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 3.0 Comprehension of Literary Text

Indicator 8. Read critically to evaluate literary texts

Objective b. Analyze the extent to which the text contains ambiguities, subtleties, or contradictions

Assessment limit: Questions and predictions about events, situations, and conflicts that might occur if the text were extended

Selected Response Item
Read the article titled 'Absolutely Normal Chaos' and answer the following questions. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

After reading this passage, a reader might still want to know—

  1. why Tommy is throwing food on the floor
  2. how often the disruption at the dinner table occurs
  3. why Radene sent a letter rather than made a phone call
  4. how the narrator nearly missed the news at the dinner table
/toolkit/vsc/assessment_items/msa_ela_7_084.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Assessment limit:
Questions and predictions about events, situations, and conflicts that might occur if the text were extended
Resources for Objective 3.A.8.b:
Lesson Seeds | SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS |