Title I - Stafford Public Schools

CMT Ideas
for Stafford Students

In fourth grade your child will take the Connecticut Mastery Test for the first time. Many parents are interested in what types of tasks their child will need to be able to do. This web page gives specific examples of items that your child might see on the test, and is meant to be a supplement to The Connecticut Mastery Test …Student Skills and how results are reported. That brochure is distributed by the State of Connecticut in 4^th grade and explains the components of the test. A more complete packet of examples can be obtained at your child’s school.

Writing

Your child will be given a writing prompt in fourth grade. The prompt will ask students to tell a story about an experience. The story will be scored by two teachers who will each give it a score of 1 – 6 for a total possible 12 points.

Score point 6 papers are well-developed narratives
Writers expand on all key events and characters
The story is fully elaborated with specific details
There is a strong organizational strategy
Clear sequencing is present
The story is fluent.

The Language Arts teacher at your school can show you actual examples of each of the 12 score points. The state goal for proficient writing is a score point of 8.

In addition, your child will be asked to revise and edit passages with numbered sentences. For example, your child may be asked to read a letter and answer a question such as:

How would you edit the underlined part of sentence 2?

They’re

Their

There

Sentence 6 is poorly written. Which of these is the BEST way to rewrite it?

Reading

Reading is evaluated in two different ways. One is the DRP and the other is the Reading Comprehension sub-test.

General information about the contents of these tests is included in The Connecticut Mastery Test…Student Skills and how results are reported. A few sample questions are included below.

DRP

All plants need food. They take food from the earth. But a few plants eat meat. These plants are ________1________. One of these special plants is called the Venus flytrap.

A) thin

B) round

C) wet

D) yellow

E) unusual

For the Reading Comprehension sub-test, students are asked to read a passage and answer question. The questions might be multiple choice or open-ended. Students traditionally have more difficulty with the open-ended items. Here are a few examples.

Forming an Initial Understanding

What could be another title for the story? Use information from the story to explain your answer.

Developing an Interpretation

Think about someone you have read about or seen on TV who was able to get over difficulties to reach a goal. Explain how that person was like the main character in this story.

Demonstrating a Critical Stance

What will the team PROBABLY do next? Use information from the story to explain your answer.

Math

The Mathematics Content Standards and Strands are listed in The Connecticut Mastery Test…Student Skills and how results are reported. Below are a few examples of the types of items that students generally have difficulty with. The complete packet has many more items.

Which means the same as 44?

What fraction of the letters are lower case?

Lester sold 39 candy bars. ABOUT how many is that?