Grade 7 - Claim 1 - Target 10
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Target 10
Word Meanings
Determine intended meanings of words including academic/tier 2 words, domain-specific (tier 3) words, and words with multiple meanings, based on context, word relationships (e.g., synonym, antonym, analogy, connotations, denotations), word structure (e.g., common Greek or Latin roots, affixes), or use of reference materials (e.g., dictionary), with primary focus on determining meaning based on context and the academic (tier 2) vocabulary common to complex texts in all disciplines.
Sample Item
Grade 7Test
Claim 1
Reading
Standards
L-4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L-4a
Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
L-4b
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel).
L-4c
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of...
L-4d
Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
L-5b
Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to better understand each of the words.
L-5c
Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g., refined, respectful, polite, diplomatic, condescending).
L-6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
RH-4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
RI-1
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RI-4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone....
RST-4
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
Clarifications
Targeted vocabulary words and phrases should be important to the text and worth assessing. The targeted vocabulary words and phrases should be one to two grade levels above testing grade. If the targeted word/phrase...
Range Achievement Level Descriptors
Evidence Required
1
The student will determine the meaning of a word or phrase based on its context in an informational text.
2
The student will determine the intended meaning of academic/tier 2 words and domain-specific/tier 3 words in an informational text.
3
The student will use resources to determine the correct meaning of an unknown word or phrase in an informational text.
4
The student will use a synonym, antonym or analogy, Greek or Latin roots, or affixes to determine the correct meaning of an unknown word or phrase in an informational text.
Item Guidelines
Depth of Knowledge
R-DOK1
Level 1 requires students to receive or recite facts or to use simple skills or abilities. Oral reading that does not include analysis of the text as well as basic comprehension of a text is included. Items require only a...
R-DOK2
Level 2 includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response; it requires both comprehension and subsequent processing of text or portions of text. Intersentence analysis of inference is required. Some important concepts are covered but...
Allowable Item Types
- Multiple Choice, single correct response
- Multi-Select, multiple correct response
- Hot Text, select text
Stimuli
Passages
Texts may be of low to high complexity; each text must include one or more words that are at grades 7–9 reading level, OR words that have nuanced meanings, OR words that have multiple meanings and used differently in the...
Dual-Text Stimuli
When a dual-text set contains one literary and one informational text, the literary text (text #1) is the primary focus, and the set of items must include items from the literary stimulus as well as items written across both texts....
Accessibility
Refer to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines for information on accessibility.
Task Models
Task Model 1
Item Types
Multiple Choice, single correct responseDepth of Knowledge
R-DOK1, R-DOK2
Target Evidence Statement
The student will determine the meaning of a word or phrase based on its context in an informational text.
The student will determine the intended meaning of academic/tier 2 words and domain-specific/tier 3 words in an informational text.
The student will use resources to determine the correct meaning of an unknown word or phrase in an informational text.
The student will use a synonym, antonym or analogy, Greek or Latin roots, or affixes to determine the correct meaning of an unknown word or phrase in an informational text.
Task Description
The item stem will pose a question about the meaning of a targeted word or phrase in the text. The sentence or sentences in which the targeted word is found are excerpted and need...
Appropriate Stems
(Note: In this automated version of the item specification, underlined text appears in italics.) Read the sentence(s). [Provide directly excerpted sentence(s) from text, with targeted word/phrase underlined] What is the meaning of the [word/phrase] [targeted word/“targeted phrase”]? Read...
Appropriate Stems for Dual-Stimuli
(Note: In this automated version of the item specification, underlined text appears in italics.) Read the sentence(s) from [title text #2]. [Provide directly excerpted sentence(s) from text, with targeted word/phrase underlined] Which sentence from [title text #1]...
Scoring Rules
Correct response: 1 point; Incorrect response: 0 points