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5th Grade Language Arts, Part Two
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In this Lesson:

Lesson 8: Nonfiction Novel Study

Progress Evaluation

You should now complete the lesson 8 progress evaluation. Be sure to reread the general requirements for progress evaluations from the overview.

Instructor-evaluated; 35 points total

Constructed Response on Symbolism (10 points)

After you have finished reading Freedom Train, use a constructed response format to answer the questions below:

  1. What are some symbolic or coded references you found? (You may use the words and phrases I listed in the Skill Lessons section if you want to.)
  2. Why are these references important to the story?
  3. What do they symbolize?

Go back to lesson 6 and review the requirements for constructed responses, if you need a reminder. Your writing should be about one page (or 200 words) long and use the conventions of writing that you have become familiar with. Use what you have learned about symbolism for this activity. Share your writing with your parent/teacher before you submit it, so that you can discuss your ideas.

Your work will be evaluated by an instructor, using the scoring guide below and the Scoring Criteria.

Scoring Guide

A
9–10 points
B
8 points
C
7 points
D
6 points
F
0–5 points

Narrative Nonfiction Letter (25 points)

In lesson 7 and lesson 8, you read both fiction and nonfiction material centered on the time of the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. You may already know a great deal about this period, or this may be a new subject for you.

You will now write your own nonfiction narrative that demonstrates what you have learned. This will be an original piece that blends both narrative and expository elements. You will write a letter from the point of view of a person who might have lived during the time leading up to or during the Civil War. Your person can be made up, but you should include real events and people. Think of your letter as a kind of “mini-biography.” Your letter should be about two pages long.

Follow these steps to complete your writing:

  1. Determine what your topic will be.
  2. Research your topic, remembering what you need to include in your letter.
  3. Decide how much information you will include in your letter (it should be about two pages in length).
  4. Use prewriting strategies to help you organize your information and ideas.
  5. Write your rough draft for your letter.
  6. Proofread and revise your letter.
  7. Check to be sure that you have all of the required elements.
  8. Write your final draft and submit it for assessment.

Prewriting is an important element of this assignment. You will not turn in your prewriting or rough drafts as a part of your progress evaluation, but you should use the strategies you have learned to complete this writing. You will probably need to find additional information about the period, the events that occurred, the important people, etc. At the beginning of lesson 8, you saw a listing of Web sites that you can go to for research. Many of these have links to other related sites. You could also use encyclopedias, books, magazines, etc. One of my favorite places to start is a student-centered search engine called 42eXplore. You can get to the Civil War topics from this link on the Web Sites page.

Begin by completing a KWL chart on the topic you have chosen, to get an idea of what you already know. (You may want to return to the lesson discussion to review.) What questions about your topic will you need to find out? As you research your answers for these questions, put the information into the “Learned” column on your KWL chart.

You will need at least five pieces of factual information to include in your letter. You will also want to make sure that the person reading your letter can understand what you know and feel and be able to see what the author of the letter is going through. Create this connection through description and use of imagery.

Your letter must include the following:

  1. Details about your topic
  2. Details about the life of the characters you include (both real and imaginary)
  3. Details about the setting
  4. Details about the characters (both real and imaginary)
  5. A main conflict or problem

Make sure to write the narrative in letter format. See pages 138–149 in Writers Express to remind you of the skills of writing a personal narrative and writing a letter. It will be written in first-person. (See page 278 in Writers Express if you need review about writing in first person.)

Your paper should meet the standards in the Scoring Criteria.

Before you begin, look at the additional criteria checklist below in order to understand what items will be assessed.

Criteria Checklist

Use this checklist to focus your writing and make sure you have done your best writing. After you have finished your final draft, reread your writing and check for the elements listed below.

Narrative Elements

Does your writing have

  • an effective beginning, middle, end?
  • a strong controlling idea?
  • precise and vivid language?
  • effective use of point of view?
  • a well-described setting?
  • well-developed characters?
  • details and description?
  • conflict and resolution?

Expository Elements

Does your writing have

  • factual information about the topic (at least five pieces of information)?
  • information that focuses on a central topic related to the period of the Civil War?
  • facts that can be proven that you have found during your research?

Writing Mechanics

Have you

  • checked your writing for correct paragraphing?
  • made sure your writing is in the form of a letter?
  • spelled your words correctly?
  • used correct grammar? (If you use dialect, be sure to use it appropriately.)
  • used correct capitalization?
  • used correct punctuation?

Overall Impression

Have you

  • blended the elements of fiction and nonfiction so that your writing flows smoothly?

Your work will be evaluated by an instructor using the scoring guide below.

Scoring Guide

A
23–25 points
B
20–22 points
C
18–19 points
D
15–17 points
F
0–14 points

    Directions for submitting your progress evaluation:
  1. Create a new Word document (.doc) using Microsoft Word (versions 97–2003/XP) or another office suite that saves in the .doc format, such as the open-source OpenOffice. At the top of the page, please include your name, CDIS ID number, mailing address, e-mail address, the course title, and the lesson number. Then type your response to the progress evaluation question(s) or assignment.
  2. Save the Word document, either to your computer or another storage device, as Lesson08.doc. (Note: Most word-processing programs will automatically add the suffix .doc if you save in Microsoft Word format.)
  3. When you have completed the progress evaluation, submit the progress evaluation to the Center for grading by clicking the “Submit a Lesson” link below and following any additional instructions. Remember to keep a copy of your progress evaluation for your records.

Note: Progress evaluations must be submitted in sequence, and you cannot submit more than three progress evaluations in a seven-day period.

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Editor: V. Ponder (Web adaptation: A. Watkins)
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