[PDF] 2011 Key Stage 2 Year 6 - English Writing Test Level 6 Mark Schemes.pdf | Plain Text

LEVEL 6 TESTS MARK SCHEMES En ENGLISH WRITING MARK SCHEMES LEVEL 6 TESTS Writing mark schemes Creating a character World improvement © Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency 2011

2 of 24 We want our website and publications to be widely accessible, so please contact us if we’re not meeting your needs. Qualifications and Curriculum Telephone 0300 303 3013 Development Agency Textphone 0300 303 3012 53-55 Butts Road Fax 0300 303 3014 Earlsdon Park assessments@qcda.gov.uk Coventry www.qcda.gov.uk/tests CV1 3BH QCDA/11/5461/p ISBN 978–1–4459–5080–8 © Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency 2011 Reproduction, storage, adaptation or translation, in any form or by any means, of this publication is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher, unless within the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Excerpts may be reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, criticism or review, or by educational institutions solely for educational purposes, without permission, provided full acknowledgement is given.

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 3 of 24 Contents Introduction 5 Assessment focuses 5 Longer writing task mark scheme 6 Shorter writing task mark scheme 7 Spelling 8 The tasks 9 Mark schemes 12 Examples of pupils’ work 17 Creating a character 17 World improvement 19 Level threshold information 21

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level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 5 of 24 Introduction This booklet contains the mark schemes for the Optional level 6 writing test. They were devised after trialling the tests with pupils. The mark schemes indicate the criteria on which judgements should be made. The same set of assessment focuses has been used for the Optional level 6 test in writing as for national curriculum end of key stage tests. The assessment focuses are drawn from the national curriculum, directly related to the national strategies and form the basis of the Assessing Pupil Progress framework. The last section of this booklet provides information about interpreting the scores from the tests. Assessment focuses The assessment focuses assess pupils’ ability to: AF1 Write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts AF2 Produce texts which are appropriate to the task, reader and purpose AF3 Organise and present whole texts effectively, sequencing and structuring information, ideas and events AF4 Construct paragraphs and use cohesion within and between paragraphs AF5 Vary sentences for clarity, purpose and effect AF6 Write with technical accuracy of syntax and punctuation in phrases, clauses and sentences AF7 Select appropriate and effective vocabulary AF8 Use the correct spelling Copies of the writing tasks are provided for reference. The writing mark scheme comprises three sections: the longer writing task, the shorter writing task and criteria for marking spelling. For both tasks, the mark scheme describes performance at the target level first, then performance at the level below the target level. Performance above the target level is not described as the test is seeking to confirm that a pupil is working at the level of the test. To support markers in reaching a judgement, two exemplar scripts for each task, with commentaries, have been included. The mark schemes are organised in strands in the same way as national curriculum end of key stage tests. Features described in each strand are customised to be task specific, but are drawn from the generic writing mark scheme for single level tests. This matches the requirements of the mark scheme used to develop national curriculum test writing mark schemes.

6 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Longer writing task mark scheme Assessment focuses are grouped into strands, as follows: The total number of marks available for the longer writing task is 16. Vocabulary (AF7) is relevant to all strands and is identified in the criteria where appropriate. The key areas related to each strand and how these are reflected in the bullet points in the criteria are shown below.

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 7 of 24 Shorter writing task mark scheme For the purposes of marking the shorter writing task, related assessment focuses have been drawn together into two strands, in a slightly different way from those of the longer writing task. The total number of marks available for the shorter writing task is 7. Vocabulary (AF7) is relevant to all strands and is identified in the criteria where appropriate. Because the task is designed to elicit succinct responses, there is some change of emphasis in the assessment focuses grouped to form sentence structure, punctuation and text organisation: AF3 is not assessed, nor is construct paragraphs or cohesion between paragraphs from AF4. The key areas related to each strand and how these are reflected in the bullet points in the criteria are shown below.

8 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Spelling Spelling is assessed on the longer writing task. The criteria given in the mark scheme are based on the national curriculum level descriptors. Pupils’ spelling should be reviewed after both tasks have been marked. The criteria for the target level describe the types of words a pupil would be expected to spell correctly. Qualifiers such as usually, some and most are used to guide the application of the criteria.

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 9 of 24 The tasks Shorter writing task: Creating a character Your class has been concentrating on different elements of short stories. As part of this work, you have been asked to create a character in a short story, using one or two of the objects below. The object(s) should be important to the character in some way. Two tickets A book of poetry A strange shaped parcel An antique watch Your task is to write the first two or three paragraphs of a short story, introducing the character. Planning Think about: • why the object(s) is/are important to the character • how the character can be shown in your writing (eg behaviour, appearance).

10 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Longer writing task: World improvement A current affairs magazine is running a competition for young writers. The editor wants articles that continue from the following words: ‘The world would be a better place if …’. The best writing, in the judgement of the editor, will be published in the magazine. The content and title of the article are left open for the writers. Your task is to write an engaging, imaginative and well-argued article, continuing from the introductory words provided by the magazine, ‘The world would be a better place if …’.

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 11 of 24 Planning page: use this page to make notes. This page will not be marked. World improvement Think about: • themes and topics • developing your ideas • ways to engage the reader.

12 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Mark schemes Marking procedures The criteria should be applied in the order they are given so that a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of each response is built up cumulatively. For each strand, a judgement has to be made about whether the writing fulfils the requirements of the target level. If there is some doubt, then the criteria from the level below should be considered, and then a judgement made about the description which best matches the script. Once a decision has been reached, markers must decide which of the mark points to award. The full range of mark points should be employed, as the test is not assessing performance at the level above the target level. The examples and italicised features are not requirements of the writing. Instead, they illustrate common ways in which the feature was exemplified in pupils’ writing during pre-testing. They are not intended to be evidence of achievement at that level nor a hurdle for pupils where they are not seen.

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level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 17 of 24 Examples of pupils’ work Creating a character – example 1 Jonathan Medway was a friendly and cheerful man. He had a nice home, a good wife and two beautiful children. He wore smart clothes and in his top pocket he had a small antique watch. This was his prized possession. It went with him everywhere. Now, being a well mannered and very polite person he always liked to make sure he had a book of poetry with him as he found reading poems calmed him down if someone irratated him. Jonathan’s job was very important. He worked in a bank. It was from this bank he made a very good friend, which he was eternally grateful for. The same friend gave him his train tickets so that, rather than walk, he could take a relaxing steam train ride through the countryside from his home. When he was back home his wife Gertrude always had dinner on the table. Sometimes it was pork and vegetables with apple crumble for pudding or a roast dinner with a slice of delicious, home made victoria sponge cake. One day, when he was back from work, he found a strange looking parcel on the table waiting for him. Jonathan had never seen such a bazaar looking parcel. He walked over, and being a curious man, opened it.

18 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Creating a character – example 2 Sachir stepped into the open court yard. The lush green grass rippled, vibrations dancing on their tips in the wind. Hot and sticky the sun beat down on Sachirs fair, freckaly skin and a pair of misty glasses sat on the end of his twisted nose. He looked bedraggled: the rags of clothes hung off his arms, sweat running through the creases. His cold breaths out, cold, like ice on the hot air, evaporated. His brown hair licked at his hunched shoulders. There was an antique clock hung over the position of his heart, ticking just ticking. Sachir shook vigourously as he walked, almost as if the clock was controling him as there was a discreet rock forward every second. As he ticked backwards and forwards he steadily moved towards the wooden doorframe. His eyes flickered and he was swallowed up by the rush of cool air. There were things that were quite unusual about the building: the cabinets of sports trophies, nothing like the man that stood there today; the clouded, dark computers, entangled in moss and ivy and then there was a little strange shaped parcel in the far corner. This was what he made his way towards first. His rusty tin shoes clacked and clopped on his way over and the weedy plants appeared to swivel away from the mans odour. The parcel seemed to connect with the man as his finger tips touched it gently. A spark, and the parcel seemed to change shape. Not only that, but Sachirs crooked nose seemed slightly less crooked. As he entered his room, the venacular changed drastically and there was an array of colours. His tick seemed less vigourous and he lay down and went to sleep.

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 19 of 24 World improvement – example 1 The world would be a better place if…there was no global warming. If there was no global warming, there would be less endangered animals, no risk of flooding because of melting ice caps, no climate change, no thinning ozone layer... the list goes on and on. Who would want to live in a world without polar bears? If we keep on melting the ice caps, the polar bears will become extinct. Thanks to global warming, there are also flood hazards because melting ice caps means rising sea levels; rising sea levels means flood hazards; flood hazards mean health hazards. To put it shortly, if we don’t want our houses flooded, we need to stop global warming. As for climate change, that’s the earth heating up. This causes changes in the weather. And the thinning ozone layer? Well, if we make a hole in the layer like in the Artic, in the place where the hole was there would be no protection against the suns rays. And that could lead to serious sunburn. Overall, global warming is a serious threat to our (and the polar bears) health and the issue should be seen to as soon as possible. Save the Polar Bears, save yourself.

20 of 24 Optional level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes World improvement – example 2 The world would be a better place if… WE HELP SAVE OUR TREES…TODAY! The world would be a better place if we were to stop cutting down the rainforest. We all know that there are many endangered animals in the world and a lot of them live in the rainforest. We don’t really need the wood from a rainforest: we could cut down the trees in our country because if we plant another tree here it will not take as long to grow as a rainforest tree. Did you know it can take thousands of years for a rainforest tree to become as tall as it can? And did you know that trees ‘breath’ out Oxygen and even better ‘breath’in Carbon Dioxide? They literally provide the air we breathe. Lots of people drink coffee and almost everyone eats chocolate. Both of these come from the rainforest. It might be an idea if we could have cocoa bean and coffee bean farms located away from rainforests. That way we will be able to enjoy our cups of coffee and bars of chocolate even more, without worrying about the rainforest being cut down. But it’s not just trees in the rainforest. Animals, too! Most children and adults alike have a favourite animal. It might be a jaguar, a tiger, a chimpanzee, an orgutan or maybe a frog! Many of these animals are becoming scarce. Orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees all use the rainforest for their homes, to eat and to have fun. Their homes are being destroyed and cut down. Fortunately, there are people who rescue these animals and nuture them back to health and set them free. They are the lucky ones. Mothers with tiny babies and Fathers with pesky sons and daughters are killed. It doesn’t only happen to apes; it happens to all creatures who live there. They are all being pushed into smaller and smaller areas of rainforest. Eventually there will be none left. We will have diminished the rainforest to nothing. Which is where you come in. Fancy that nice mahogany table that you saw in SCS furniture store? Well, there was an oak version of it as well, one that came from sustainable woods, so get that one. Everyone can help. It is simple little choices like that that will save a tree in the rainforest today!

level 6 tests | Writing mark schemes Page 21 of 24 Level threshold information This section provides information about interpreting the scores from the Optional level 6 test in writing. In order to make use of the information in this section, you should administer the tests according to the guidance given in the test administrators’ guide. The guide can be downloaded from the NCA tools website at: www.qcda.gov.uk/ncatools.particularly important that you observe the time limits given in the test instructions, and mark questions strictly according to the mark scheme. If not, the information derived from this section cannot be used reliably. The table below gives an indication of the writing national curriculum level for pupils, based on their score in the test. Writing test (maximum mark 23) OutcomeLevel 6 not achievedLevel 6 achieved The table below gives an indication of the overall English level for pupils, based on their aggregated score in the reading and writing tests. In order to use this information, the total scores on the reading test and writing test should be added together. Please note that information on interpreting the performance of pupils in the reading test can be found in the mark scheme for the reading test. English (maximum mark 55)

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