1. NJ HSPA LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment

2. Two Sections Language Arts Literacy Mathematics

3. Writing –Expository –Persuasive Reading –Narrative –Persuasive

4. Close Reading http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/docum ents/CloseReading.html http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/docum ents/CloseReading.html –Observe patterns –Come up with your own questions & look for answers –Determine author’s purpose –Look for evidence –Offer your evaluation

5. Writing-Expository 30 minutes Replacing the picture prompt/narrative writing section Expository Essay… http://www.stanford.edu/~arnetha/expowrit e/info.html http://www.stanford.edu/~arnetha/expowrit e/info.html http://www.stanford.edu/~arnetha/expowrit e/info.html Five paragraph essay = Yes!

6. Writing-Persuasive 60 minutes Persuasive Essay… –Agree or disagree –Text, history, personal experience, fictional? http://www.hhs.helena.k12.mt.us/Teacherli nks/Oconnorj/persuasion.html http://www.hhs.helena.k12.mt.us/Teacherli nks/Oconnorj/persuasion.html

7. Reading-Narrative 50 minutes 10 multiple choice 2 open-ended

8. Reading-Narrative cont’d Questions –Point of View and perspective (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd in addition to thoughts and feelings) –Infer meaning of figurative language –Best definition of word (connotation & denotation) –Best description of character (direct & indirect characterization)

9. Reading-Narrative cont’d –Tone of author –Theme –Plot…conflict, climax, resolution –Best strategies to use to answer another question –Grammar…italics, quotation marks, parentheses

10. Reading-Persuasive 45 minutes 10 multiple-choice 2 open-ended

11. Reading-Persuasive Questions –Decide main point of text or section of text (best out of several choices) –Identify fact v. opinion –Identify facts that support or refute author’s opinion