School Improvement in Maryland

Using the State Curriculum: Reading/ELA, Grade 3

Reading/ELA | Informational | Literary | Writing | Language | Listening | Speaking

Sample Assessments: Each sample assessment item gives an idea of how an assessment item on the MSA might be presented. The items appropriately measure the content of the State Curriculum and may be formatted similarly to those appearing on the MSA; however, these are sample items only and have not appeared on any MSA form.

Standard 2.0 Comprehension of Informational Text

Indicator 4. Determine important ideas and messages in informational texts

Objective a. Identify and explain the author's/text's purpose and intended audience

Assessment limit: Purpose of the author or the text or a portion of the text

Selected Response Item

Read the article 'Follow That Horse' and answer the following question.

The purpose of this article is to

  1. give information about a specially trained animal
  2. describe the joys of having a special pet
  3. explain how talented animals can be
  4. persuade people to train their pets
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_3_083.xml

Correct Answer:
A
Resources for Objective 2.A.4.a:
Lesson Seeds | SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS |