School Improvement in Maryland

Using the State Curriculum: Reading/ELA, Grade 5

Reading/ELA | Informational | Literary | Writing | Language | Listening | Speaking

Sample Assessments: Each sample assessment item gives an idea of how an assessment item on the MSA might be presented. The items appropriately measure the content of the State Curriculum and may be formatted similarly to those appearing on the MSA; however, these are sample items only and have not appeared on any MSA form.

Standard 2.0 Comprehension of Informational Text

Indicator 5. Identify and explain the author's use of language

Objective a. Identify and explain specific words or phrases that contribute to the meaning of a text

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item
Read the article 'A Brick to Cuddle Up To' and answer the following question.

Read this sentence from paragraph 2.

Winters were hard in this New World, and the colonists had to think of clever ways to fight the cold.

Explain whether the word clever is a good word to describe the ways colonists fought the cold. In your response, use information from the passage that supports your answer. Write your answer on your answer document.

/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_5_015.xml

View Scoring Information

Selected Response Item
Read the article titled 'A Brick to Cuddle Up To' and answer the following questions. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

Read this sentence from paragraph 8 of the article.

They partially filled a tub with cold water, then warmed it up with water heated in the fireplace.

In this sentence, partially means—

  1. only
  2. finally
  3. at the same time
  4. to a certain level
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_5_068.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Assessment limit:
Significant words and phrases (e.g., figurative language, idioms, etc.) in the text or a portion of the text

Selected Response Item
After reading the article, Fly High, Bessie Coleman, answer the following question.

Read this sentence from paragraph 6 of this article.

In desperation, Coleman asked Robert Abbott for help.

Which of these phrases could replace desperation and not change the meaning of the sentence?

  1. deep pain
  2. unseen danger
  3. extreme anxiety
  4. damaging fear
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_5_060.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item
After reading the article, Fly High, Bessie Coleman, answer the following question.

Read this sentence from paragraph 10 of the article.

She wrote to her sister, “I am right on the threshold of opening a school.”

In this sentence, the words on the threshold mean—

  1. at the line
  2. at the start
  3. for the idea
  4. for the experience
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_5_061.xml

Correct Answer:
B
Resources for Objective 2.A.5.a:
Lesson Seeds | SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS |