Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress English Language Arts Grade 4

In the art room at Hilltop School in Grand Rapids, the paint pans lived in a deep cart. Ms. Adeyemi asked Farah to tally them before class. A tally is a set of marks used for counting. Farah touched each paint pan once and made a mark for it. She drew three groups of five marks, then two marks alone. She counted five, ten, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. The tally was 17 paint pans.

Those marks counted paint pans. They did not count children. On the whiteboard, under the heading Students, Ms. Adeyemi wrote 21. "Twenty-one students will use paint today," she said. "That 21 is a count of students, not pans."

Nico frowned at the clipboard. "Then the tally is wrong. It should be 21, because 21 students are here." Farah tapped the marks. "These marks are paint pans. I did not make a mark for any student."

They set all 17 paint pans on the tables. Four pairs of students shared a pan. Those eight students used four pans. The other thirteen students each used one pan. All 21 students painted. The tally on the clipboard stayed 17 paint pans. The 21 on the board stayed a count of students.

The fourth grade at Oakdale School in Dearborn acts out this short play. Leila runs a token shop at a desk. Omar is the buyer. Ms. Farouq watches from a chair. A folded card on the desk reads: Pencils are 2 tokens each. Erasers are 1 token.

OMAR: My envelope has 5 tokens. I want two pencils and one eraser.

LEILA: Pencils are 2 tokens, so two pencils cost 2 tokens altogether.

OMAR: The card says each. One pencil costs 2 tokens. Two pencils cost 4 tokens. The eraser costs 1 token. The total is 5 tokens.

Leila looks at the card again. She takes 5 tokens from Omar and gives him two pencils and one eraser.

MS. FAROUQ: The word each means every pencil has its own price of 2 tokens. It does not mean a pile of pencils costs 2 tokens.

A fourth grader at Pine Room School in Grayling wrote this poem after a one-night camp beside the Au Sable River.

The cabin floor ticks when the stove cools. I set my boots with the toes out. My flashlight draws a small moon on the log above my bunk.

An owl asks one question, then another. I do not answer with my voice. I answer by staying still until the questions stop.

At breakfast the river wears fog like a scarf it will not share. I drink cocoa from a blue cup and leave the cup on the hook.

The bus home smells like pine sap. I keep one dry needle in my pocket. Camp was one night long, but the needle can last past Friday.

Harbor School in Mackinaw City took fourth grade to Mackinac Island. Each student held a walk-on ticket. The ticket said Spruce, dock B, 9:15, Mackinac Island.

Two boats waited in the harbor. At dock A, a chalkboard on the car ferry Iron Deck said, Cars to St. Ignace. Iron Deck would not stop at the island. At dock B, a chalkboard on Spruce said, Walk-on passengers to Mackinac Island.

A horn blew at dock A at 9:05. Wes started down that ramp because he thought every boat in the harbor ended at the island. Ms. Quill held up his ticket. "Iron Deck is going to St. Ignace," she said. "Our words are on the other chalkboard: Spruce, dock B, 9:15, Mackinac Island."

They waited. At 9:15 they walked onto Spruce at dock B. Wes looked back at Iron Deck pulling away toward St. Ignace. "A horn is not a destination," he said. Ms. Quill nodded. "Read the chalkboard before you step on."

Pierce School in Empire visited Sleeping Bear Dunes. A wooden boardwalk crossed the sand. A sign at the first step said, Stay on the boards. Dune grass holds the sand. Feet off the boards crush the grass.

Ren pointed at the open slope. "That way is faster. We can run straight down to the water." Mr. Sol shook his head. "The lookout at the end of the boards is the place we came to see. A shortcut off the boards would miss the lookout and would crush the grass."

The class stayed on the boards. The walk ended at the lookout. From there they saw Lake Michigan, wide and blue. Ren kept his feet on the wood. The open slope stayed empty of footprints from their class.

Pier School in Grand Haven walked out to the lighthouse on the south pier. A poster by the gate said, Museum open from 10 to 2. Tower closed for repair.

Ana wanted to climb the tower stairs and take a photo from the top. The guide, Ms. Cho, pointed to a second sign, this one on the tower door. That sign said Closed. The museum door beside it had no closed sign.

"Photos are allowed from the museum window," Ms. Cho said. "They are not allowed from the tower, because the tower stairs are shut." Ana stood at the museum window and photographed the pier. She did not go up the stairs. The tower door stayed shut.

Clark School in Detroit helped a carrot seller at Eastern Market. Mr. Hale set two jobs. "Full crates of carrots go under the awning, to the stall. Empty crates are light, and they are stacked by the alley. Empty crates go to the blue truck. The blue truck takes them back to the farm."

Talia lifted a full crate. It was heavy, and she turned toward the blue truck. Mr. Hale stopped her. "That crate still has carrots. Full crates belong at the stall. The truck is only for empties."

Talia set the full crate under the awning. Then she carried an empty crate from the alley stack to the blue truck. The carrots stayed for shoppers. The empty wood went back toward the farm.

On a cold morning in Marquette, Ridge School sent a phone message with two parts. The first part said, School is open at the normal time, 8:15. The second part said, Buses on the hill route are canceled. Hill-route students need a ride from an adult. Town-route buses still run.

Cole lives on the hill. His little cousin repeated only the first part, so Cole walked to the bus stop and waited. His aunt played the whole message. "The hill bus is not coming," she said. She drove Cole to school. They arrived at 8:15.

Amina lives in town. She rode the town-route bus, which still ran. Cole saw her step off that bus. His own stop had stayed empty. Hearing one part of the message had not been enough.

The library at Thread Street School in Flint kept returned books on a cart. One book, Canoes of the Au Sable, had a paper slip in the front. The slip said, Hold for Maya Chen, Room 12. A hold slip means the book is waiting for the person named on it.

Luis liked the river on the cover and reached for that book. Mr. Brooks, the librarian, touched the slip. "This one is not on the open shelf," he said. "It is on the returns cart because it is being saved for Maya."

Luis chose a different book from the open shelf. That book was Paddles and Maps, and it had no slip. Canoes of the Au Sable stayed on the cart for Maya Chen in Room 12.

Windmill School in Holland planted tulip bulbs in the front bed in October. Ms. Voss told the class the bulbs needed weeks of cold in the ground. After that cold, the tulips would bloom in May.

In January, Elsa wanted flowers for a February party. She asked to dig the bulbs up and keep them in a warm closet. Ms. Voss said no. "The cold is part of the plan. If we dig them up, we stop that plan. The real bulbs stay in the ground."

The February party used paper tulips cut from red and yellow sheets. The bulbs stayed under the snow. In May the class stood by the front bed and saw real red and yellow blooms.

The choir at Harbor Light School in Muskegon learned a song called Lake Song. Around the verse, the music showed a repeat sign: two dots at the start of the verse and two dots at the end. Mr. Berg said the repeat sign means sing that verse twice, then go on to the ending. There is no third time.

Willa sang the verse once and jumped to the ending. She thought the dots were decoration. Mr. Berg tapped the page. "Those dots are an instruction. They send us back to sing the verse again. After the second time, we sing the ending line, We row home."

They tried once more. The room sang the verse, returned to the two dots at the start, sang the verse a second time, and then sang, We row home. Willa waited for the second pass. The dots had work to do.

Kerrytown School in Ann Arbor had a canoe lesson at Gallup Park on the Huron River. Ms. Tran pointed downstream. "We paddle with the current to the blue buoy. We turn around there, before the low bridge. We do not go under the bridge."

Caleb looked at the distance. "The way back is the same length, so it will be just as easy." Ms. Tran shook her head. "The distance matches. The current does not. Downstream, the river pushes us. Upstream, we push against the river."

They turned at the blue buoy. The trip back took longer. Caleb's arms were tired, and the bridge stayed behind them. Equal distance had not meant equal work.

The lost-and-found bin at Bayview School in Petoskey held a blue lunch bag with a lighthouse sticker. A tag sewn inside said, Owen, Room 2.

Harper also liked lighthouses. Her water bottle had a lighthouse sticker, so she told the aide the blue bag was hers. Mr. Shah read the tag out loud. "The sticker is a clue, but the name tag decides," he said.

Harper's own lunch bag was green. The name on it was Harper Cole, Room 18. Mr. Shah handed the blue bag back to Owen in Room 2. Harper kept the green bag with her own name.

On bridge day, Straits Elementary in Mackinaw City walked from the park to the fence at the start of the Mackinac Bridge. The plan was to look at the towers and walk back. The class would not cross to the Upper Peninsula.

Noor had a note for a cousin who lives in St. Ignace. She thought the walk would take her to the other side so she could hand the note over. Ms. Kline said, "Our walk ends at the fence. You can mail the note from the post office next to the park."

They reached the fence, looked at the towers, and returned to the park. The note stayed in Noor's pocket until she and Ms. Kline stopped at the post office. The cousin would get the note by mail, not by a handoff on the far side of the bridge.

Rivard School in Detroit spent Monday on Belle Isle. The map in the teacher's folder had a note: Aquarium closed on Monday. Conservatory open from 10 to 4.

Deon wanted to see the fish. At the aquarium, the door was locked, and the sign on it said closed. A poster in the hall outside showed a large fish. Deon drew that fish on his paper. He did not go inside.

The class went to the conservatory instead. It was open, and they walked under banana plants. The teacher said they could stay until 4, which matched the map. Monday was a plant day. The only fish Deon took with him was the one in his drawing.

At Arcadia School in Kalamazoo, Mr. Lang's class built a clay model of the lakes that touch Michigan. Their chart said Michigan touches four Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. The chart also said Lake Ontario does not border Michigan, so the model would not include it.

Tess pressed a fifth blue patch onto the board and labeled it Ontario. Mr. Lang asked her to read the chart again. "Four lakes touch our state," he said. "Ontario is a Great Lake, and it is still not one of the four on our chart."

Tess peeled the fifth patch off. The model kept four blue shapes, labeled Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. The word Ontario stayed on the chart as a lake that does not border Michigan.

Elm School in Traverse City visited a cherry orchard just outside town. The guide, Ms. Berger, gave the rule before anyone touched a tree. "Pick ripe dark cherries only. Pale pink cherries stay on the trees. Ladders are for workers, not students. Students pick from the low branches."

Imani reached for a pale pink cherry on a high branch. Ms. Berger stopped her hand. "That color is not ready, and that branch is not yours." Imani lowered her arm.

Imani then picked three dark cherries from a low branch and set them in her basket. The basket held only dark fruit. The ladder stayed folded against the shed. Pale cherries remained on the high branches.