CCRA.R.3
Description:
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
1A, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2A
Exemplars
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
Description:
Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-4
K-4
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2496 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: A skilled snowboarder takes a big chance when he cruises the slopes in avalanche territory.
Excerpt:
As the pilot's words filled me with hope, I perused the steep chutes and precarious descents for signs of my brother. But, honestly, I suspected the worst. I knew avalanches most often kill by suffocation. There is air even in dense avalanche debris, but it is unattainable if the victim's mouth and nose are plugged with snow. Even if the victim can draw a breath, his exhalations will begin to make any available air less accessible by coating the snow surface around his mouth with ice.
Question:
Choose the sentence in this excerpt that gives the most likely explanation for why people suffocate in an avalanche.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Create a new graphic organizer that indicates a selection's main idea, characters, and supporting details, and how these three areas intersect.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
1B: Analyzing Implicit Details
1B: Analyzing Implicit Details
Description:
Drawing Conclusions, Making Inferences from information in text
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-6
K-6
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2418 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: After a serious football injury, Sam gets a highly trained monkey that not only assists him physically but helps him emotionally.
Excerpt:
Quitting her job to become his full-time caregiver, Mrs. Hayward erected a shrine to Sam in the living room, decorating the fireplace mantel and nearby shelves with his football and soccer trophies.
She tirelessly prepared his favorite meals, but nothing could alleviate Sam's dark moods as the family almost drained its finances to bring in physical therapists to rehabilitate Sam. Because he had lost all hope, his improvement was slow.
She tirelessly prepared his favorite meals, but nothing could alleviate Sam's dark moods as the family almost drained its finances to bring in physical therapists to rehabilitate Sam. Because he had lost all hope, his improvement was slow.
Question:
Why did Sam's mom display his trophies in the living room?
- to demonstrate he had the ability to show determination and courage
- to remind him that he can rejoin his teams when he gets better
- to show visitors that he had been a star athlete before his injury
- to motivate him to do the same vigorous exercises he once did
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how you arrived at conclusions about a selection's main idea and characters if information about these text elements was not directly stated.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-11
K-11
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2375 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Acceptance and compassion go a long way in helping people with Tourette Syndrome.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
What is the main idea of this selection?
- People with Tourette Syndrome need understanding and acceptance from friends, relatives, and the general public.
- Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder for which there are some medical treatments but no known cure.
- Children suffering from Tourette Syndrome should have a place to go to sympathize with one another.
- People with Tourette Syndrome can learn to control their repetitive movements and sounds.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
(Theme: relationships) Describe a character who struggled with society or family and how/if that struggle was resolved.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
Description:
Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-2
K-2
Grade level: 11
Word count: 2158 words
Author: Karen Berman
Synopsis: Horseshoe crabs survived the Ice Age and play a key role in coastal ecosystems.
Excerpt:
Another distinctive anatomical feature is the horseshoe crab's ten eyes. Two are located on the underside of the crab and the rest on the shell. The tail also has an anatomical feature called photoreceptors, which are sensitive to light and dark. Even with all of this anatomical equipment, however, the horseshoe crab's vision is not very good. Yet another anatomical oddity is the crab's blood, which is blue due to its copper content. By comparison, human blood is red, because of its iron content.
Question:
What are two distinctive features of the horseshoe crab's anatomy?
- Its tail is sensitive to light and dark.
- It has ten eyes, located on both sides of the shell.
- It uses its legs like flippers to swim.
- It can see its prey from a long distance away.
- Its mouth has a wide jaw and strong teeth.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Create a website for a non-fiction selection you read. Include the main idea and supporting details. Include images that would help viewers of your website better understand the topic.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
K-5
K-5
Grade level: 11
Word count: 1987 words
Author: Kathy Menard
Synopsis: Left-handed people do have to make some accommodations in their lives in order to perform everyday tasks.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
What is the main idea of this selection?
- Although they are a minority, left-handed people can thrive and become successful.
- Left-handed people experience many inconveniences because the world is geared toward right-handed people.
- The myths and superstitions about left-handed people are unsupported by evidence.
- It is essential that parents and teachers help children accept their left-handedness from an early age.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Is it necessary for every selection to have a main idea? Develop an argument and use evidence from selections you have read to provide supporting evidence.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions