Common Core Assessment ELA Sample Items The presentation will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET  All participants are muted upon entry into the meeting. To ask a question, please type it into the Q&A box located on the lower right-hand side of your WebEx screen.  To troubleshoot technical issues with the webinar, please contact the WebEx provider directly at

What Teachers Can Learn from the New PARCC & Smarter Balanced English Language Arts (ELA) Sample Assessment Items Moderator: Carrie Heath Phillips, Common Core State Standards Implementation, Council of Chief State School Officers Presenter: Rebecca Mieliwocki, 2012 National Teacher of the Year

Background on Common Assessment  CCSSO, as a leader of the Common Core State Standards Initiative with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, supports the state-led assessment consortia developing Common Core State Standards assessments.  The two common assessment consortia, the Partnership for Assessment for College and Career Readiness (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced, each released sample assessment items recently.  Each assessment consortium has its own detailed overviews of the assessment items, which you are encouraged to explore independently.  and  Whether your state is a member of PARCC, Smarter Balanced, both or neither consortium, you are encouraged to use both sets of sample assessment items to inform Common Core implementation since the assessments are based on the same set of standards.

Common Core Implementation  The Common Core State Standards identify what students need to know and be able to do in each grade level in order to be prepared for college and career.  Teachers will decide the best way to teach their students in order for them to meet Common Core expectations.  The sample assessment items are one tool that teachers can use to help guide Common Core implementation.

Webinar Overview  The purpose of this webinar is to hear from a nationally recognized teacher about her reflections on the sample assessment items in ELA and how she might use them to inform Common Core implementation in her classroom.  We hope this webinar will spur teachers to reflect individually and with their peers about how to use the sample assessment items as one tool in their toolbox when implementing the Common Core State Standards.

Introduction Rebecca Mieliwocki  2012 National Teacher of the Year  7 th grade English teacher from California

English Language Arts (ELA) Shifts Building knowledge through content- rich non-fiction and informational texts in addition to literature Non-Fiction Reading and writing are grounded in evidence from the text Evidence from the Text Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary (words like “synthesize” and “correspond”) Complex Text & Academic Vocabulary

PARCC: Grade 10 Reading Item Part A Which of the following sentences best states an important theme about human behavior as described in Ovid’s “Daedalus and Icarus”? a.Striving to achieve one’s dreams is a worthwhile endeavor. b.The thoughtlessness of youth can have tragic results.* c.Imagination and creativity bring their own rewards. d.Everyone should learn from his or her mistakes. Part B Select three pieces of evidence from Ovid’s “Daedalus and Icarus” that support the answer to Part A. a.“and by his playfulness retard the work/his anxious father planned” (lines )* b.“But when at last/the father finished it, he poised himself” (lines ) c.“he fitted on his son the plumed wings/ with trembling hands, while down his withered cheeks/the tears were falling” (lines ) d.“Proud of his success/the foolish Icarus forsook his guide” (lines )* e.“and, bold in vanity, began to soar/rising above his wings to touch the skies” (lines )* f.“and as the years went by the gifted youth/began to rival his instructor’s art” (lines ) g.“Wherefore Daedalus/enraged and envious, sought to slay the youth” (lines ) h.“The Partridge hides/in shaded places by the leafy trees…for it is mindful of its former fall” (lines , 399)

Drag the words from the word box into the correct locations on the graphic to show the life cycle of a butterfly as described in “How Animals Live.” Words: PARCC: Grade 3 Reading Item 9 Pupa Adult Egg Larva

Based on the information in the text “Biography of Amelia Earhart,” write an essay that summarizes and explains the challenges Earhart faced throughout her life. Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas. PARCC: Grade 7 Reading and Writing Item 10

Smarter Balanced: Grade 11 Writing Item

Smarter Balanced: Grade 6 Reading Item

Mrs. Mieliwocki’s Reflections  How would these sample assessment items help you and other teachers plan instruction so students can achieve the Common Core expectations?  How can these assessment items inform discussions with your fellow ELA teachers in your grade level and in other grades?  How can these assessment items inform discussions with your fellow grade-level teachers, including social studies, science, special education, and other teachers?

To ask a question, please type it into the Q&A box located on the right-hand side of the screen.

Wrap-Up  We hope that Mrs. Mieliwocki’s reflections will help you and your colleagues to use the sample assessment items as a tool in guiding local implementation of the Common Core State Standards.  The Council of Chief State School Officers has several resources on Common Core implementation you may find useful as well. They can be found at:

Thank you for attending this webinar. Slides and additional resources from this webinar will be posted on For follow-up questions, please contact