Reading and Writing Achievement Standards Curriculum

The Writer
Rationale for Strong Achievement
The old Scientist
Content
• selects a specific topic, The old Scientist, and narrows focus to the events of one day
• includes a series of related events (e.g. On a full moon, I always hear wolves…, After a full moon,
there are claw marks on the left side of the house.)
• includes relevant details to support the events of the story (e.g. He didn’t have his glasses on, that
ment I could get in without the old scientist seeing me.)
Organization
• shows awareness of audience and purpose by trying to create suspense with the setting and
descriptive vocabulary (e.g. huge mansion, full moon, wolves, claw marks, slipped, dead smelly
animals, locked metal door)
• includes the title and introduces the characters (old scientist and neighbour), setting, and plot in the first
paragraph
• presents important events in a logical sequence which develops the plot (i.e. lives close to a scientist,
hears wolves when there is a full moon, enters house, discovers the basement with wolves and
coyotes)
• links ideas with a variety of words and phrases to make smooth transitions (e.g. but, and, For example,
first, Then)
• demonstrates awareness of paragraph form
• includes a brief conclusion which resolves the mystery (The scientist goes to jail and the main
character receives a reward.)
Word Choice
• includes precise words (e.g., became suspicious, ordinary room, carnivores)
• includes some descriptive words or strong verbs (e.g., sliped, lifted, grabed))
Voice
• makes an attempt to adjust tone for audience and purpose (writer uses darker vocabulary to set tone.
e.g. On a full moon, I always hear wolves, It was full of dead animals.)
• conveys identifiable feeling of suspense
Sentence Structure
• includes predominantly complete sentences with some complex structures (e.g. I saw the old scientist
with a white suit, like a scientist wears. Once the elevaer stoped, I tiptoed out of the elevator just in
case wolves were loose.)
• Includes sentences which vary in beginnings and length (e.g. The next full moon, I saw, Right in front);
some run-on sentences are evident.
Conventions
• uses consistently correct end punctuation
• demonstrates correct use of commas in many cases (e.g. On a full moon I always hear wolves, but)
• uses correct capitalization at beginning of sentences and for proper names
• spells high frequency words correctly (e.g. there, have, could) and attempts more complex words (e.g.
elevater)
• uses simple grammatical structures correctly in most cases (e.g. there is, he didn’t have)
Achievement Standards End of Grade 3 65