RL.9.2

Description: Determine the theme(s) or central idea(s) of a text and analyze in detail the development over the course of the text, including how details of a text interact and build on one another to shape and refine the theme(s) or central idea(s); provide an accurate summary of the text based upon this analysis.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 2A, 2B, 2C

Exemplars

2A: Determining Main Idea

2A: Determining Main Idea

Description: Determining Main Idea and Themes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: I-7

I-7

Grade level: 9
Word count: 1833 words
Author: Charles Dickens
Synopsis: A young orphan, whose life's expectations are dim, meets a strange man while visiting his parents' graves in the village churchyard.
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: This selection is mainly about
  1. a young boy who has a frightening experience while visiting his parents' graves.
  2. a poor boy who has to take care of his younger brother after their parents die.
  3. an orphaned boy who is forced by a young sailor to work on a pirate ship.
  4. a brave boy who feeds an old man, who has abandoned his ship.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List three supporting details from a selection and explain how those details helped you determine the selection's main idea.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

Description: Determining Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: I-10

I-10

Grade level: 9
Word count: 1732 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: You can learn a lot of interesting things about ancient people from their bones.
Excerpt: When a map of Florida appeared on the screen, students thought it must be a mistake, but Professor Linus pointed to a town in the central part of the state labeled Titusville, which he described as one of the most significant archeological sites in North America. The land being developed was a bog and had, at one time in the past, been used as a cemetery. The peat in the region had preserved the skeletons of about 168 prehistoric people buried there.

Question: Based on this excerpt, what was the most unusual aspect of the Titusville site?
  1. It was a bog that preserved prehistoric bodies.
  2. It appeared on a map of the central part of Florida.
  3. It was being developed by a construction company.
  4. It had been used in the past as a vacation resort.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a Facebook fan page for a selection. Include the most important information to share with fans.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2C: Summarizing

2C: Summarizing

Description: Summarizing

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: I-36

I-36

Grade level: 9
Word count: 2302 words
Author: Erica Cirino
Synopsis: Brothers want to see a new pirate film, but they don't have enough money. Will their plan to get the money work out?
Excerpt: Being an honest kid, the next day I divulged the whole thing to Mom and Dad, while naturally Jared never told them about what happened that night on the Gannet--he, unlike John and I, really had fun on our pirate adventure. John and I were punished for starting the trouble, and we never did get to go to the cinema that month. One night while we were grounded, Mom and Dad took Jared to the cinema and told him he could pick any film to watch. He picked the new Adventures of Captain Red Beard film, of course.

Question: Fables are stories that teach readers a lesson. Which idiom below best summarizes the message conveyed in this fable?
  1. Crime does not pay.
  2. They are all in the same boat.
  3. He pulled the wool over their eyes.
  4. Never give up.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you are an attorney. Prepare a summation of a selection you have read to present to a jury for deliberation.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions