In a recent comment, jen said this about Robert’s Essential Sentences:
…I love the Essential Sentences! I have not used this as an exam yet, but plan to do this for sure. I actually used it as a sub activity. So great! It is an excellent tool for the teacher to determine how deeply the students are reading and thinking. You can really tell a lot from this in terms of who is still decoding and who is going beyond the text. I think it’s also compelling to students to hone in and think and choose what they think is most essential to the story….
This is important. If you haven’t explored Essential Sentences, and you want to know who is getting into readings at what level, this is a good way to do that. Here is the link to how we do Essential Sentences: