Book 3: Reading & Writing
"The Stolen Moon" & "The Sun and the Moon"
About the passage and questions
The main writing question in this part of the test can't be answered without resorting to absurdity. We discussed it with a state Education official who was responsible for developing these questions; she admitted she's "not crazy about" the questions in Book 3.
Students are asked to read a fable called "The Stolen Moon" and a factual article entitled "The Sun and the Moon." "The Stolen Moon" tells the story of Bear, who prefers darkness, and Fox, who wishes to be able to hunt by the light of the moon. Bear steals the moon and hides it under his bed. Fox discovers what Bear has done with the moon, and hurls it back into the sky. A struggle ensues. In the end, neither character is fully satisfied: the moon shines on some nights, but on others there is no moon.
"The Sun and the Moon" is a simple scientific text that describes the sun as a mass of burning gases that gives off heat and light. The moon is described as "mostly rock and lava" which reflects the light of the sun. The article then goes on to describe the size of the sun and the moon and how far they are from earth. "People have made many trips to the moon," the article says. But "[n]o one has ever visited the sun."
The main essay question in this section asks students to draw from both pieces: "How does information from 'The Sun and the Moon' show that it is impossible for each character [Bear and Fox] to have what he wants?" Unfortunately, the article provides no information about the why the moon is not always illuminated at night, therefore making it impossible to answer the question as instructed, by using examples from the text.
UPDATE: We got a copy of the state's "scoring guide" for this section of the test, and now we realize how foolish we were to miss the answers that were right in front of us. Here is the "possible exemplary response" the state provided to graders:
"Bear wants the moon so that he can hide it so that it is never light at night. That's because he prefers darkness at night. Fox wants the moon so that he can make sure it lights up every night. That's because he likes to hunt at night by the light of the moon. It is impossible for Bear and Fox to have what they both want because, first of all, the moon is far too big to take out of the sky, put in a pouch, and store beneath a bed. It is almost 7,000 miles around! It is a big trip to go to the moon, too, because it is over 200,000 mile from Earth. It would take a long time for Fox and Bear to reach the moon to even try to steal it. Also the moon does not make its own light. It gets light from the sun. That means that Fox and Raven wouldn't be stealing the light after all."
The question is scored 1-4. The state's "rubric chart" instructs graders that a level 2 essay should show "partial understanding of the story and article" and "provide insufficient support" for the answer. Level 3 responses are those that "demonstrate a clear understanding of both the story and the article, but may provide less than thorough elaboration or text-based support." Level 4 responses "demonstrate a thorough understanding" of the passages, but also "reveal an understanding that things are not always as they appear...." Answers may fall from a 4 to a 3 if they "contain some minor inaccuracies or irrelevant information." Answers may fall from a 3 to a 2 if they are "incomplete, show some confusion, or attempt to tell why Fox and Raven [sic] want the moon without telling why it is impossible for them to have it." Level 1 responses to this question are those that "are likely to retell the texts," or are "brief or repetitive, or may focus on minor details."
WHY THE STATE'S ANSWER TELLS US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW
On a "factual" level, the state's answer "explains" why Bear can't get what he wants -- why the moon is too big too fit into a pouch, etc. It does not explain why Fox can't get what he wants -- why the moon can't be illuminated every night. It's half an answer.
But it's the state's thinking that's truly stunning. (Or is it CTB/McGraw Hill's?)
As a parent of a fifth grader writes:
The state's answer is lunacy. Essentially, Bear and Fox, fictional characters in a children's fable, can't get what they want because they're fictional characters in a children's fable and things that happen in fables are ... well, fabulistic. They're not real. Bear can't steal the moon and hide it uner his bed, and Fox can't discover it there, because, well, according to the laws of physics, that's really not possible. The Moon is really far away and it's way too big to fit under a bed and look at the size of a bear, even a really big bear, there's no way he could wrap his arms around a moon! Even if he could somehow stow away on a NASA moon launch. Even then, there aren't any space suits that would fit a bear!! Bear and Fox can't even argue about the moon because, well, bears and foxes can't talk. English, at least. They roar and they ... whatever foxes do. But didn't Bear steal the moon and put it under his bed? Isn't that what the fable said? Yes, that's what the fable said, but IT'S A FABLE! Why can't a character in a fable get what he wants? Because he's a CHARACTER IN A FABLE!
A fourth-grade teacher writes:
Seeing those answers makes me feel sick. I told my class, during a discussion last year about possible writing genres that could appear during any section of the ELA, that fables can't be analyzed as factually and realistically accurate. Rather, I confirmed what they knew already, that fables feature anthroporphized animals and teach some kind of lesson. Their anthropomorphism is not to be questioned -- that's not the point. Many of the kids said they'd been aware of this characteristic of fables for years. It would never have occurred to them to argue this premise of the story.... The test stunk, the answer stinks, and I helped my class to bomb it by teaching them correctly.
What A Good Writing Question is Supposed to Do
A good writing question is one that
- Elicits a student's best writing, regardless of his or her skill level
- Avoids confusing students, or distracting students from writing
- Avoids becoming a test of other skills not being tested for
- Lends itself to objective, consistent scoring, with a minimum of variation, by a large number of test graders who vary widely