NAPLaN 2009

1. NAPLaN 2009 Narrative Writing Task Marker Training

2. Mission 80K

3. Training Overview • Today’s session: • Background information • Familiarisation with the writing prompt, rubric and manual • Training in Criteria 1 – 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11. • Tomorrow’s session: • Training in Criteria 6 and 8 • Administrative information and OH&S training • Marking training scripts • Software training for at-home markers only. • Wednesday morning @ Marking Centre: • Software training and marking of practice scripts Curriculum Corporation

4. Organisation of the marking manual • Information about our marking centre operation and includes a reference to prompt adherence which is an additional criterion, included this year. • Screenshots relating to this year’s marking software. • Details of the marking10 criteria followed by student writing samples and annotations which exemplify the scoring. The samples of writing are from the 2008 trials and are generally unrelated to the 2009 writing prompt topic. • General glossary of grammatical terms after the exemplars. This is not intended to be a model for marking and does not provide definitions of any criterion or score point. • Spelling list reference pages at the back of the manual.

5. Familiarity with the manual The exemplars are a very important part of understanding the application of the rubric to the assessment of student writing. Markers must be familiar with the entire rubric and all exemplars before beginning to mark. Although many of the scores and annotations will be discussed in training, please make time before beginning to mark to read all of the exemplars and notes.

6. Criteria overview AUDIENCE TEXTSTRUCTURE IDEAS CHARACTER andSETTING COHESION PARAGRAPHS VOCAB SENTENCES PUNCTUATION SPELLING

7. Criteria maximum score points Curriculum Corporation

9. The Task Students must write a narrativeor story, which relates to the 2009 prompt, although they may respond to the stimulus in a range of ways. For example they might write a story that uses: • personal experience, or imagined or fantasy • first person narration or third person commentary. (It can’t be a recount).

10. Students’ stories may incorporate elements of: • adventure - plot or action driven • mystery - clues and suspense • horror- extreme characters or situations • romance - stock characters and situations • science fiction - other worlds and battles

11. Amysteryhas • a setting • characters • event/s – complication (cause and effect; problem and solution) • clues • elements of suspense • resolution – at least to some extent. Curriculum Corporation

12. An adventure story has • a setting in time and place • characters (may not be well developed) • event/s – complication which builds in a sustained way to a climax (cause and effect; problem and solution) • a strong focus on the action • resolution – at least to some extent Curriculum Corporation

13. A horror story • may take the overall form of an adventure, a mystery, or a first person narrator stance • uses subject matter that is unusual or abnormal in a normal situation or is very normal in an abnormal context. • the emphasis is on the elements of suspense • at least one of characters is extreme with a single element of that character’s personality being relentlessly developed. Curriculum Corporation

14. 11. Prompt/Topic AdherenceSkill focus:Reference to or association with the topic in the body of the text. • Monitoring of adherence to the 2009 prompt topic will be part of the marking requirements in 2009 • It is expected that the ‘score’ for prompt adherence will not contribute to the total score for writing • This is scored Yes, No or N/A where: • Yes = on topic (adheres to prompt) • No = not on topic • N/A = non attempt

15. Prompt Adherence – The Box YES • Story is clearly on topic • There is a clear connection between the title or heading and the body of the text, where the heading includes a reference • Drawing a picture of topic (only) • Uses the topic as a metaphor of the story • Relates to an intangible or unusual aspect of the topic (spirit references, restriction, escape, an aspect of the human condition, confined, trapped, death, thinking outside the box) • Writes a story that uses a related meaning of the topic word or topic image (light, box, case, darkness, chest) • Story is leading towards finding the topic as a concrete object • Incomplete story has reference to the topic title

16. Yes. I definitely see a box in here!

17. Prompt Adherence – The Box NO • No reference to the topic anywhere in the text or title • The only reference to the topic is in the heading or title • Any single word reference to the topic that has no relevance to the rest of the text • Topic reference is an obvious irrelevant event in the story N/A– Non-attempt

18. Zero scores Before beginning to mark it is important to note that a zero score on any criterion should be applied with caution. Although for many of the criteria, a script will only score zero where it is a drawing or a series of letters this is not the case for criterion 7, paragraphing. Curriculum Corporation

19. Difficult to read and very short scripts Please read the first 4 exemplars • Role play writer, • Dungaun • The casel • BMX Scan their scores (and annotations) to gain familiarity with the scoring patterns for low level scripts. Curriculum Corporation

20. 1. Audience Skill focus: The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and affect the reader. Score range: 0-6 PAGE 6 in your manual

21. Students’ understanding of audience Recognise and use different perspectives Distant audience Known adult audience Trusted adult audience – shared experience Self as audience

22. So what do the 7 levels look like? In marking, Audience we are assessing the students’ awareness of their audience. • Have they responded to the task by writing a story? • Can the story be followed? • Have they selected subject matter relevant to the task? • Have they attempted to engage their audience? e.g. selected and used devices that: • lead a reader through the story • engage a reader’s interest or emotion • directly appeal to a reader eg rhetorical questions • subvert expectations? Curriculum Corporation

23. And now let’s look at A most unusual sight p 30 The casel Awareness of audience using story markers: • Simple title • Formulaic opening • Recognisable, predictable characters and setting Important to read and mark script in entirety. Beginning with Long, long ago doesn’t mean it has to score 2. It may be a 6. Curriculum Corporation

24. Audience • A qualitative shift occurs between scores 4 and 5 for this criterion.

25. 2. Text structure Skill focus: The organisation of narrative (story) features including orientation, complication and resolution into an appropriate and effective text structure. Score range: 0-4 PAGE 7 in your manual

26. An orientationcan focus the reader on: • setting • action • situation • characters.

27. A complication presents a problem to be solved, introduces tension, and requires a response. It drives the story forward and leads to a series of events or responses. Complications only make sense in context. The whole story must be read to determine whether the event is really a complication.

28. Anote on score 1. A story that is a recount of events that does not have a complication will only score 1. • Space Tour on pages 40 and 41 of the manual is an example of this.

29. Anote on scores 2 and 3. A story that is complete but weak in all parts will only score a 2. These often are scripts where it is difficult to determine whether there is a complication without ‘reading in’ some detail or information. A complete story with a clear orientation, complication and ending will usually score a 3. Unfinished but detailed stories where the writer leads to a new complication rather than ‘tacking on’ an ending can score 3.

30. Beginning a new complication After my ordeal, I had no way of getting home. I did not know what I could do. Then an amazing idea popped into my head… And I thought that was the end of the story, until last night when a pink letter arrived on my doorstep… “To escape from this place you have to break a dark magic. Come with me and I will help you.” He took my hand and we started to fly very fast.

31. Text order • Some successful scripts will begin by ‘dropping’ the reader into the complication. • Some successful scripts will begin with the ‘end’ and unfold the background later in the story. • A good writer should not be penalised for successfully subverting the readers’ expectations of the order of events.

32. Activity 1 Using criteria 1 & 2 only and working in a group, mark and discuss training scripts: Magical Park & It was a baby (Abandoned). • Read the text as a whole. • Use the rubric to allocate a score for criteria 1 and 2. • Enter your scores and comments on the marking grid. • Compare with other exemplars with these scores. • Discuss your scores and comments with your group and refine if necessary. Curriculum Corporation

33. 3. Ideas Skill focus: The creation, selection and crafting of ideas for a narrative. Score range 0-5 PAGE 8 in your manual

34. What is an idea? • In some scripts the ideas are the events in the story. • Have the ideas been elaborated? • BMX (page 25) is a one-idea story with no elaboration • At the higher score levels (4 or 5) theme is an important consideration

35. Ideas • A qualitative shift occurs between scores 3 and 4 for this criterion. • At score 4 the notion of theme is introduced • The theme is the important idea, the meaning or the significance behind the story • It is not necessary (and often not desirable) for a theme to be stated explicitly – the best ones underpin the entire text

36. Possible themes that students may write about are: • The need to be loved and to give or receive unconditional love • The need to belong • The need to achieve • The need for security • The need to know or the power of knowledge • The need to survive • The need to mature (with heroic qualities) • Life and death • Good over evil

37. 4. Character and Setting Skill focus: Character: the portrayal and development of character. Setting: the development of a sense of place, time and atmosphere. Score range:0-4 PAGE 9 in your manual

38. Students’ development of characterisation • characters through actions and reactions • characters through dialogue(Be wary though - not all dialogue reveals character; some just advances the plot!) • characters through description • invented characters – typically begins about year 2 but commonplace by about year 4 • known friend characters - characters with their own names or the names of friends • generic characters - the boy, the girl movie, book characters Inside the Writing Portfolio Carol Jenkins (1996:9) : Graves, 1989, 1991, 1994

39. Character and Setting • It is important to note the ‘and/or’ component in this criterion • Qualitative shift occurs between scores 3 and 4 • ‘Showing’ rather than ‘telling’ is one of the indicators of a high level text for this criterion. (ie dialogue, description, actions and reactions reveal character rather than the writing telling us ‘she was a happy person’.)

40. Activity 2 Using criteria 3 & 4 only and working in a group, mark and discuss training scripts: Magical Park & It was a baby (Abandoned). • Read the text as a whole. • Make a call on a score against the rubric. • Use the marking grid to enter your scores and comments. • Compare with other exemplars with these scores. • Discuss in your group to refine your comments and scores. Curriculum Corporation

41. 5. Vocabulary Skill focus: The range and precision of language choices. Score range: 0-5 PAGE 10 in your manual

42. Vocabulary • This criterion looks at the effectiveness of choices of words and word groups made by the writer. • Effective language includes nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs including technical words.

43. Vocabulary – precise choices Verbs • Action: I rushed to the shop. I rompedwith the dog. • Thinking/feeling: I enjoyed the ice-cream. I considered buying another. I detested the idea. • Saying:screamed/ whispered/ cheered/ roared/ groaned/ snapped Nouns • I went to the delicatessen. • I bought some confectionery. • We had a lovely celebration. Curriculum Corporation

44. Vocabulary – precise choices Adjectives • big: large,huge, enormous, monstrous • nice/lovely:wonderful, amazing, enjoyable, exciting, memorable • scary: terrifying, alarming, distressing, unnerving, petrifying Adverbs • angrily, sharply, tersely, with a snipe, reluctantly, hesitantly Curriculum Corporation

45. Vocabulary • In higher scoring writing the writer: • selects words with precision, for effect • uses figurative language to give: • -shades of meaning • -to develop the emotive qualities of the text • increases the lexical density to ‘paint in the details’.

46. Vocabulary: emotive through attitudinal language Thinking and feeling verbs • liked, hated, wanted Adjectives to evaluate/comment • It was: fun, enjoyable, terrible, terrifying, disastrous Adverbs to evaluate/comment • Luckily, it all worked out. • Unfortunately, we were too late. • Finally, it was our turn. • Amazingly, we won. Curriculum Corporation

47. Vocabulary: adding through noun groups Noun groups can be: • participants: • ‘doer’ of the verb (subject) Mum and Dad, the man or • the ‘done to’ - having the verb done to them (object) a puppy. • part of a circumstance (adverbial phrase) • circumstances are often prepositional phrases (in the park) which are made up of a preposition (in) and a noun group (the park). Curriculum Corporation

48. Mum and Dad bought me the puppy. • the cute puppy • the really cute puppy • the really cute, little puppy • the really cute, little red heeler puppy • the really cute, little red heeler puppy from the pet shop • the really cute, little red heeler puppy that I saw last week Curriculum Corporation

49. Vocabulary • A qualitative shift occurs between scores 3 and 4 for this criterion.

50. 7. Paragraphs Skill focus:The segmenting of text into paragraphs that assists a reader to negotiate the narrative. Score range: 0-2 PAGE 12 in your manual