.

    Closing & Assessments

    ClosingLevels of Support

    A. Track Progress - W.6.2 (15 minutes)

    • Give students specific, positive feedback on their completion of the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Write a Problem-Solution Essay.
    • Distribute Track Progress folders, Track Progress: Informative Writing, and sticky notes.
    • Guide students through completing the recording form.
    • Direct students to retrieve their Writing Record. Explain that this form is to help students keep track of all of the writing they complete this year. Direct students to fill in the next row of the Writing Record about the problem-solution essay they just wrote for the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment.
    • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.
    • Invite students to reflect on the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

    For Lighter Support

    • If feasible, arrange small group conferences with students to revisit their answers to the Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lessons 8–9. Invite students who need lighter support to reflect aloud on their achievements and set further writing goals.

    For Heavier Support

    • If feasible, arrange one-on-one conferences with students to revisit their answers to the Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lessons 8–9. Provide simple sentence frames to students who need heavier support to help them reflect aloud on their performance on the mid-unit assessment. These frames may include the following:
      • One star I wanted to continue to show in today’s assessment was _____.
      • One step that I wanted to work toward in today’s assessment was _____.
      • After the assessment, I feel that I _____.
      • I am proud of myself because _____.
      • One thing I still want to work toward in future essays in _____.
      • I think I can do this by _____. [verb phrase using verb + -ing]

    Homework

    Homework

    A. Independent Research Reading

    • Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

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