CMT Parent Expo
Reaching High on the…
Connecticut Mastery Test
Language Arts Component
Miss Rebecca Sabol, Language Arts Subject Area Leader
Ms. Laura Khamarji, Reading Teacher
What is the Language Arts CMT?
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The Fourth Generation of the Language
Arts CMT is broken down into four areas
of assessment:
Reading Comprehension
 Degrees of Reading Power (DRP)
 Editing and Revising
 Direct Assessment of Writing
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Testing Times for the CMT
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Reading
Comprehension- 2
passages per session;
two 45 minute sessions
DRP- 7 passages; 45
minutes
Editing and Revising- 4
passages; 60 minutes
Direct Assessment of
Writing- 1 writing
prompt; 45 minutes
Reading Comprehension

The Reading Comprehension component of the CMT
is based on the following Connecticut Language Arts
Standards:
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Forming a General Understanding (theme, main idea,
story elements, summarizing, predicting)
Developing an Interpretation (author’s structure, author’s
purpose, draw and support a conclusion)
Making Reader/text Connections (make connections
between text and outside experiences)
Examining the Content and Structure (Literary Devices)
What kinds of questions are on the Reading
Comprehension part of the CMT?
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Composed of roughly 22
multiple choice and 10 openended questions between
the two testing sessions
Passages are authentic
works of literature that
represent Reading for
Literary Experience, Reading
for Information, and Reading
to Perform a task
Word Counts per passage:
 Grade 6 550-750 words
 Grade 7 700-900 words
 Grade 8 800-1000 words
What are some examples of questions I can ask my child at home
while they are reading, that will help them on the CMT?
What is the article/story mainly about?
 What important lesson does the main character learn?
 What is the main character’s problem, and how is the problem
solved?
 How does the character change in the story?
 What prediction do you have for the next event in the story?
 What is the author’s purpose?
 Which character in the story would you like to know and why?
 Which part of the story was the most interesting and why?
 Imagine that you were going to give a talk to your class
about______. Using information from the story, write two
important ideas that you would include in your speech.
(See CMT strand questions for more examples of test questions you
can ask your child)

Reading Comprehension Multiple
Choice Examples:
1.
In paragraph 1 the author used a question to
a. introduce the topic of the article
b. state the main idea of the article
c. present the facts about Twain
d. compare Twain and Clemens
2.
From the information in paragraphs 5 and 6, you can
tell that
a.
b.
c.
d.
Twain’s wife persuaded him to move to Connecticut
Both Twain and his wife planned their house.
Twain enjoyed warming himself near the fireplace.
Twain liked reading his work out loud as much as writing it,
Reading Comprehension OpenEnded Examples:
The title of this article is “Mark Twain.” What
could another title for it be? Support your
answer with information from the article.
 Write a brief paragraph summarizing the text.
 Think about a person you know or have heard
about who has had many different
experiences. Using information from the
article, explain how this person is or is not like
Twain.

Degrees of Reading Power (DRP)

Measures reading as a process in which students
attempt to make sense of the text that they read.
 Consists of nonfiction passages on a variety of topics.
 Words have been deleted and the students are asked
to select the correct word out of a group of words for
each deletion in the text.
 Test measures student reading ability on a readability
scale.
 Multiple choice test
 DRP scores can be used to identify books for a
student to read at their reading ability level
Sample DRP Question:
Medieval craft guild were
associations of men practicing the same
trade. Guilds cared for members’ needs.
They nursed sick members, buried dead
ones, and found homes for the homeless.
Sometimes business was bad or supplies
were cut off. Many people were in danger
of starving. But guild members were the
last to___1___. The guild sustained them
during hard times.
Guilds also set prices and
monitored the distribution of raw materials.
They governed the number of apprentices
and workers that members could have.
These controls prevented any member
from becoming rich at another’s expense.
So ____2_____were limited. In return,
members were protected against ruinous
competition.
1.
O vote
O suffer
O unite
O advance
O finish
2.
O sources
O profits
O travelers
O machines
O universities
Editing and Revising

Students read passages with errors and
answer multiple-choice questions to indicate
appropriate corrections.
 Editing and Revising Skills Test Objectives:
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Content, Organization and Tone (topic sentence,
supporting details, chronological order, tone)
Revising: Syntax (fragments, run-on, awkward
construction)
Revision: Word Choice (transition words, misplaced
modifiers, redundancy of words)
Capitalization
Punctuation
Sample Editing and Revising
Questions:
Read sentence 3. It is poorly
written.
Josh jumped up he grabbed
the broom from the closet.
What is the best way to rewrite
this sentence?
O Josh jumped up. He grabbed
the broom from the closet.
O Josh jumped up, he grabbed
the broom from the closet.
O Josh jumped. Up he grabbed
the broom from the closet.
O Josh jumped up he grabbed.
The broom from the closet.
Choose the word or phrase
that BEST fits at the
beginning of sentence 4.
O Since,
O However,
O Even though,
O In other words,
Direct Assessment of Writing

Students are given a prompt that
they have 45 minutes to answer.
 Students are assessed on a scale
from 1-6. (see rubric) The prompts
will be graded by two people and
then the two scores will be added
together for a final score.
 Sixth graders will write an
expository piece. Seventh and
Eighth graders will write a
persuasive piece.
Sample Writing Prompts:
Grade 6
What do you usually do on a weekend in
the summer? What do you usually do on
a weekend in the winter? Write a
comparison of your weekend activities in
the summer and winter.
Sample Writing Prompts:
Grade 7
Your local school board has decided to
lengthen the school day by one hour. What is
your opinion on the best way to use this
additional hour? Write a letter to your principal
expressing your opinion on the best way to
use the additional hour and presenting
reasons that will convince the principal to
agree with your position.
Sample Writing Prompts:
Grade 8
There is a budget crunch at your middle school, and it is certain
that many of the non-core classes and activities the school
currently offers will be cut. All programs are in danger: sports,
band, choir, computers club, drama club, debate and others.
Your principal wants to give students an opportunity to express
their points of view about which extra curricular activities they
think are more important.
Write an essay for your principal arguing why ONE of the
extracurricular programs your school currently offers should
continue to receive support, even if no other program can survive.
What has the staff at West Rocks Middle School been doing to
help my child prepare for the Language Arts portion of the
CMT?
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All Related Arts teachers are reinforcing the skill of making
connections (Strand C) in their classes through the study of nonfiction articles.
Support teachers provide small-group instruction to reinforce literacy
skills.
Language Arts teachers are administering and reviewing
 sample writing prompts
 Editing and Revising and DRP workbook activities
 CMT-like open-ended questions
 Pre-tests and post-tests on CMT strands
We are tracking student performance on pre- and post-tests to plan
and deliver small-group instruction on skills that were not mastered.
Science and Social Studies teachers are administering practice DRP
exercises with readings from their content areas.
We have initiated a school-wide reading incentive program, the
“Read Around the World Challenge”, to encourage students to read
15 or more books this year in a variety of genres, particularly nonfiction books.
How can I help my child prepare for
the CMT?
Encourage at least 20 minutes of
reading every day. Have students read
a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts.
 Discuss what your child has read using
the CMT strand open-ended questions
handout.
 Go over your child’s homework with
him/her daily to check for understanding.
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Good Luck!

West Rocks Middle School teachers wish all of
our students good luck on the Connecticut
Mastery Test in March.
 If you have any questions, Ms. Sabol can be
reached at sabolr@norwalkps.org, and Ms.
Khamarji at khamarjil@norwalkps.org. You
may also call us at (203) 899-2970.