CAASPP Practice Grade 8 ELA

Required

1

A student is writing an editorial for the student newspaper about the effects of watching television. Read the draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.

Highlight two sentences that are not relevant to the student's argument and so should be deleted.

Television has become part of many people's everyday life. While there is such a thing as too much television viewing, it is not something that needs to be eliminated completely. Each year, television manufacturers and broadcast companies make new products like high-definition screens and on-demand program selection. People's lives are busier than ever. After a long day at school or on the job, people need to unwind. Watching a show can achieve the relaxation that people are looking for. A comedy or sporting event can act as entertaining stress relief. Additionally, the full schedules of most households leave little room for family time. Again, television can be the answer. A program that all family members enjoy can be one of the few times in the busy week that can be set aside to be together. News programs also provide information to stay updated on current events. When used correctly, television offers a chance for relaxing and bonding.

Required

1

A student is writing a narrative for her English teacher about a recipe gone wrong. The student wants to revise the draft to better organize its details. Read the draft of the narrative and complete the task that follows.

Recipe Gone Wrong

The recipe was simple enough: flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, and milk; what could go wrong? I gathered the dry ingredients and dumped them in the mixing bowl; flour floated in the air, sticking on my lips and lashes. Many types of flour exist, but I chose bread flour because it is high in protein.
Cracking the eggs was much more difficult than I had expected. Shell pieces floated in the bowl, and I used my fingers to pick them out one by one. Eventually, all the ingredients were amassed and ready inside my mixing bowl. My mixer is a swanky, bright blue stand-up type with a large bowl-very impressive, if I do say so myself. As soon as I turned it on, sticky yellow batter flew from the bowl and dotted the counters, cabinets, and me. "How do you turn this thing down?" I yelled to Mom in the next room.

Click on the two sentences that are distracting or interrupt the flow of the narrative.

The recipe was simple enough: flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, and milk; what could go wrong? I gathered the dry ingredients and dumped them in the mixing bowl; flour floated in the air, sticking on my lips and lashes. Many types of flour exist, but I chose bread flour because it is high in protein. Cracking the eggs was much more difficult than I had expected. Shell pieces floated in the bowl, and I used my fingers to pick them out one by one. Eventually, all the ingredients were amassed and ready inside my mixing bowl. My mixer is a swanky, bright blue stand-up type with a large bowl—very impressive, if I do say so myself. As soon as I turned it on, sticky yellow batter flew from the bowl and dotted the counters, cabinets, and me. "How do you turn this thing down?" I yelled to Mom in the next room.

Required

1

A student is writing a presentation for social studies class about a famous person. Read the draft of the presentation and complete the task that follows.

Sojourner Truth was a woman whose ideas were advanced for the time in which she lived. After escaping slavery, she often spoke at women's rights conventions. At the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851, Sojourner Truth gave a speech that she had not written down or practiced, but it would become famously known as her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech. Her powerful, on-the-spot speech inspired the crowd with ideas of women being intelligent and strong, both physically and mentally. The 19th Constitutional amendment, which gave women the right to vote, did not pass until almost 40 years later.

Choose the best way to revise the underlined phrase so that the presentation maintains a consistent tone.

Required

1

Click on the two sentences that contain errors in spelling.

Required

1

Select the two sentences that are punctuated correctly.

Required

1

A student is writing a research report about pandas in captivity, in areas such as zoos and wildlife preserves. Read the sentences from her report and the directions that follow.

Pandas are an endangered species that have fascinated people the world over for centuries. Pandas live in the mountain ranges of China. Although the Chinese government has been able to protect a portion of the panda's habitat, much of the animals' land has been used for farming or has been clear-cut and used for land-development purposes. Currently there are as few as 1,600 pandas living in their natural habitat of China. With the declining population of pandas, biologists and researchers have found it necessary to try raising pandas in captivity. Currently there are approximately 300 pandas living in captivity around the world, mostly in China. Raising pandas in captivity is a challenge.

Select two sources that would most likely give the student more information for the paragraph from her report.

Required

1

A student is writing a research report about long-term memory for a science class. She found a trustworthy source. Read the source and the directions that follow.

Source 1: "A Study on Changing Memories"

In this study on how memories are constructed participants were told a story about a girl whose family trip was cancelled. In the story the girl's friend noticed how upset she was, so he threw a party for her on the day she would have left. After hearing the story half of the participants in the study were asked about how the girl must have felt. The other half, meanwhile, answered questions about her friend and why he threw the party.

One week later the study participants were asked to retell the story they heard. Most of the participants forgot some details and invented others. The participants that answered questions about the girl's feelings were more likely to invent details about how sad she felt. However, the participants who were asked about her friend were more likely to make up details about the plans he made for the party.

The student found another source. Highlight two sentences in Source 2 that support the information presented in Source 1.

Source 2: "A History of the Brain"

Most people think they have accurate memories. Years of research have shown that we "rebuild" our memories, and to rebuild them we fill in the gaps with things that seem right. For example, we sometimes change memories to fit our beliefs. If I feel that I am a caring person, I may remember being more helpful than I really was on a certain day. Other times, if we think a lot about one part of a memory, we exaggerate how much we really know about it. Lastly, we can be tricked into remembering something that did not happen if we once heard someone claim that it did.

Required

1

A student is writing an argumentative report about dogs learning words. She found possible sources for her report. Read the sources and the directions that follow.

Source 1: "Researchers Test Dog's Vocabulary" by Joshua Ellish, science reporter

Studies have found that some dogs can learn and remember new words almost as well as a three year-old child. In 2004, Scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Animal Anthropology found that a border collie named Rico understood at least 200 words. They put 10 objects in a room and told Rico to fetch one of the objects. When he brought the object back, they told him to put it in a box or to give it to somebody. Rico performed the task correctly almost every time. Next, researchers put an object Rico had never seen in a room with six of Rico's familiar toys. Then they told him to fetch the new object using an unfamiliar name. Rico returned with the correct object most of the time. To succeed, Rico needed to rule out the familiar objects. Then he needed to decide the remaining object must be the unfamiliar one.

Source 2: "Chaser's Amazing Vocabulary" by Aria Hapgood, pet columnist

A researcher read that a border collie named Rico had learned the names of 200 objects. He then taught his own border collie, Chaser, the names of over 1000 objects. Chaser could both find the correct object and place it where she was told. She would fetch and deliver objects in response to different commands. Chaser never tired of performing her training and tests.

The student wrote some claims to use in her report. Look at the claims in the table. Decide if the information in Source 1, Source 2, both sources, or neither source supports each claim. Click on the box that appropriately describes each claim. There will be only one box selected for each claim.

	Source 1	Source 2	Both sources	Neither source
Claim 1: Dogs may be able to reason.
Claim 2: Dogs can learn and understand words for both objects and actions.
Claim 3: Border collies can learn more words than other dog breeds.

CAASPP Practice Grade 8 ELA

A student is writing an editorial for the student newspaper about the effects of watching television. Read the draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.Highlight two sentences that are not relevant to the student's argument and so should be deleted.

Click on the two sentences that contain errors in spelling.

Select the two sentences that are punctuated correctly.

A student is writing an editorial for the student newspaper about the effects of watching television. Read the draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.Highlight two sentences that are not relevant to the student's argument and so should be deleted.

Click on the two sentences that contain errors in spelling.

Select the two sentences that are punctuated correctly.

A student is writing an editorial for the student newspaper about the effects of watching television. Read the draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.

Highlight two sentences that are not relevant to the student's argument and so should be deleted.

A student is writing an editorial for the student newspaper about the effects of watching television. Read the draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.

Highlight two sentences that are not relevant to the student's argument and so should be deleted.