Study Guide

Field 079: Cherokee 
Sample Reading Comprehension Assignment

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Test Directions for the Reading Comprehension Assignment

[ start bold Note to examinee: end bold  These test directions are provided here to familiarize you with the directions you will see on the actual test. They may refer to features whose functionality is not enabled in this study guide.]

This section of the test consists of a reading comprehension assignment. You will read a passage and respond in writing to the assignment that is presented. Remember to provide details to support your response.

 start bold Your response may be written in either English or the target language. end bold  This should be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work. You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. If you choose to respond in English, type your response in the response box presented on-screen. If you choose to respond in the target language, your final response must be written on the response sheet provided. Please label your response sheet with the appropriate assignment (e.g., "Reading Comprehension"). Your response sheet must be scanned using the scanner provided at your workstation.

 start bold Instructions for scanning your response sheet are available by clicking the "Scanning Help" button at the top of the screen. end bold 

Your response to the reading comprehension assignment will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

 start bold LITERAL COMPREHENSION: end bold   accuracy and completeness in comprehending literal content of written language

 start bold INFERENCE: end bold   demonstrated ability to infer information implied in a reading passage, including subtleties such as tone

Any time spent responding to the assignment, including scanning the response sheet(s), is part of your testing time. Monitor your time carefully. When your testing time expires, a pop-up message will appear on-screen indicating the conclusion of your test session. Only response sheets that are scanned before you end your test or before time has expired will be scored. Any response sheet that is not scanned before testing ends will  start uppercase NOT end uppercase  be scored.

Sample Reading Comprehension Assignment

subarea roman numeral 2 
Reading Comprehension

 start bold Read the story below about a young man named Flying Squirrel. Then complete the assignment that follows. end bold 

ᏕᏫ ᎤᏍᏗ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎠᎫᏣ ᎨᏎᎢ. ᎤᎸᏉᏕᎢ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏅ ᎤᏛᎪᏗ ᎠᏏᏃ ᎤᎵᏍᏓᏴᏗᎢ. ᎢᏳᏓᎵᎭ
ᏑᏕᏗᏴᏓ ᏂᏕᎦᎵᏍᏔᏁᎬ, ᏧᎾᏛᏐᏅ ᎤᏓ ᎤᎾᏕᏗ ᎡᎲᎢ. ᏓᎾᏘᏁᎬ ᏩᏃᏏᏴ ᎠᏂᏫᏅ
ᏓᏂᏴᏗᎲᏃᎦᎸᏉᏗ ᎤᎾᏓᏁᎸ, ᎠᎴ ᏓᏁᏲᎲᏍᎨ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏅ ᎠᎴ ᎪᎯᎦ ᏄᎵᏍᎳᏂᏙᎸ
ᎤᎾᏓᏈᎬᎢ. ᎯᎠᏃ ᏗᎧᏃᎮᏗ ᎤᏕᎵᏓ ᏕᎨᏎᎢ. ᎬᏂᏃ ᎪᎱᏍᏗ ᏱᏚᏍᏆᎸᎰᎾ, ᏗᎧᏃᎮᏗ
ᏓᏂᏃᏎᎮᎢ ᎫᎾᏑᏰᏛ ᎠᎾᏛᏓᏍᏗᏍᎩ. ᎤᏒᏃ ᎨᏥᏃᏫᏎᎮ, ᎤᎿ ᎦᎸᏉᏗ ᎤᎾᏓᏁᎸᎢ.
ᏱᏚᎾᏛᏓᏍᏔᏃᎿ, ᎠᏂᏫᏅ ᎠᎹ ᎤᏪᏴᎢ ᎠᏁᎬᎢ ᎠᎴ ᏗᎾᏓᏅᏫᏍᎽ ᏕᎬᏩᏂᏣᎳᎪᏍᎬ
ᏂᎬ ᏘᏂᏰᎸᎢ ᎪᎳ ᏘᏓᏣᎳᎪᏍᏙᏘ ᎠᏅᏘᏍᎨᎢ. ᎾᏊᏃ ᎦᎵᏉᎩ ᎢᏳᏩᎪᏘ ᎨᏥᏅᏗᏍᎬ
ᎠᎹ ᏈᏪᏴᎢ ᏴᏓᎵᏃ ᏄᏓᎴᏃ ᎠᏓᏙᎵᏍᏗ ᏂᏓᏂᏪᏍᎬᎢ. ᏕᎨᏥᏣᎳᎪᏒᎢ ᏅᎶᏒᏍᏘ
ᎡᎯᏍᏘ ᎨᏎᎢ, ᎠᎴ ᎪᎯᏓ ᎠᏳᏇᎵᏙᎮᎢ ᎤᏓᏗᏫᏍᏘᎢ, ᎠᏎᏃ ᎩᎳ ᎠᏛᏍᎩ ᎫᎵᏨᏇᏍᏘ
Ꮭ ᏇᏰᎯᎶᏍᎨᎢ. ᎠᎾᎵᎮᎵᎬ ᎤᏂᎩᏟᏲᏍᏗᎢ.

ᎯᎠ ᏫᎬᏩᏟᏇᎶᎯᏍᏗ: ᏅᎩᏟᏲᎬᎾ ᏱᎩ, Ꮭ ᎪᎱᏍᏗ ᏱᎧᎾᏉᎪᎢ.

Write a brief response in which you:

Remember to provide details to support your response. Your response may be written in either Cherokee or English. If you choose to respond in Cherokee, you may write either in the syllabary or in phonetic script. Within your response, however, you must write consistently either in the syllabary or in phonetic script.

Sample Strong Response to the Reading Comprehension Assignment

 start italics Please note: The sample response provided below is for review purposes only and should not be used in a response on an operational exam. end italics 

Flying Squirrel was chosen to listen to the stories because he liked listening to stories, and was of good enough character to be taken with the other young men to go to the sacred lodge.

After listening to the stories in the lodge, the young men were taken to the river, where the medicine men scratched them with a scratcher made of bone. Then they were dipped in the river while prayers were made.

The young men who participated in this ceremony were strong in spirit, stoic, and brave. Even though the scratches hurt and took a long time to heal, they did not complain.

Performance Characteristics for the Reading Comprehension Assignment

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the reading comprehension assignment.

Characteristics that guide the scoring of responses
LITERAL COMPREHENSION accuracy and completeness in comprehending literal content of written language
INFERENCE demonstrated ability to infer information implied in a reading passage, including subtleties such as tone

Scoring Scale for the Reading Comprehension Assignment

Scores will be assigned to each response to the reading comprehension assignment according to the following scoring scale.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
Score Point Score Point Description
4  start bold The "4" response reflects a thorough application and strong command of the performance characteristics for the reading comprehension assignment. end bold 
  • The candidate demonstrates thorough understanding of the literal content of the reading passage, including significant details.
  • The candidate accurately infers implied information, even if this information is subtly conveyed in the text.
3  start bold The "3" response reflects a general application and command of the performance characteristics for the reading comprehension assignment. end bold 
  • The candidate demonstrates understanding of the main idea of the passage but misses some details.
  • The candidate shows some ability to infer information from the text but may misinterpret some subtleties.
2  start bold The "2" response reflects a partial application and limited command of the performance characteristics for the reading comprehension assignment. end bold 
  • The candidate shows partial understanding of the main idea but does not understand significant supporting ideas and details.
  • The candidate demonstrates limited ability to make inferences from the text.
1  start bold The "1" response reflects a weak application and little or no command of the performance characteristics for the reading comprehension assignment. end bold 
  • The candidate does not extract the main idea from the passage, demonstrating comprehension only of isolated words and phrases.
  • The candidate does not make any inferences implied in the text.
U  start bold The response is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, not written in the required language, not of sufficient length to score, or merely a repetition of the assignment. end bold 
B  start bold There is no response to the assignment. end bold