ELPAC Reading Domain Task Types 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Grade 3 ELPAC Reading task shows a fable and asks the student what lesson the story teaches. Which comprehension skill is targeted?
- Decoding multi-syllabic words
- Identifying the moral or theme of a literary text (Correct answer)
- Counting sentences in each paragraph
- Locating the author's name
Correct answer: Identifying the moral or theme of a literary text
Identifying the moral or theme of a fable is a literary comprehension skill that the ELPAC assesses in its literary text tasks.
Question 2: Which ELPAC Reading task type would most likely ask a student to read a science article and answer questions about cause and effect?
- Read Literary Text
- Read Informational Text (Correct answer)
- Read and Compare Texts
- Read and Interpret Visuals
Correct answer: Read Informational Text
Science articles are informational texts, and cause-and-effect relationships are a key comprehension focus within the informational text task type.
Question 3: On the ELPAC, a student reads a passage and then answers questions using only information stated directly in the text. This tests which skill?
- Making inferences
- Identifying literal comprehension / explicit information (Correct answer)
- Summarizing an author's opinion
- Evaluating the author's style
Correct answer: Identifying literal comprehension / explicit information
Questions requiring answers stated directly in the text assess literal or explicit comprehension, a foundational ELPAC Reading skill.
Question 4: An ELPAC Reading task includes a map with a legend and asks students which region has the most rainfall. What is being assessed?
- Reading a literary narrative
- Interpreting a visual/graphic element (Correct answer)
- Comparing two informational texts
- Identifying figurative language
Correct answer: Interpreting a visual/graphic element
Reading a map with a legend to answer a factual question is a classic example of the ELPAC's 'Read and Interpret Visuals' task type.
Question 5: Which feature of ELPAC Reading tasks ensures they are appropriate for English learners at different proficiency levels?
- All tasks are identical regardless of grade
- Tasks are scaffolded with supports such as glossed words or sentence frames (Correct answer)
- Tasks are only given orally
- Tasks avoid academic vocabulary entirely
Correct answer: Tasks are scaffolded with supports such as glossed words or sentence frames
ELPAC tasks are scaffolded with grade-appropriate supports like glossed vocabulary to ensure accessibility across proficiency levels.
Question 6: A student is asked to read two short stories with the same setting but different characters and answer questions about the differences. Which ELPAC task type is this?
- Read Informational Text
- Read and Interpret Visuals
- Read and Compare Texts (Correct answer)
- Read Literary Text
Correct answer: Read and Compare Texts
Comparing two texts — even if both are literary — falls under the 'Read and Compare Texts' task type on the ELPAC.
Question 7: In ELPAC Reading, what does it mean when a question asks for an 'inference'?
- The student copies a sentence from the text
- The student uses clues in the text plus background knowledge to figure out something not directly stated (Correct answer)
- The student defines a vocabulary word using a dictionary
- The student counts the total number of words in a passage
Correct answer: The student uses clues in the text plus background knowledge to figure out something not directly stated
Inference questions require students to use text clues and reasoning to draw conclusions about information not explicitly stated in the passage.
ELPAC Reading Domain Task Types 3
A Grade 3 ELPAC Reading task shows a fable and asks the student what lesson the story teaches.
Which comprehension skill is targeted?