Common Core Assignment

Instructions: Determine a Common Core sample task for a particular grade level and student using
the following resources. Then answer the questions pertaining to the performance task you chose.

Common Core Performance Task Resources

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/

Grade 3 item 2643: Click on the boxes to match each

Common Core Sample Performance Task:
source with the idea or ideas that it supports. Some ideas may have more than one selected source
Description of Student with Reading/Writing Challenges:
This student is new to the center school this
year, and if we can close the achievement gap sufficiently, he has the potential to go back to a non-center
school in a self-contained classroom. Student has a very limited reading vocabulary, does not comprehend
information sufficiently from reading, and takes the states Alternate Assessment for students with significant
cognitive disabilities. Student receives modified course content and direct instruction for the majority of
learning needs. Student receives the accommodation of extra time for testing, receives speech and language
therapy, and benefits from pictorial representations of reading material, and benefits from text to speech
accommodations to aid in comprehension.

Question
What is the discrepancy between the student and
the task?

What types of differentiation might be needed?

Response
Vocabulary is far above the students current reading level
and longer than student is able to currently comprehend
even if text could be read aloud. Comprehension
difficulties result, and the picture of an astronaut is
insufficient to aid in comprehension during reading, and
insufficient to aid the student during assessment.
Tier 3 supports in reading in a small-group instructional
setting with a ratio of 1:3 adults per student. Modified
course content leading to alternate assessment of the
common core benchmarks by utilizing the FAA exam.
Shortened passages gradually increasing in length,
vocabulary demands, text complexity with research based
instruction in vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Assessment should include pictorial representations on
level 1 (participatory) and 2 (supported) using grade-level
subject material. While in small group instruction, the
student may be reading material slightly more advanced
than peers, but on the same topic, and given similar
strategies. During assessment and while checking for
understanding, Student may be asked to tell or write
answers, while other students may utilize pre-written word

choices in a field of 3-5, may have pictorial representations

more frequently, etc.
What might an intensive personalized instruction
plan look like for this student?

1:3 adult student ratio for small-group instruction.

Modified course content allowing for alternative
assessment that could utilize pictorial representations for
reading and answers for level 1(participatory) and
2(supported) levels (In Florida, level 3 is called
independent, and typically does not have pictorial
representations for reading assessment). IEP for
academic reading goals, consisting of responding to gradelevel material, broken down into objectives aimed at
closing the achievement gap for the student. Requires
extended time for test-taking. Direct instruction with
research based strategies in the areas of vocabulary (even
with speech and language therapy), fluency, and
comprehension for a total of 60 minutes each school day
spent on reading instruction. Though not applicable for
this particular question, research based writing strategies
should also be taught, including those from the
Fundamentals of Writing Proficiency Strategy. Fluency
strategies to be taught include: Paired Reading with an
adult (http://www.interventioncentral.org/academicinterventions/reading-fluency/paired-reading) and
Repeated Reading with an adult
(http://www.interventioncentral.org/academicinterventions/reading-fluency/repeated-reading) and with
adult modeling, guided practice, and individual practice
with grade-level material. Vocabulary strategies to be
taught include: focus on Tier 1 and 2 words (3-5 each
week), pre-teach vocabulary prior to reading a text,
contextual and morphemic analysis (with focus on prefixes
and suffixes), while also using a variety of contexts,
reading both narrative and expository passages both
listening and reading with teacher think-alouds, and the
LINCS vocabulary strategy. Teacher should keep a word
wall current, while building a word map from simple highfrequency words to more complex related words.
Comprehension strategies to be taught include: Question
Generation regarding main idea and key details
(http://www.interventioncentral.org/academicinterventions/reading-comprehension/question-generation),
summarization strategy, graphic organizers and graphic
organizers and story maps, mental imagery techniques,
and cooperative learning with adult reading buddies.
Sources should be varied (narrative and expository,
listening and reading text, hand-held print and computer
based of different genres and purposes (menus, movie
reviews, graphic novels, short passages, etc.) building up
to grade level expectations. Reading instruction in all three
areas should be simultaneous rather than sequential.

Differentiation Tools and Resources

http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Publications/Common_Core_State_Standards_Implementation_Tools_and_R
esources.html