2018 MCAS
Grade 4 English Language Arts
Question 8

The narrative tells events from Polo's point of view but is moderately developed. It expresses Polo's apprehension about being outside by including details such as "But the thing is, I did not know where anything was." There are also appropriate details that connect to the original story; for example, "Whoosh! A spray of water splashed right on our head." Ideas are adequately expressed and moderately organized as the writer describes how Marco and Polo travel from the house toward the fence at the edge of the yard. There is a sufficient awareness of the purpose for writing.

The narrative shows a consistent control of sentence structures and conventions in spite of a few minor errors in punctuation, including some in sentences that contain dialogue. Given its length and complexity, the narrative provides the writer an opportunity to demonstrate consistent control of Standard English conventions for this grade level.