Practice Performance Task: Garden of Life
- In Part 1 you will examine several sources about gardening. Then, you will answer three questions about what you have learned.
- In Part 2, you will write an argumentative article about school gardens for your school newsletter.
Steps you will be following:
In order to plan and compose your essay, you will do all of the following:
1. Examine several sources.
2. Make notes about the information from the sources.
3. Answer three questions about the sources.
Directions for Beginning:
You will now examine several sources. Take notes because you may want to refer to your notes while writing your article. You can re-examine any of the sources as often as you like.
Notes (you can use the handout in class or take notes on the PDF)
Notes Handout- if completing electronically, download and save as to English folder.
Source Information:
Stimulus #1
Read this article about a school garden program.
by Jeannine Pao, from Appleseeds Magazine.
Copyright ©November 2001 by Carus Publishing Company.
Stimulus #2
Read this experiment about making compost, which is very similar to dirt. Compost is made by combining materials such as leaves, leftover vegetables, and grass clippings. After sitting for a certain amount of time and being stirred about once a week, these materials break apart, mix together, and start to look like dirt. The compost can then be added to dirt to give food to plants.
by Hallie Warshaw with Jake Miller, from Get Out! Outdoor Activities Kids
Can Enjoy Anywhere (Except Indoors). Copyright © 2001 by Orange Avenue, Inc.
Stimulus #3
Watch this video about the costs involved in starting a community garden.
“Community Gardens: Typical Costs” video by Kansas Healthy Yards and Communities.
Questions About the Resources:
Respond in paragraph form using CER (claim, evidence, and reasoning). You can only submit once, so be sure you proofread BEFORE submitting!
PART 2 (70 minutes)
Student Directions:
You will now have 70 minutes to review your notes and sources, plan, draft, and revise your article.
You may use your notes and refer back to the sources. You may also refer to the answers you wrote to questions at the end of part 1, but you cannot change those answers.
Now read your assignment and the information about how your article will be scored, then begin your work.
Part 2 Prompt:
Article Scoring:
Your article will be scored on the following criteria:
1. Statement of Purpose/Focus – how well you clearly state and maintain your focus? How well did your ideas logically flow from the introduction to conclusion using effective transitions? How well did you stay on topic throughout the article?
2. Elaboration of Evidence – how well did you provide evidence from the sources to support your opinions? How well did you elaborate with specific information from the sources you reviewed? How well did you effectively express ideas using precise language that was appropriate for your audience and purpose?
3. Conventions – how well you follow the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling?
Now begin work on your essay.
Manage your time carefully so that you can:
plan your article
write your article
revise and edit for a final draft
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