2019 MCAS
Grade 5 English Language Arts
Question 17

The central idea of the essay is clear and fully developed as it explains that Catalina and the student have similar feelings about their futures. Effective explanation and evidence from both the passage and the poem support the idea that Catalina and the student are both very determined and persevere with positive attitudes to "get their dream done." The essay shows that Catalina "is not afraid of what other people think," "does not let this rudeness bother her and she keeps trying," and "knows in her gut that she will be a good scientist." Meanwhile, the student is shown as having "pride in his decision," and when the teacher states "'I wonder what you'll be?'" the student "keeps explaining and the teacher gets it." Organization is effective and follows from point to point, with a clear expression of ideas maintained throughout the essay. A conclusion clearly summarizes the main ideas and shows a full awareness of the purpose for writing: "they both have a dream and they are not going to just give up on their dream, they are going to [persevere] and never give up."

The essay demonstrates control of a variety of sentence structures. There are some spelling errors as well as a few minor grammar errors, such as missing conjunctions and missed commas (e.g., "This means that the student had pride in his [decision] was not afraid to share it"), but they do not affect the reader's ability to understand the essay. Evidence from both the passage and poem are properly punctuated. Based on its length and complexity, the essay demonstrates consistent control of Standard English conventions for this grade level.