School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Items: Public release items have appeared on MSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the content standards are assessed on the MSA.

Standard 3.0 Comprehension of Literary Text

Indicator 6. Determine important ideas and messages in literary texts

Objective a. Identify and explain main ideas and universal themes

Selected Response Item

Read the story 'Saved by a Fly' and answer the following question.

What is the main idea of the story?

  1. A moose drinks all the water from a river
  2. A group of animals is afraid of a big moose
  3. A fly gets rid of a troublesome moose
  4. A group of animals is always quarreling
/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_3_001.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item

Read the story 'Saved by a Fly' and answer the following question.

What lesson could someone learn from this story? Use details from the story to support your answer.

Write your answer on your answer document.

/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_3_004.xml

View Scoring Information

Resources for Objective 3.A.6.a:
Lesson Seeds | PUBLIC RELEASE ITEMS |