Portfolio Task #4: Maze and Cloze Assessments

Read the following Cloze and Maze Assessments. Identify the errors and explain
each.

Cloze Assessment
Story: Edited from George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

“I’m going shopping _______ in the village”, George’s mother said to George on
Saturday morning. “So be a good _______ and do not get _______ to mischief”.
This was a silly _______ to say to a _______ boy at any time _______ it immediately
made him _______ what sort of mischief _______ might get up to.
“_______ forget to give your Grandma her medicine at eleven _______”, the mother
said. Then _______ she went, closing the _______ behind her.
Grandma, who _______ dozing in her chair, __ one wicked little eye _______ said, “You
heard what _______ mother said, George. Don’t f_______ my medicine!”
“No, Grandma”, _______ said.
George was very, _______ , very bored. He did _______ have a brother or _______. His
father was a _______ and the farm they _______on was miles away _______ anywhere,
so there were _______ any children to play _______. He _______ tired _______ staring
_______ pigs and hens and cows and sheep. And he was especially _______of having to
live _______ the same house as _______ grizzly old cranky Grandma. L_______ after her
all by _______ was hardly the most _______ way to spend Saturday _______.
“Make me a nice _______ of hot tea!”, Grandma _______ to George. “That’ll keep
_______ out of mischief for _______ few minutes”.
George did not like _______. She was a grumpy _______ woman. She had pale _______
teeth and a small puckered-up _______ like a dog’s bottom.
_______ Grandmas are lovely, _______, _______ older ladies, but not _______ one.
Definitely not this one. _______ was a special sort of Grandma.
Errors: Review your notes about the rules related to developing a Cloze assessment.
Then, using that knowledge, find the various errors in this Cloze, and explain why each
one is an error.
Sample Sentence From The Passage That
Contains an Error
“I’m going shopping _______ in the
village”, George’s mother said to George
on Saturday morning.
_______ was a special sort of Grandma.
Don’t f_______ my medicine!”
. L_______ after her all by _______ was
hardly
“_______ forget to give your Grandma
her medicine at eleven _______”,
staring _______ pigs and hens and cows
and sheep.
, __ one wicked little eye _______ said,
“You heard what _______ mother said,
George.
The number of blanks is 49
Explain Why This Is An Error
This is incorrect because when
constructing cloze assessments, we type a
passage with the beginning and last
phrases with all the punctuation present
(Mactaggart, 2023). In this cloze, first and
last sentences have missing words and
they are not complete.
These blanks start with the first letters of
the deleted words, and this is wrong. The
first letter becomes a clue itself to the
student (Mactaggart, 2023). We should
not include a clue.
This sentence is wrong because the first
word is missing. We should substitute a
blank for every fifth word in a sentence
when making a cloze (Mactaggart, 2023).
The sentence is wrong. The deleted word
is not a word that gives meaning to the
context. When deleting a word, we
should try to choose a content word that
gives the sentence meaning, such as a
noun, a basic verb, or an adjective
(Mactaggart, 2023).
This sentence contains a mistake as the
length of the blanks should be the same,
so the student does not have any clue of
short or long word. We should make all
the blanks the same length to avoid the
blank line's size turning into a suggestion
in and of itself (Mactaggart, 2023).
The blanks are confusing, and the student
will find difficulty filling them because
 each sentence has more than one blank.
Moreover, they are less than 50. In the
cloze, we should stop after 50 blanks
(Mactaggart, 2023).
*you may add more rows to the table, if needed.
Maze Assessment
Story: Edited from George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

“I know exactly what I’ll do!” (bought, thought, think) George. “I will make Grandma a
new (medical, medicine, medal), one that is so strong, so (fierce, farce, freeze), and so
fantastic that it’ll either (cup-holder, cure, drive) her completely or blow off the (top,
tie, tan) of her head! I’ll make her a (rabbit, technology, magic) medicine, one no
doctor in the (wonder, world, fold) has ever made before!”
George quickly (looked, changed, sauntered) at the kitchen clock. It said (ten, hen,
letter) to eleven. There were a few (misses, pillows, minutes) left before Grandma’s
next dose. George (knew, flew, blue) what to do. He took an enormous (mailbox,
saucepan, winter) out of the cupboard and placed (it, at, shy) on the table.
“George!” came the (shrill, skill, shark, spill) voice from the next room. “What (where,
are, why) you doing?”
“Nothing Grandma”, George sweetly (replied, answered).
George knew what to do. He (would, willow, carp) put everything he could find into (sit,
his, isn’t) magical medicine pot. The only important (window, rule) would be this: if it
was (runny, thunder, round) or powdery or gooey, in it (wind, wet, went).
Nobody had ever ever made a (marvellous, marshmallow, medicine) like this before. If
it didn’t (cure, cute, kite) Grandma of her grouchy ways, it (wood, would, wild) at least
cause some exciting, unexpected (reaction, results, outcomes). It would definitely
without-a-doubt be worth watching!
First, he went upstairs to the (bathroom, basement, chartered). Up he went, carrying
the large (envelope, elbow, saucepan). He opened the medicine cabinet and (dumped,
different, drove) in everything he could find. A (shouted, tube, table) of toothpaste. A
can of superfoam (shaving) cream. Half a bottle of nail (polish, crayon, forever)
remover, and a full jar of (leg, hair, type) remover. George carried the (bridge,
venomous, enormous) saucepan downstairs and trotted into the (life, laundry, helper)
room, where there were of all (kids, knight, kinds) of (dangerous, dandelion, dingo)
and (exciting, exiting, exist) household (mittens, mighty, items). He added in powdery
washing-machine (detergent, difficult, garage), guaranteed to make grime disappear!
He (added, divided, preached) a big tin of floor polish (butter, better, because) the label
read, Removes Filth and (Fort, Foul, Figure) Messes and Leaves Everything Shiny and
(Bright, Lights, Ripple). “Perfect”, thought George, as he happily (played, plonked,
smile) it into the pan.
“George!” came Grandma’s (screechy, secret, suntan) voice from the next room. “What
(are, bat, aired) you up to in there?”
“Nothing! (Buttery, Effortless, Absolutely) nothing”, he called back.
“Is it (together, forever, yesterday) for my medicine yet?”
“No, Grandma. (Another, Brother, Forget) few minutes”.
“Well, don’t forget it!” (sing, shouted, sock) his cranky Grandma.
“I won’t”, George (anyway, always, answered). “I promise I won’t”.

Errors: Review your notes about the rules related to developing a Maze assessment.
Then, using that knowledge, find the various errors in this Maze, and explain why each
one is an error.

Example of Error From Passage Explain why this is an error

I know exactly what I’ll do!” (bought,
thought, think) George.
This sentence is wrong because it is the
first sentence, and it should be complete.
We should not include any choices in the
first sentence. While typing a paragraph
in the maze, we always leave the first
sentence and all punctuation in tact
(Mactaggart, 2023).

Number of words are 453 The passage should include

approximately 150-400 words
(Mactaggart, 2023), while here we have
453 which is an error when we create a
maze.

“George!” came the (shrill, skill, shark,
spill)
- The only important (window, rule)
would be this.
A can of superfoam (shaving) cream.
These sentences are wrong because they
don’t include three choices. In the maze
reading test, three options are given in
place of words that have been removed
from a passage. (The correct word and

- unexpected (reaction, results,
outcomes).
-George sweetly (replied, answered).
and (exciting, exiting, exist) household
He (would, willow, carp) put everything
he could
*you may add more rows to the table, if needed.
two distractors) (Mactaggart, 2023).
This is wrong because both sentences
have choices that give the same meaning
and can complete the sentence if any
chose. In the maze, we should have two
distracter other than the correct word,
and neither of the distractors can
complete the sentence’s meaning
(Mactaggart, 2023).
This sentence is wrong because two
choices are rhyming. One distractor
should be close to the correct choice
word (verb, noun, adjective), while the
other distractor should be randomly
chosen (Mactaggart, 2023). The three
words are visual cues, and they can
distract the student.
The sentence here is wrong because the
second word is substituted with three
choices. While in the maze, we should
substitute every seventh word with three
choices (Mactaggart, 2023).
 References

Mactaggart J. (2023). Assessment Module 9 [PowerPoint Slides]. Oakville, Ontario

https://slate.sheridancollege.ca/d2l/le/content/1055596/viewContent/13610913/View