Benchmark Writing Task

Assessing areas of strength and

improvement in student writing

Grades 11-12

This package includes:

✓ Teacher instructions
✓ Student instructions
✓ Assessment rubric
✓ Curriculum standards references (English
Language Arts)
 Benchmark Writing Assessment:
Grades 11 to 12

TASK

• The students will be asked to write a story about something happening in the attached
picture. It is important that when you review the task with them, you remind them
to check their work for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

• What is the PURPOSE? The purpose of this task is to assess student capability, areas
of strength and areas of improvement in writing.

EXPECTATIONS

• The following task is derived from the Common Core Standards that relate to this task
and should be reviewed thoroughly before grading students’ work. They can be found
at the end of this document.

• The prompt must be completed within two, 50 minute classes.

• ONLY formally identified Learning Support students are permitted the use of a word
processor (without access to spell and grammar check) and extra time as outlined in
their learning plans.

• This benchmark is to assess students’ writing abilities, not your teaching abilities;
however, it is your responsibility to administer this benchmark effectively by following
these guidelines.

• Students may use dictionaries and thesauruses (please provide).

• Do not send this assignment home.

 • At the end of the assignment, you should be collecting the “Student Booklet” all
pages should be included (a cover sheet, pre-planning page, checklist, and
rubric) along with the student’s additional pre-planning, rough draft and final
draft.

• Absent students will be given time to finish immediately upon their return to school.

• After you have collected everything, ensure that ALL papers have the students’ names,
grades and campus sites written at the top, as well as the words “rough draft” and “final
draft.”

PREVIOUS LEARNING EXPERIENCES

• This is an independent task, therefore, teachers are to supervise, but must not assist
students in teaching the components of the task. (ex. paragraph structure)

• Peers must also NOT assist other students in their work during any of the writing
stages.

THE PROCESS USED

• Introduction of Task: Students are to be given a copy of the Student Booklet (see next
page) including cover page, task outline, student checklist, and rubric.

• Students should be made aware of the purpose of this task and exposed to the
expectations they are being asked to meet including the rubric that will be used to
grade their work.

• After the pre-planning stage, students must draft, revise, edit and publish their work, all
in two, 50 minute classes.

• Remind students that they will handwrite their responses, as the use of computers for
any part of the assignment is prohibited.
 Grades 11-12 Student Booklet:
Benchmark Writing Assessment
Cover Sheet/Checklist

To be completed by the student:

Did I…
o make sure my full name, grade and campus site are written at the top of
each page?
o look over my rubric to make sure I have included everything?
o hand in my pre-planning page, rough draft and final draft with this cover
sheet on top?

Student Name:___________________

Student Grade:___________________

Campus Site:_____________________

**Once you get your grade, please see the “Teacher Rubric” for your
next steps and comments about how well you did and what skills you
can improve on throughout this year.**

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be completed by the teacher:

FINAL GRADE: LEVEL ______

 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Benchmark Writing Assessment Student Booklet

(Review as a Class)

The Task:
After reading the attached articles, form an argument based on this question:

Can fast food be part of a healthy lifestyle?

Make sure to back up your opinions with evidence. When citing examples from the text make
sure the reference them in appropriately. Your essay should include an introduction and
conclusion. Your final copy should be no more than two pages, double spaced.

Make sure you:

✓ include your name, grade and site on every page you submit.
✓ show evidence of pre-planning and the writing process
✓ provide an edited rough draft and a final draft.
✓ only use two, 50 minute periods to complete this writing task.
✓ always work independently.
✓ never take this assignment home.
✓ use a dictionary and/or thesaurus if needed (your teacher will provide).
✓ fill out your cover sheet/checklist before you hand everything in.
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Article A: What Are the Benefits of Fast Foods?

Last Updated: Apr 22, 2015 | By Natalie Stein

A McDonald's fast food restaurant. Photo Credit Chris McGrath/Getty Images News/Getty Images

In the United States, fast food is a contributor to dietary habits, with 11.3 percent of the total
calories in the typical American diet coming from fast food. Common fast food choices include
pizza, burgers, fried potatoes and soft drinks. Many people who eat fast food tend to have
higher fat intakes and poorer diets. Fast food does have some benefits, however, and you
can consume fast food occasionally as part of a healthy diet.

Fast Foods Are Convenient

It seems like you can find fast food restaurants on nearly every street corner, and going to a
drive-through or using home-delivery makes going to a fast food restaurant appealing. Fast
food restaurants enable you to consume ready-to-eat, fresh, portion-controlled foods. If you
want to eat healthy food but don't want to prepare it at home, you can order something
healthy from a fast food restaurant. This could include oatmeal made with milk or a salad that
has a variety of greens, vegetables, nuts and grilled chicken. Although fast food is convenient,
be wary of purchasing unhealthy foods, such as fried chicken and pizza, simply because they
are available and are appealing.
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Fast Food Restaurants Offer Various Choices

A wide assortment of fast food styles lets you experience foods from various cultures so that
you don't need to spend exorbitant amounts of money at full-service restaurants. Fast food
restaurants that offer burgers, chicken and sandwiches are plentiful, but fast-food restaurants
that offer Chinese, Italian, Mexican and Middle Eastern dishes also are plentiful. Even though
many of these international offerings may be fairly healthy, they also may be high in calories
and unhealthy nutrients.

Fast Food Restaurants Cost Less

The low cost of a fast food meal compared to a meal at a sit-down restaurant can help you
stay within your budget. Home cooking, though, enables you to serve healthier, less
expensive meals. If you want to eat healthy foods on a budget, purchase foods such as tuna,
peanut butter, dried beans, brown rice, whole pasta and seasonal produce. These nutritious
items are relatively inexpensive.

Fast Food Restaurants Have Calorie Counts

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires chain restaurants to post
calorie counts on menu boards. You can use this information to make low-calorie decisions
when you eat fast food. Restaurants that have fewer than 20 locations, such as small, family-
owned establishments, do not need to provide nutritional information. When you don't have
access to calorie counts, you may be more likely to eat more calories than you had intended.

Source:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/259534-what-are-the-benefits-of-fast-foods/
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Article B: Fast food consumption is out of control—and it

could be blunting children’s brains

By Roberto A. Ferdman December 23, 2014

Happy meals, unhappy math scores. (Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg News)

Fast food consumption isn't merely connected to increases in pant size—it's tied to
significant decreases in test scores among school children, according to a new national
study.

Researchers at Ohio State University used data from a nationally representative

sample of some 11,700 children to measure how fast food might be affecting their
performance in class. The study measured how much fast food the children were
eating at age 10, and then compared the consumption levels to test results in
reading, math, and science three years later.

What they found is that even small increases in the frequency with which the
students ate fast food were associated with poorer academic test results. Habitual
fast food eaters—those who ate fast food daily—saw "test score gains that were up to
about 20 percent lower than those who didn’t eat any fast food."

The connection held true even after the researchers took into account more than a
dozen other factors about the children's habits and backgrounds that might have
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

contributed to the association between fast food consumption and poorer academic
performance, including fitness, broader eating habits, socioeconomic status, and
characteristics of both their neighborhood and school.

"Our results show clear and consistent associations between children’s fast food
consumption in 5th grade and academic growth between 5th and 8th grade," the
researchers wrote. "These results provide initial evidence that fast food
consumption is associated with deleterious academic outcomes among children."

More than half of the students the researchers observed ate fast food between one
and three times a week, and nearly three quarters of them ate fast food at least once
a week.

“Fast-food consumption was quite high in these students,” Kelly Purtell, the study's
lead author, said in a statement.

While the study observed children's eating habits in 2004, and therefore could
point to fast food consumption levels that are no longer representative of current
trends, there's reason to believe little has changed. Nearly a third of American kids
between the ages of 2 and 11 — and nearly half of those aged 12 to 19 — eat or drink
something from a fast food restaurant each day, according to a study from 2008.
And fast food still accounts for roughly 13 percent of total calories eaten by children
and teenagers aged 2 to 18 in the United States.

Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/23/fast-food-consumption-is-out-of-control-

and-it-could-be-blunting-childrens-brains/?utm_term=.51c2be51a4f9
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Benchmark Writing Task Rubric

Student Name:_____________________ Grade: ________ Site:_______________
Needs Improvement Partially Proficient Proficient Advanced
Qualities of Writing
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Meaning Ideas • thesis is vague or • thesis is unclear or • clearly defined thesis • clearly well-defined thesis
non-existent inconsistent • ideas consistently • ideas creatively and
• ideas do not relate to • some ideas argue argue thesis clearly argue thesis
thesis thesis • ideas are backed up • ideas are backed up with
• ideas are not backed • ideas are backed up with solid and relevant solid and relevant
up information is with somewhat information information
irrelevant relevant information • the argument is • the argument is consistent
• the argument is • the argument lacks consistent and and focused
inconsistent and consistency and focus focused
unfocused
Style Word Choice • language use • language use explains • language use is • language use is precise
confusing and the topic precise and domain and domain specific,
distracts from the specific, explains the expands the readers
argument topic understanding of the topic

Sentence • sentences similar, • sentences have some • sentences are varied, • sentences are varied, and
Fluency and poorly structured variety, and structure and well structured well structured, it engages
• sentences are rarely • sentences are • sentences are the reader
used appropriately to sometimes used consistently used • sentences are used
transition between appropriately to appropriately to appropriately to transition
ideas transition between transition between between ideas, it reads
ideas ideas smoothly

Voice • does not establish • establishes but does • establishes and • establishes and
or maintains a not maintain a maintains a formal maintains a formal style,
formal style formal style style that is easy to read
• tone does not • tone is somewhat • tone is convincing, • tone is persuasive, yet
convey purpose persuasive yet respectful respectful
 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Student Booklet

Form Organization • make sure the • the beginning sets up • introduces topic, • the beginning grabs the
• introduction beginning explains the topic, try to get the includes thesis reader’s attention, and
• body the topic reader more excited statement makes them want to read
• conclusion • make sure ideas are • make sure that ALL • ideas organized in more
• flow in order ideas are in order order and develop the • ideas develop in order
• make sure your piece • build an ending that topic and fit nicely together
has an ending finishes the story for • concluding statement • the ending concludes the
• include paragraphs in the reader or section that wraps story in a satisfying way
your writing • try using a few more up argument • paragraphs are used
paragraphs to • paragraphs are used appropriately and
organize your story appropriately organize the story

Conventions • Multiple corrections • the essay has less • the essay has less • the essay has no errors
needed: than 5 errors in: than 3 errors in: in:
Spelling Spelling Spelling Spelling
Punctuation Punctuation Punctuation Punctuation
Capitalization Capitalization Capitalization Capitalization

Planning and • evidence of the • some evidence of the • all evidence of the • evidence of the writing
Preparation writing process is writing process is writing process is process is complete and
missing missing or incomplete complete reflects detail and effort

Your Next Steps:

 Benchmark Assessment Grades 11-12 – Assessment Resources

ELA Grade 11-12 Standards relating to this assignment

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately
through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include
formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other
information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic.
Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships
among complex ideas and concepts.
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which
they are writing.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g.,
articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on
addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate
command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Use parallel structure.
Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute) and clauses (independent,
dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing or presentations.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely related independent clauses.
Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.
Spell correctly.