Grade Three Reading Achievement – October 2003
Annotated Item 9
Standard and Benchmark Addressed
Standard:
Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text
Benchmark: A. Use text features and structures to organize content, draw conclusions and
build text knowledge.
Passage:
Where Do Snowflakes Begin?
Snowflakes begin inside the clouds. The snowflake crystals form within storm clouds
high above the earth. There are many different cloud layers in the upper air. You can
see them floating freely, changing shape.
The air around our planet is always moving. The higher the air is from the earth, the
colder it is. The higher the clouds are, the colder they are.
The highest, coldest cloud layers are often called ice clouds. Their real name is cirrus
clouds. You can recognize cirrus clouds because they look like feathers, or scratches
on a piece of glass, or frost on a window.
Another kind of cloud looks like a fat puff of cotton. These clouds are called cumulus
clouds. Cumulus clouds are often dark, because they pick up dust from the air.
Sometimes when you see cumulus clouds in the sky, it means there is going to be a
storm.
Snowflakes can form in any cloud that is colder than freezing. Many snowflakes begin in
cirrus clouds. But these flakes rarely make it to the ground. They fall a little way, and
when they meet warmer air, they become water droplets and never touch the earth.
But when a snowflake forms in the lower cumulus clouds, and when the cloud and the
air on the earth are cold enough, the flake will stay in the form of snow and fall to the
ground. The gravity of the earth pulls the snowflake down, spinning and changing shape
along the way.
“Where Do Snowflakes Begin?” by Joan Sugarman. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Multiple Choice Question:
9. This paragraph is from the selection.
“The highest, coldest cloud layers are often called ice clouds. Their real name is cirrus
clouds. You can recognize cirrus clouds because they look like feathers, or scratches on a piece
of glass, or frost on a window.”
Grade Three Reading Achievement – October 2003
Annotated Item 9
What topic heading should be used for this part of the selection?
A. Cumulus Clouds
B. Cirrus Clouds
C. Snowflakes
Commentary
This multiple-choice question asks students to identify text features in a reading selection.
Answer choice A is incorrect because it addresses cumulus clouds, not the subject of the
paragraph. Answer choice B is correct because cirrus clouds are the subject of the paragraph.
Answer choice C is incorrect because clouds are the focus of this paragraph, not snowflakes.
Performance Data
The percent of public school students selecting answer choice B for question 9 on the October
2003 Grade 3 Reading Achievement Test was 67 %.
Keyword:
Link Passage:
Text features
Where do Snowflakes Begin?