NC English II EOC Prep


If you want to grab the tiger by his tail, you had better have a plan for his teeth. We've all been given the orders to have our students succeed on the English II EOC. This site is our plan for dealing with the teeth of this beast. Please feel free to shoot me possible additions to this site. The more we work together, the more prepared we are. KNOW YOUR ENEMY The test: has seven passages (1 poem, 4 informational, two fictional) has an average passage length of five pages will have 45 multiple choice (four choices), 4 constructed response (one is a field test), and 5 technology enhanced questions is completely online some of the multiple choice questions are discrete items (meaning they do not directly relate to the text) This information comes from: 2020 NC EOC English II Test Specifications (edition 5) and from correspondance with DPI Deputy Chief Academic Office Dan Auman. From a Test Question Writer Here are some guidelines that the test question writers had to keep in mind when making the test. Use this as a guide when making your own practice questions. There should not be questions framed in negatives or "everything except". Theme and main idea questions will not focus on one main idea or theme, alone. All questions rigidly adhere to common core standards-- down to the specific skill. If there was an English standard about sequencing and the order of events in a story, we wrote questions for it. If there was a standard identifying multiple themes, we wrote a question for it. The subcategories for the common core standards as they applied to reading fiction and informational texts determined every test item we wrote. What Do the Scores Mean? Note This information is old and I am currently looking for verification that it is still valid. Level 4 Students performing at this level have a superior command of the knowledge and skills contained in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English/language arts as assessed at the end of English II and are academically well prepared to engage successfully in more rigorous studies in this content area. They are on-track to become academically prepared to engage successfully in credit-bearing, first-year English courses or introductory courses requiring college-level reading in a range of disciplines, such as history or the social sciences, without the need for remediation. Level 3 Students performing at this level have a solid command of the knowledge and skills contained in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English/language arts as assessed at the end of English II and are academically prepared to engage successfully in more rigorous studies in this content area. They are on-track to become academically prepared to engage successfully in credit-bearing, first-year English courses or introductory courses requiring college-level reading in a range of disciplines, such as history or the social sciences, without the need for remediation. Level 2 Students performing at this level have a partial command of the knowledge and skills contained in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English/language arts as assessed at the end of English II and will likely need academic support to engage successfully in more rigorous studies in this content area. They will likely need continued academic support to become prepared to engage successfully in creditbearing, first-year English courses or introductory courses requiring college-level reading in a range of disciplines, such as history or the social sciences, without the need for remediation. Level 1 Students performing at this level have a limited command of the knowledge and skills contained in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English/language arts as assessed at the end of English II and will need academic support to engage successfully in more rigorous studies in this content area. They will need continued academic support to become prepared to engage successfully in credit-bearing, firstyear English courses or introductory courses requiring college-level reading in a range of disciplines, such as history or the social sciences, without the need for remediation. Last updated - 2/27/20 Lord Alford's Home Page Site Disclaimer	~~~	Released Forms A paper version of the released English II EOC A link to the online version 2019-2020 Released Test (printable - minus copyrighted items) Exemplars for constructed response section for 2019-2020 released test Online Practice These are links to practices that can help with the online test, but may not be official NC State EOC released material. They are ranked in order of how close they look to the NC EOC. NC Tutorial Online Practice Test ISAT Reading Comp 2013 ISAT Reading Comp 2011 Texas Online Practice Paper Practice These are links to reading comprehension practices that might be useful for classroom practice. EOC Underground - old English I EOC practice materials "Telephone Conversation" English II Supplementary Review Materials Last Minute EOC Tips - this link takes you to the same presentation that you used to get here, but now it is on my Teacher Pay Teachers. Still free! If you like it, please rate it. That's the only payment I ask for. Constructed Response Practices Butcher's "Never Again" Constructed Response 1 (for use with Night) Butcher's "Never Again" Constructed Response 2 (for use with Night) Lesson Ideas For this section I'm hoping that some of you will contribute. If you have ideas, worksheets, web sites (yours or someone else's) that will help to teach these concepts, please shoot them to me at marcus.alford@orange.k12.nc.us. I know that we teach these as part of larger units, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more practices as these tend to show up heavy on the released EOC. Teacher Made Ms. Phillips's EOC Quick Study Plan 2017 Other Common Lit - This is a free program that really ought to be a pay-to-use program. It gives teachers the ability to create classes and assign different reading passages. The passages are different lengths and difficulty and you can choose by genre, theme, grade level, and even pair it up with books you are reading in class. Achieve 3000 - this computer program is a paid program that tracks kids reading levels by their Lexile scores. One of our fellow Beast Slayers (a knight of high ranking) has given her word that it is a program worth the price tag. It uses articles from the AP, so it could even be worked into a nonfiction unit. Plus allows students to work at their own level, so you have differentiation without the fuss. Thanks Tracey! Comparing Texts/Rhetorical Devices from eduweb Rhetorical Devices from VA Study Island - They are designing more and more content specific to the different grade level tests in NC. I got this email and thought I would share it with you guys The short constructed response items on the English II EOC assessment require a brief response of approximately 3-4 sentences. Although the text box offers additional space to type a short answer response, scorers only review for the specific criteria as stated in the question. Additional information not required in the answer does not increase the student’s score. Short constructed responses are not scored for elaboration, support, or detail. Students should not write an essay for short constructed response items, and they must not be led to believe longer responses may receive higher scores. It is permissible to respond in bullets. The key is to answer the question with the specified supporting evidence. Teachers should review the short constructed response items and associated rubrics with scoring criteria found in the 2012-13 released forms paper-and-pencil version with answer key for English II and NCEXTEND2 English II at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/releasedforms to obtain a better understanding of response expectations. The NCDPI recommends schools share the released forms with students before test day. Teachers may wish to specifically address the short constructed response item type and discuss how to respond to these items. Authors: Hope Lung, Dan Auman	~~~~	Other sites in the EOC Underground Network Daily Dose of EOC Extreme English Teacher Blog EOC Forum EOC Underground (the old site that started all this) The Extreme Guide to the NCFE (about to be outdated - they are getting rid of the NCFE!) Extreme English Teacher Store - if you like this page, go to the store, get a freebie, and rate it! Thanks! Concepts Used on the Released EOC When teaching these terms, remember that it is not just identification, it is almost always the effect or purpose of using the term. Fiction Central Idea Characterization Conflict Connotation/Denotation Dialogue Figurative Language Inference Metaphor Objective Summary Oxymoron Personification Point of View Setting Simile Theme Non-Fiction Purpose Rhetorical Question Structure (Ex. - Chronological Order, General Overview) Poetry Couplets Rhyme Scheme Stanza General Antonyms Synonyms Other terms that could appear on the exam: alliteration allusion analogy anecdote archetype dialect exaggeration flashback foreshadowing hyperbole imagery irony – dramatic, situational, verbal mood motivation narrative onomatopoeia paradox parallel structure pun refrain repetition soliloquy symbolism tone understatement unreliable narrator Thanks Brook for this list! What to Focus on This information is based on the style of questions on the released form. How/Why/For what purpose does the author do ___ Inference/Deeper meaning Literary terms What is the effect of _____ Word/Phrase meaning Tone Basic plot information Word replacement Summary As you can see, there is little basic plot, so please make sure your students are well aware that the seek and find method that might have worked in the past is NOT a good technique for this beast. Essays It appears, according to the rubric given for the released test, that these basic elements are looked for in the student's response: Answer the question specifically - if it asks for the theme throughout the poem, stick to one theme that runs throughout the entire poem. Identify the literary term in question - make sure that the student specifically says what that simile or personification is. There is no indication that the definition of the literary term need be given, but it couldn't hurt. Use at least two examples from the text, if possible - test graders love their supporting details. Add analysis- make sure they know this means going beyond summary. Other things that are not specifically mentioned in the rubric, but certainly could not hurt, would be: Include the title of the work, properly punctuated. Work in the author's name. Look for archetypes - they are easy to manipulate to help explain the point. Symbols can be made to mean anything, as long as there is a good reason behind it. Make a comparison to some other book. Allusions make the writer look smarter because they are looking at this on a larger scale. Have good grammar and spelling. While these are not specifically mentioned in the rubric, mistakes may bias the grader into a lower grade. According to my source, these short answers are person graded, not computer graded.