CORE Assessment Module
Module Overview
Purpose and Usage:
This assessment module is a performance activity to assess how well students can examine
complex text and then demonstrate their understanding through writing. All modules were developed by
practitioners for practitioners. Since the reading expectations are rigorous, some might find the text
selections challenging. Please note, however, that the text exemplars that are used as the basis for each
module are taken directly from Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards for targeted grades.
The expectations of the CCSS call on teachers to instruct around complex text so students read
closely to accomplish essential skills, such as make inferences, determine themes, and analyze
development of ideas. They do so using textual evidence from a targeted complex text. Much like
teachers engage students in the writing process to create optimal written products, teachers would
likewise plan and conduct a series of comprehensive lessons to help students meet these rigorous reading
standards. These lessons would align to specific reading standards, include a myriad of instructional
strategies and formative assessments (e.g., read silently, discuss, listen to, take notes, engage in discussion
with peers, write informally and formally, etc.), and center on text-dependent activities and tasks to illicit
deep understanding of targeted texts. This assessment module does not replace a formalized series of
lessons around complex text as just described, but rather provides a “dipstick” to get a sense of how well
students read complex text independently and proficiently. The results are meant to inform teachers about
future instruction.
Teachers should use their professional judgment and their district’s recommended guidelines to
administer this module as a pre-assessment or formative assessment in order to gather information about a
student’s ability to read complex text carefully and construct an organized writing piece that is grounded
in evidence from the text. Some teachers might decide to use two modules – one as a preassessment and
another as a formative assessment to check for understanding during the formalized instructional process
around complex text.
We encourage teachers to administer this assessment with colleagues and discuss results together
to ascertain next steps in an instructional plan. Teachers can employ additional instructional strategies
beyond what is included in this module when administering the assessment. However, discuss with
colleagues which ones you choose to use so you are conducting this assessment under similar conditions.
Scoring:
At this time, use the Smarter Balance rubrics available at this link:
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2012/05/TaskItemSpecifications/EnglishL
anguageArtsLiteracy/ELARubrics.pdf. Smarter Balanced does not have a rubric for each grade for all
three writing types; however, later, a more detailed rubric for all grades and types will be considered.
Content Area
English Language Arts
Text
Frederick Douglass
Grade Level
Grade 7
Target Area
Text-Dependent Questions, Performance Task (Informative/Explanatory)
ELA Common
Core State
Standards
RI 7.1
RI 7.2
RI 7.4
Module Overview
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over
the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
Page 1
SBAC
Assessment
Claims
Task Overview
Module
Components
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific
word choice on meaning and tone.
W 7.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
W 7.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W 7.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection,
and research.
*SL 7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,
and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly
complex literary and informational texts.
Claim 2: Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes
and audiences.
This assessment task will be completed in two parts. The prewriting/planning in part one
will involve reading, plus note-taking and speaking and listening in response to textdependent questions. In part two, students will be asked to draft an informative/explanatory
text.
1) Directions to Teacher
2) Text Passage
3) Graphic Organizer
4) Text-Dependent Questions and Peer Discussion
5) Independent Writing Task
*Standard addressed but not explicitly assessed.
Module Overview
Page 2
Frederick Douglass
Directions to Teacher
This Common Core-aligned ELA Performance Task can be given over one to two days
depending on class schedules. The directions below outline the steps to follow for a two-day
administration.
Text: Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave,
Written by Himself. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. (1845)
Materials:
 Frederick Douglass Text Passage
 Graphic Organizer
 Text-Dependent Questions
 Writing Task
 Lined paper for writing
DAYS 1-2
1. Reading (RI 7.1, RI 7.2, RI 7.4)
(Approximately 20 minutes)
Give students a copy of the Frederick Douglass Text Passage which is an excerpt from
the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Written by Himself.
Ask them to read it silently. The text is formatted in 2-columns: Text in the left column;
Notes in the right. Instruct them to consider the following as a way to interact with the
text and begin to make meaning. They should underline or highlight text associated with
their notes as explained in the directions.
 Write down the main idea of a paragraph.
 Rewrite a section in your own words.
 Make any inferences.
 Use context clues to define unknown words or write ideas for what a word might
mean.
 Record ideas or questions you have about the text you want to share with others.
 Write any reactions to the text or how it makes you feel.
2. Note-taking Around Text-Dependent Questions (RI 7.1, RI 7.2, RI 7.4)
Distribute Frederick Douglass Graphic Organizer. Instruct students to reread the
passage and complete the “My Responses” and “Evidence From the Text” sections only
that are predicated on text-dependent questions shown below. They can use what they
wrote in the “Notes” column to help them answer these questions. Encourage students to
expand their thinking beyond literal responses.
 Who is the narrator, and what does he reveal about himself?
 How did Douglass learn how to read?
 What stories does the author tell, and why does he tell them? What is the main idea
the author is trying to convey?
ELA Grade 7: Directions to Teacher
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

What moral did Douglass learn from Sheridan’s books?
How does the author’s thinking change from the beginning of the passage to the
end?
3. Speaking/Listening (*SL 7.1)
(Approximately 15–20 minutes)
In pairs or groups of three, conduct the “Give One, Get One” strategy to give students
time to discuss their responses to the questions on the graphic organizer along with
textual evidence. After a designated period of time, instruct students to independently
complete the “My Thoughts Now” section of the graphic organizer. Tell them they will
respond to a writing prompt and can use this graphic organizer along with their notes
while writing.
Give One, Get One Strategy
 Students bring their graphic organizers to meet in pairs or trios.
 Instruct them to collect one new and different idea from these classmates.
 Then they are to give one new and different idea.
 If the pair or trio does not have a new and different idea, tell them to brainstorm
responses to particular questions on the graphic organizer and try to create one.
4. Text-Dependent Questions
(Approximately 30 minutes)
Distribute the Text-Dependent Questions sheet and ask students to individually write
their responses to the questions on a separate piece of lined paper.
 Word Meaning (RI 7.4) (Depth of Knowledge [DOK] Level 2) – In the first
paragraph, the author writes, “This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little
urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge.”
What are the two meanings of the word bread in this sentence? What does the author
mean by bread of knowledge?
 Reasoning/Evaluation (RI 7.1) (DOK Level 3) – What effect did the reading of
“The Columbian Orator” have on the author?
 Reasoning/Evaluation (RI 7.1, RI 7.4) (DOK Level 3) – How is freedom
personified? What does the personification of freedom reveal about the way
Douglass viewed freedom?
 Central Ideas (RI 7.2) (DOK Level 2) – What are the two central ideas in the text?
Compare them using examples from the passage to support your answer.
DAY 2 or 3
Performance Task (Writing Prompt)
(Approximately 30-40 minutes)
There are two versions of the same basic writing prompt. Note that one has a “Remember To”
portion which provides a bit more scaffolding support than the other. Teachers may choose to
distribute either one of these prompts. Let students know the amount of time they have to
respond to it. Encourage them to use their notes, graphic organizer, and responses to the textdependent questions to inform their writing.
ELA Grade 7: Directions to Teacher
Page 4
Frederick Douglass Text Passage
Directions: Consider any of the following in the “Notes” column. Underline or highlight text
associated with your notes.
 Write down the main idea of a paragraph.
 Rewrite a section in your own words.
 Make any inferences.
 Use context clues to define unknown words or write ideas for what a word might mean.
 Record ideas or questions you have about the text you want to share with others.
 Write any reactions to the text or how it makes you feel.
Text
Notes
The plan which I adopted, and the one by which
I was most successful, was that of making friends of all
the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many
of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their
kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different
places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I
was sent of errands, I always took my book with me,
and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found
time to get a lesson before my return. I used also to
carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the
house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was
much better off in this regard than many of the poor
white children in our neighborhood. This bread I used to
bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return,
would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge.
I am strongly tempted to give the names of two or three
of those little boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude and
affection I bear them; but prudence forbids;—not that it
would injure me, but it might embarrass them; for it is
almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read
in this Christian country. It is enough to say of the dear
little fellows, that they lived on Philpot Street, very near
Durgin and Bailey’s shipyard. I used to talk this matter
of slavery over with them. I would sometimes say to
them, I wished I could be as free as they would be when
they got to be men. “You will be free as soon as you are
twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good
a right to be free as you have?” These words used to
trouble them; they would express for me the liveliest
sympathy, and console me with the hope that something
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
Page 5
Student Name ______________________
would occur by which I might be free.
I was now about twelve years old, and the
thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily
upon my heart. Just about this time, I got hold of a book
entitled “The Columbian Orator.” Every opportunity I
got, I used to read this book. Among much of other
interesting matter, I found in it a dialogue between a
master and his slave. The slave was represented as
having run away from his master three times. The
dialogue represented the conversation which took place
between them, when the slave was retaken the third
time. In this dialogue, the whole argument in behalf of
slavery was brought forward by the master, all of which
was disposed of by the slave. The slave was made to say
some very smart as well as impressive things in reply to
his master—things which had the desired though
unexpected effect; for the conversation resulted in the
voluntary emancipation of the slave on the part of the
master.
In the same book, I met with one of Sheridan’s
mighty speeches on and in behalf of Catholic
emancipation. These were choice documents to me. I
read them over and over again with unabated interest.
They gave tongue to interesting thoughts of my own
soul, which had frequently flashed through my mind,
and died away for want of utterance. The moral which I
gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over
the conscience of even a slaveholder. What I got from
Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery, and a
powerful vindication of human rights. The reading of
these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and
to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain
slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty,
they brought on another even more painful than the one
of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I
was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard
them in no other light than a band of successful robbers,
who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen
us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
6
Student Name ______________________
slavery. I loathed them as being the meanest as well as
the most wicked of men. As I read and contemplated the
subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master
Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read
had already come, to torment and sting my soul to
unutterable anguish. As I writhed under it, I would at
times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather
than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched
condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the
horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In
moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their
stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred
the condition of the meanest reptile to my own.
Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was
this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented
me. There was no getting rid of it. It was pressed upon
me by every object within sight or hearing, animate or
inanimate. The silver trump of freedom had roused my
soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to
disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound,
and seen in everything. It was ever present to torment
me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw
nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without
hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked
from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in
every wind, and moved in every storm.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave,
Written by Himself. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. (1845)
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
7
Student Name ______________________
Frederick Douglass Graphic Organizer
Directions: After rereading the text, write answers to each question below in the “My Response”
section. In the “Evidence from the Text” section, cite specific areas of the text to support each of
your responses. After you are given time to talk to a classmate and share ideas, complete the
“My Thoughts Now” section based on your conversation.
1. Who is the narrator, and what does he reveal about himself?
My Response
Evidence From the Text
My Thoughts Now
2. How did Douglass learn how to read?
My Response
Evidence From the Text
My Thoughts Now
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
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Student Name ______________________
3. What stories does the author tell, and why does he tell them? What is the main idea
the author is trying to convey?
My Response
Evidence From the Text
My Thoughts Now
4.
What moral did Douglass learn from Sheridan’s books?
My Response
Evidence From the Text
My Thoughts Now
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
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Student Name ______________________
5.
How does the author’s thinking change from the beginning of the passage to the end?
My Response
Evidence From the Text
My Thoughts Now
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
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Student Name ______________________
Frederick Douglass Text Passage
Text-Dependent Questions
Directions: Answer the questions below on a separate sheet of lined paper. You
may refer to the reading passage with your annotations and the graphic organizer to
help you answer these questions. Later you may use these resources when you
respond to a writing prompt your teacher will give you.
1.
In the first paragraph, the author writes, “This bread I used to bestow upon the
hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread
of knowledge.” What are the two meanings of the word bread in this
sentence? What does the author mean by bread of knowledge?
2.
What effect did the reading of “The Columbian Orator” have on the author?
3.
How is freedom personified? What does the personification of freedom reveal
about the way Douglass viewed freedom?
4.
What are the two central ideas in the text? Compare them using examples
from the passage to support your answer.
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
11
Student Name ______________________
Frederick Douglass
Writing Task
Directions: Please respond to the prompt below in writing. You may use your
notes and graphic organizer with responses to the text-dependent questions to
inform your writing.
Writing Prompt
After reading the passage from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an
American Slave, Written by Himself, analyze how the two central ideas are
developed over the course of the text, attending to how Douglass’s thinking
changed and what caused it to change. Cite evidence from the passage to
support your analysis.
Be Sure To:
 Introduce your topic clearly and include a thesis statement.
 Include relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotes, or other
information so your writing is thoroughly developed.
 Use appropriate transitions.
 Use precise language and vocabulary in your analysis.
 Establish and maintain a formal style.
 Provide a conclusion.
 Use proper grammar and conventions of writing.
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
12
Student Name ______________________
Frederick Douglass
Writing Task
Directions: Please respond to the prompt below in writing. You may use your
notes and graphic organizer with responses to the text-dependent questions to
inform your writing.
Writing Prompt
After reading the passage from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an
American Slave, Written by Himself, write a paper in which you analyze the
development of Douglass’s ideas.
Remember To:
 Identify two central ideas of the passage.
 Describe how Douglass’s thoughts on the two central ideas changed
from the beginning to the end of the narrative.
 Explain what caused his thinking to change.
 Cite evidence from the text to support your analysis.
Be Sure To:
 Introduce your topic clearly and include a thesis statement.
 Include relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotes, or other
information so your writing is thoroughly developed.
 Use appropriate transitions.
 Use precise language and vocabulary in your analysis.
 Establish and maintain a formal style.
 Provide a conclusion.
 Use proper grammar and conventions of writing.
ELA Grade 7: Frederick Douglass
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