School Improvement in Maryland

Using the State Curriculum: Reading/ELA, Grade 7

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 1. Apply comprehension skills by selecting, reading, and interpreting a variety of print and non-print informational texts, including electronic media

Objective a. Read, use, and identify the characteristics of primary and secondary sources of academic information such as textbooks, trade books, reference and research materials, periodicals, editorials, speeches, interviews, articles, non-print materials, and online materials, other appropriate content-specific texts

Assessment limit: Grade-appropriate primary and secondary texts

Selected Response Item

Which sentence from "Bard of Avon" is least helpful in identifying this article as nonfiction?

  1. Soon other playhouses were built, first the Curtain, then the Rose, and the Swan.
  2. Plays were only done in daylight and in nice weather, as there were no lights or heat.
  3. William Shakespeare went to London just at the time when modern theater was taking shape.
  4. In 1576, when Sheakespeare was still a schoolboy, an actor named James Burbage put up a building near London designed solely for the performance of plays.
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_7_029.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item
Read the article titled 'Lifeline for Lions' and answer the following questions. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

Which of these sentences most clearly identifies this article as nonfiction?

  1. Tourists in a hot-air balloon were the first to notice.
  2. She watched the lion, but didn't know what was wrong.
  3. One expert was able to solve the mystery.
  4. Distemper can cause fever, shaking, and finally death.
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_7_071.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Assessment limit:
Grade-appropriate primary and secondary texts
Resources for Objective 2.a.1.a:
Lesson Seeds | SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS |