Appendix A Is your book of choice at Grade Level?

Step 1: Select 3 samples of 100-word passages randomly (eliminate the numbers from word count). 

Step 2: Count the number of sentences in all three 100-word passages, estimating the fraction of the last sentence to the nearest 1/10th. 

Step 3: Count the number of syllables in all three 100-word passages. Make a table as follows: 

  Number of Sentences Number of Syllables First 100 words     Second 100 words     Third 100 words     Total     Average (Total / 3)    

Step 4: Enter the graph with Average Sentence Length and Number of Syllables. Plot dot where the two lines intersect. Area where dot is plotted signifies the approximate reading grade level of the content. 

Step 5: If you find a great deal of variability, you can put more sample counts into the average. 

Resource: http://www.readabilityformulas.com/fry-graph-readability-formula.php

Pass/Fail- If at grade level pass, if not fail.

Title: Pages Read:

Summary/Argumentative Paragraph:

Title: Pages Read:

Summary/Argumentative Paragraph:

Use the guide to help you write a book review

(Complete on a separate sheet of paper)

Title: ______________________________________________________________

Author:____________________________________________________________

Main Characters (only the most important):

Story (brief outline only-but in correct order):

OPINIONS:

Plot (what happens? Is it believable?):

Characters (Do they seem real? Do you like or dislike them?):

Language (Did the words do their job well?):

At the beginning on this skill set we chose an assessment of choosing the correct reading

level of the book that each student has chosen. This will allow the teacher to ensure that all

books are at correct reading level and that each student has chosen a book that is appropriate.

The second set of assessments that will be used for weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5 are a small half

sheet that is a brief summary about the pages read thus par. Students will complete a summary

about the pages they read that week and the teacher will be able to track their comprehension of

the book.

Week 6 involves each student completing a book review that will not only give the

teacher information about their comprehension but also about their opinion of the book and its

elements. All of these tasks can be graded quickly and efficiently by teaching staff and give them

realistic information about a student’s ability to complete the learning outcome that is being

addressed.

Appendix B

Fact and OpinionPre-test

Are the sentences below facts or opinions?

1. The most beautiful state, Missouri, applied for statehood in 1817.

 A. Fact

 B. Opinion

2. Everyone wanted Missouri to enter the Union as a free state.

 A. Fact 

 B. Opinion

3. Which of the following sentences is an opinion?

 A. John Marshall was the Chief Justice from 1801-1835.

 B. In 1819, the Supreme Court ruled that congress could create a national bank. 

 C. Marshall also ruled that the states did not have the right to tax the bank or any other agency created by the federal government.

 D. State rights are more important than the rights of the federal government.

4. Which of the following sentences is a fact?

 A. In the early 1800s, the United States negotiated treaties with European nations to settle boundary disputes.

 B. The best treaty, that removed warships from the Great Lakes, is called the Rush-Bagot Agreement

 C. The most beautiful state, Florida, was bought from Spain in the Adams-Onis Treaty.

 D. The Treaty of Ghent tried to settle boundary disputes between the United States and Canada, and was the worst treaty ever.

5. Which of the following sentences is a not a fact? 

 A. George Washington was the first President of the United States.

 B. John Adams was from Massachusetts.

 C. Ronald Reagan was the best President of the United States.

 D. George Bush was a Republican became President in 1989.

Read the paragraph to answer questions 6 and 7.The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused the biggest dispute in American history. In January of 1854, Stephen Douglas brought a bill to congress that concerned slavery. His bill organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories for settlement. Douglas wanted to promote a national railroad from Chicago to Illinois and then to Kansas and California. Illinois would profit from the project.

6. Which of the following sentences above is not a fact?

 A. The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused the biggest dispute in American history. 

 B. In January of 1854, Stephen Douglas brought a bill to congress that concerned slavery. 

 C. His bill organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories for settlement.

 D. Douglas wanted to promote a national railroad from Chicago to Illinois and then to Kansas and California.

7. Which opinion word is used in the paragraph?

 A. organized

 B. slavery

 C. biggest

 D. project

8. Which of the following is not a fact about frogs?

 A. Some frogs are green.

 B. All frogs are slimy.

 C. Frogs can jump.

 D. Frogs need water to survive.

9. Which of the following is not an opinion about the United States?

 A. The United States is the worst place on earth to live.

 B. The United States is located North of the equator.

 C. The people of the United States work harder than people from any other country.

 D. The United States of America has the best leader in the world.

10. Which of the following is not a fact about The Amendments to the Constitution?

 A. The 15th amendment prohibited federal and state governments from denying the vote to anyone who was a different race or color.

 B. The first amendment includes the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

 C. The 13th amendment provided for the freedom of the slaves in the United States.

 D. The 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was the worst amendment in U.S. history.

Opposing Information

Set 1

Set 2

Name: ___________________________________________________ Date: _______________________

Matrix for Self fact paper

2 1 0 TOTAL

FactsStudent included

10 facts about

self.

Student

included 5 or

fewer facts

about self.

Students

included less

than 2 facts

about self.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences, fewer

than three errors

that do not

impede meaning

More than 3

errors but less

than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total: /4

Complete the Venn Diagram

based on two opposing opinions.

Matrix for Opinionated paper

2 1 0 TOTAL

Complete the Venn Diagram

based on two opposing opinions.

Opinion

s

Student clearly

states opinion

on an issue.

Student does

not make a

distinction

between sides

and support.

Student does

not

understand

the issue they

chose.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences, fewer

than three errors

that do not

impede meaning

More than 3

errors but less

than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total: /4

Fact and OpinionPre-test

Are the sentences below facts or opinions?

1. The most beautiful state, Missouri, applied for statehood in 1817.

 A. Fact

 B. Opinion

2. Everyone wanted Missouri to enter the Union as a free state.

 A. Fact 

 B. Opinion

3. Which of the following sentences is an opinion?

 A. John Marshall was the Chief Justice from 1801-1835.

 B. In 1819, the Supreme Court ruled that congress could create a national bank. 

 C. Marshall also ruled that the states did not have the right to tax the bank or any other agency created by the federal government.

 D. State rights are more important than the rights of the federal government.

4. Which of the following sentences is a fact?

 A. In the early 1800s, the United States negotiated treaties with European nations to settle boundary disputes.

 B. The best treaty, that removed warships from the Great Lakes, is called the Rush-Bagot Agreement

 C. The most beautiful state, Florida, was bought from Spain in the Adams-Onis Treaty.

 D. The Treaty of Ghent tried to settle boundary disputes between the United States and Canada, and was the worst treaty ever.

5. Which of the following sentences is a not a fact? 

 A. George Washington was the first President of the United States.

 B. John Adams was from Massachusetts.

 C. Ronald Reagan was the best President of the United States.

 D. George Bush was a Republican became President in 1989.

Read the paragraph to answer questions 6 and 7.The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused the biggest dispute in American history. In January of 1854, Stephen Douglas brought a bill to congress that concerned slavery. His bill organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories for settlement. Douglas wanted to promote a national railroad from Chicago to Illinois and then to Kansas and California. Illinois would profit from the project.

6. Which of the following sentences above is not a fact?

 A. The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused the biggest dispute in American history. 

 B. In January of 1854, Stephen Douglas brought a bill to congress that concerned slavery. 

 C. His bill organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories for settlement.

 D. Douglas wanted to promote a national railroad from Chicago to Illinois and then to Kansas and California.

7. Which opinion word is used in the paragraph?

 A. organized

 B. slavery

 C. biggest

 D. project

8. Which of the following is not a fact about frogs?

 A. Some frogs are green.

 B. All frogs are slimy.

 C. Frogs can jump.

 D. Frogs need water to survive.

9. Which of the following is not an opinion about the United States?

 A. The United States is the worst place on earth to live.

 B. The United States is located North of the equator.

 C. The people of the United States work harder than people from any other country.

 D. The United States of America has the best leader in the world.

10. Which of the following is not a fact about The Amendments to the Constitution?

 A. The 15th amendment prohibited federal and state governments from denying the vote to anyone who was a different race or color.

 B. The first amendment includes the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

 C. The 13th amendment provided for the freedom of the slaves in the United States.

 D. The 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was the worst amendment in U.S. history.

For appendix B we started with a per-test and ended with a post-test. This will allow the

teacher to be able to monitor any progress that was made over the six weeks or any prior

knowledge that students may have had. The pre-test that we chose is based on facts and opinions.

This test is varied in that it does not stick to one subject matter in terms of questions. It asks

about different topics so that the student can really begin to understand the difference between

fact and opinion.

The second assessment involves students choosing two sets of opposing information, and

then completing a table. The student will put one sides argument in the second column and the

opposing argument in the third column, an example of this would be pro-choice vs. pro-life. The

third assessment is a general paper matrix that is tailored to the topic, facts about you. It also

includes a writing expectation which we copied from our own grading rubrics from Marygrove.

The fourth assessment in a Venn diagram that involves comparing and contrasting two

opposing opinions. This will allow students to realize that each side has its own arguments but

some opposing arguments are similar in many ways. This assessment is already easily organized

which makes it simple and less time consuming to grade.

The fifth assessment is very similar to the assessment used in week three. The only

difference is that we are not grading based on the facts that a student put into their paper but

whether or not they were able to verbalize their stance on an issue within their paper. The final

assessment is a post-test that will be compared to each student’s per-test in order to determine

growth.

Appendix C

Name:Notes on:Date:

Predetermined Search- search a topic using all of these websites and write a paragraph about their differences.

www.google.com

www.bing.com

www.ask.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.yahoo.com

www.youtube.com

www.duckduckgo.com

www.aol.com

www.webcrawler.com

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Name:____________________________________________________

Date:____________________ Source:______________________________

Shakespeare’s Real Name:____________________________________

Why did he change it?

Birth-date:

Interesting fact:

Name 5 of his writings:

Ability to stump the class!

2 1 0 TOTAL

Fact/FalseStudent has

three truths and

one false

Student has

less than 3

truths or

more than

one false.

Student did

not complete

the paper.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences,

fewer than three

errors that do

not impede

meaning

More than 3

errors but

less than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total:

/4

EXTRA CREDIT: 2 points for stumping the

class.

Name:________________________________ Date: _____________________

Finding fallacies on WikipediaWikipedia Fallacies

Source of Truth

1

2

3

4

5

Is it fallacious?

2 1 0 TOTAL

Research

Used at least

two sources to

prove

accreditation.

Used one

source to

prove

accreditation.

Did not

prove

accreditation.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences,

fewer than three

errors that do

not impede

meaning

More than 3

errors but

less than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total: /4

For the first week of Fallacious lessons we are working on introducing the topic to the

students. The students will be taking notes on the lecture that is given and providing

conversation on the topic. The students will use the worksheet provided to them to take notes on

fallaciousness and to help them stay organized.

During week two, students will use pre-determined web sites to find information on.

They will be looking to see if the information they search is the same on all of the search engines

that are using. The students will then a write a paragraph that discusses the differences between

the websites.

Next, students will be working on completing a mini research about Shakespeare’s real

name. They will be given a sheet that contains information that they need to locate but the trick

of this assignment is to use their knowledge from the previous week and use websites that are

credited. This will help students to see that sometimes not everything that you read on the

internet is factual.

Students will be creating a paper about themselves that includes information that is both

true and false. The goal of the paper is that they are to try and make the statement that is false

sound as if it is true. They want to stump their classmates into thinking that the false statement is

really true. This will help them to see how some websites give false information out to people.

Students will also spend a week doing a research project about Wikipedia. They are to

come up with five fallacies that the website provides for people looking for answers. They will

then research to find the truth about the fallacies and write down the source from which they

found the truth.

The final project for this foundation skill is to pick a topic that they enjoy. The students

are to determine if the website where they found the information is fallacious or not. They must

use at least two reliable sources to prove that they information they are giving is accurate.

Appendix D

Student Name:

Date of participation:

Teacher Notes:

Active participation in discussion

What is a fact? What is an option? When should you use facts to support your writing? When should you use opinions to support your writing? What are some opinions from your reading? What are some facts from your reading?

Teacher has note card with student names, tallies once they have participated in the discussion.

Name:Date:

Law and Order Arguments and Claims

Passionate Argument

2 1 0 TOTAL

Argument

Clearly stated

stance on

passionate

argument.

Clearly

stated

argument.

No stance

taken.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences,

fewer than three

errors that do

not impede

meaning

More than 3

errors but

less than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total: /4

Passionate Argument

Che

cklis

t

2 1 0 TOTALA

rgum

ent Clearly

stated stance

on

passionate

argument.

Clearly

stated

argument.

No

stance

taken.

o Credited

source

o Five facts

o Clear

argument

o More than

two

sources

Writ

ing

Assignment

contains

well-

organized

sentences,

fewer than

three errors

that do not

impede

meaning

More than

3 errors

but less

than 7.

More

than 7

errors.

Tota

l

: /4

Argumentative Paper

2 1 0 TOTAL

Argument

Student chose

an argument

that had specific

claims and was

appropriate.

Student

chose an

argument.

Student did

not choose an

argument.

Writing

Assignment

contains well-

organized

sentences,

fewer than three

errors that do

not impede

meaning

More than 3

errors but

less than 7.

More than 7

errors.

Total: /4

During week one our assessment is based on classroom participation. During a

classroom discuss on specific questions the teacher will have a note card for each student with

their name on it. When they contribute to the discussion the teacher will write a tally mark or the

date on the student’s note card, thus allowing her to later determine which students were actively

participating and which students were not.

The next assessment is based on note taking. The class is to watch an episode of law and

order, while taking notes. The notes are to be based on what different arguments and claims they

have seen within the episode. Due to the nature of the show chosen students should be able to

collect a substantial amount of arguments and claims. The teacher will then record the students’

participation and create a discussion based on the different arguments that were documented in

the students’ work.

Next students will be expected to write an argumentative paper about a topic they are

passionate about. The students will each be graded based on a predetermined rubric. This skill

will prepare them for the next assessment which is more in depth. For two weeks students will be

writing about an argument they have researched and the evidence that has been shown through

the argument. Although this is similar to that of week three it is more in depth and allows the

students more options for exploration or arguments. The rubric is similar to that of week three

but also have a checklist component. This allow for the teacher and students to quickly review

whether they are meeting the requirements of the paper or if they are lacking some key

components.

The final skill assessment is an argumentative paper of their choosing. This will allow the

students to become engulfing in their writing and to encourage them to choose a topic that is

passionate to them. They will be assessed based on a predetermined rubric. This skill is essential

to our overall common core language arts expectation. My main focus problem has been annual

yearly progress, as a special education teacher I believe that this common core expectation and

specific skill set can allow students to become more confident in their writing in class and on the

Michigan Merit Exam.

Each of the skill sets that were determined through this assignment were directly taken

from the Common Core Expectation that I used for my overall goal. I believe that after a student

has completed these six weeks of foundational skills they will have reached the predetermined

goal and increased my focus problem of annual yearly progress.