A G U I D E T O S U C C E S S

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT ON A SUMMER’S READING

first of all, here are things you must know to answer basic understanding the questions

• - you must know the text well. This means, you must know • The background of events• The events themselves• The characters• How the events come to a conclusion

for example

• It is not enough to know that Mr Cattanzara is a drunk. You should be able to describe him, understand where he is from, what he does and why he acts the way he does.

you also need to know the way the characters interact with each other

• George with his family• George with his neighborhood• George with Mr Cattanzara

George

Environment/Mr Cattanz

ara

and of course, I’ll be asking you HOTS questions

Higher

Order

Thinking Skills

here are the HOTS skills we have learned so far

•Problem solving (the Road Not Taken)•Comparing and Contrasting ( A Summer’s Reading)•Predicting

please note• When it says ‘with reference from the text’ it

means you must always back up your statements with a proof from the text (the story)

• For example, ‘I believe that Mr Cattanzara is a person who values education because every night he reads the New York Times from cover to cover’.

bridging text and context

• In a bridging question you will be given a statement which is connected to the story in some way (but it isn’t from the story itself)

• You will be asked to connect the statement to the text and will be asked how it helps you understand the text better by giving examples from the text

sample bridging questions

The question:

Malamud is known for telling stories that have a moral lesson.• How does this information

add to your understanding of "A Summer's Reading"?• Give examples from the

story.

How to answer it:

In this question you have to talk about how the statement helps you understand the moral lesson of the story • education as a key to success, • how to earn respect of others• The dangers of lying ) and give examples from the story• Mr Cattanzara’s sad life because he

didn’t have opportunities, • how the list of books meant that

everyone around him started to respect him

• how George’s lying ultimately made him feel terrible

ok here’s a reminder:

• Learn the text really well. Work in pairs (go through the questions on pages 14-23 in your book (UPP literature program)

• Make sure you understand the deeper meaning of the story and the background to it

• Make sure you understand the HOTS and can use them to talk about the text

• Make sure you understand what a bridging question is and what is expected from you (remember I gave you an example of listening to a song on the radio, then hearing the background to the song and then understanding and appreciating it better after you have the information?)

Good luck!