School Improvement in Maryland

Constructed Response Items: Reading Grade 8

 (1) Brief Constructed Response Public Release
Read the story 'Arachne' and 'Damon and Pythias' and answer the following question.

Choose one sentence from either "Arachne" or "Damon and Pythias" that best expresses the author's message. Explain how the sentence you chose best expresses that message. Support your choice with details from the myth.

Write your answer on your answer document.

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 (2) Brief Constructed Response Public Release
Read the story 'Arachne' and 'Damon and Pythias' and answer the following question.

How is Athena's disguise important to the myth of Arachne?
Support your answer with details from the myth.

Write your answer on your answer document.

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 (3) Brief Constructed Response Public Release
Read the story 'Wang Yani' and answer the following question.

Think about one of Wang Yani's qualities. Explain how someone you know or have read about also has that quality. Use information from the article to support your answer.

Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_006.xml

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 (4) Brief Constructed Response Public Release
Read the story 'Wang Yani' and answer the following question.

What advice would Yani probably give to young people? Use details from both the article and the quotation to support your answer.

Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_007.xml

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 (5) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the article 'Adventure's Call' and answer the following question.

Explain how Jack London's experiences contributed to his career. In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation.

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 (6) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the story 'Deliverance' and answer the following question.

Explain the mood the author creates in paragraph 7. In your response, use words and details from the paragraph that show how the author creates this mood. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_017.xml

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 (7) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the story 'Deliverance' and answer the following question.

Describe the relationship between the narrator and the rock wall. In your response, use details and examples from the story that support your description.

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 (8) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the article 'The Sharebots' and answer the following question.

Explain whether the author's choice of words and phrases effectively describes the robots and their behaviors. In your response, use words and phrases from the passage that support your explanation. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_019.xml

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 (9) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

Explain whether knowing that the passage from "The Navajo" is non-fiction makes the article easier to understand. In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_020.xml

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 (10) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

Explain which article more effectively uses words and phrases to persuade a reader about the value of the contributions of Native Americans during World War II. In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_021.xml

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 (11) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

Explain what information could have been added to the passage from Codetalking to help a reader better understand an important idea in the article. In your response use information from the article that supports your explanation. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_022.xml

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 (12) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

Which article more effectively expresses the author's attitude toward the Code Talkers? In your response use information from the article that supports your answer. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_023.xml

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 (13) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

Explain how a reader could determine the reliability of the information in the passage from The Navajo? In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_024.xml

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 (14) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read these articles about a secret language, 'Codetalking' and 'The Navajo'. Then answer the following.

What text feature could have been added to "Codetalking" so that a reader could better understand information about Native American languages? In your response use information from the article that supports your answer. Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_025.xml

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 (15) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Explain how the speaker in "Grandmother" feels about Grandmother Asdzan Alts' iisi. In your response, use details and examples from the poem to support your answer. Write your answer on your answer document.

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 (16) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read this passage from 'Dear Mr. President Thomas Jefferson Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm', a novel that takes place when President Jefferson was in office. Amelia Hornsby has grown up in Philadelphia but has recently followed her father, a doctor, to Pittsburgh. Then answer the following.

What do the events and details in the letter suggest about the society in which Amelia Hornsby lives? In your response, use details and events from the letter that support your explanation. Write your response on the lines below.

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 (17) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read this passage from 'Dear Mr. President Thomas Jefferson Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm', a novel that takes place when President Jefferson was in office. Amelia Hornsby has grown up in Philadelphia but has recently followed her father, a doctor, to Pittsburgh. Then answer the following.

Explain why the introduction was included in this passage. In your response, use details from the passage that explain why the introduction was included in this passage. Write your response on the lines below.

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 (18) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the passage 'The Lost People of Mesa Verde.' Then answer the following.

Write a summary of paragraphs 6 through 11 of "The Lost People of the Mesa Verde." In your response, include the important ideas from paragraphs 6 through 11.

Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_043.xml

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 (19) Brief Constructed Response Sample
Read the passage 'The Lost People of Mesa Verde.' Then answer the following.

Explain the importance of the word "Lost" in the title of this article. In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation.

Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_8_044.xml

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