NJSLSA.R3

Description: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 1A, 3A, 3C, 5B, 6A, 9A

Exemplars

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

Description: Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-10

G-10

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1735 words
Author: Jack London
Synopsis: Stolen from his home, Buck has to rely on his instincts to survive.
Excerpt: The Judge was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers' Association, and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club, on the memorable night of Manuel's betrayal. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. With the exception of one man, nobody saw them arrive at the little station known as College Park, where the man talked with Manuel, and money changed hands between them.

Question: Based on the selection, which two factors helped the kidnapper get away with Buck undetected?
  1. The Judge was attending a meeting.
  2. The boys were organizing a club.
  3. The gardener's helper didn't show up for work.
  4. The day was cold and snowy.
  5. The train station was far away.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List two to four supporting characters in a selection and explain their relationship to the selection's main protagonist.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-12

G-12

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1893 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: A plan has been made to trick the Frost King to return the hammer, but will it work?
Excerpt: The hammer was safe once more in Asgard, and you and I know how it came to be there, so someone must have told. I wonder if Loki whispered the tale to some outsider after all.

Question: From this last paragraph, you can conclude that
  1. Loki probably told this story to someone else.
  2. Thor and Loki became best friends.
  3. Loki never played another trick in Asgard.
  4. Thor was sorry he had followed Loki's plan.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe three things that happened in a selection and how they foreshadowed subsequent events.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

5B: Examining Sequence

5B: Examining Sequence

Description: Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-9

G-9

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1662 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: Will a plan to fly out of prison be successful?
Excerpt: In his hiding place in a shady forest on the mountains he fashioned light wooden frames. He decked them with feathers, until at length they looked like the wings of a great eagle. On the first day that he fastened them to his back and spread them out, Daedalus found that he could fly even as the bird flew.

Having tested one pair, Daedalus made a second pair for Icarus. Circling round him like a mother bird that teaches her nestlings to fly, Daedalus showed Icarus how he might best soar upwards to the sun or dive down to the blue sea.

Question: Put the sentences in the order that describes the steps Daedalus took after he constructed a wooden framework for wings.
  1. He covered the wing frame with feathers.
  2. He tested the wings to make sure they worked.
  3. He made another pair of wings for Icarus.
  4. He showed Icarus how to use the pair of wings.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Explain how the sequence of events in a selection built suspense or led to the selection's conclusion.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6A: Recognizing Author's Intent

6A: Recognizing Author's Intent

Description: Recognizing Author's Purpose

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-4

G-4

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1872 words
Author: Mike Buchanan and Diane Lang
Synopsis: A teenager learns to view her life in a new light.
Excerpt: Olivia peered into her closet for something different to wear. She searched for an outfit that would make her less visible and selected a plain white tee shirt and blue, straight-legged jeans.

"Well," her mother said at breakfast, "I like the new look."

"I made a decision to change my appearance, big deal."

Question: The author mentions that Olivia changed her style of dress to show that she
  1. did not want to stand out and become a target for mean comments.
  2. wanted her mother to like the way she was dressing for school.
  3. did not care what her friends thought about her clothes.
  4. needed her mother to realize that her clothes were outdated.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write a paragraph about a selection that changed your opinion about a person, topic, or event.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9A: Comparing/Contrasting

9A: Comparing/Contrasting

Description: Compare, Contrast, and/or Integrate

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-12

G-12

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1893 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: A plan has been made to trick the Frost King to return the hammer, but will it work?
Excerpt: "I am sure Loki is at the bottom of this mischief!" Thor cried, but Thor was mistaken. It was not Loki who had stolen the hammer, for he was too great a coward for that. Meanwhile Loki was on his best behavior, trying to appear very kind and obliging when Thor came rumbling and roaring up to him, demanding, "What have you done with my hammer, you thief?"

"Look, how storms rage and winds howl in the world below," said Loki. "Someone is wielding your thunder-hammer all unskillfully. Who could it be but Thrym, the mighty giant who has ever been your enemy and your imitator?"

Question: What do these two excerpts tell the reader about Thor and Loki?
  1. They each react differently when a problem arises and needs solving.
  2. They both are thinking of the same person as the cause of this problem.
  3. They each believe that it was the other one who misplaced the hammer.
  4. They both think a show of force is the best way to solve a problem.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Compare and contrast two stages of a fictional or real person's life. Use details from a selection you have read to illustrate and explain your answer.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-18

G-18

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1668 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: Nature has been busy creating shimmering sculptures deep in the Earth.
Excerpt: Years later, in the same Cave of Crystals, workers found another room filled with sparkling crystals. This new chamber had glistening cauliflower-shaped forms, so they named it the Ice Palace. Although it is a wonder to see, no visitors are allowed inside this cave because it gets so hot.

Question: The Ice Palace mentioned in this selection does not allow visitors because
  1. its hot temperature is life threatening.
  2. it is more than 100 miles long.
  3. it is so cold that the floors are covered with ice.
  4. its stalactites are in danger of falling.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe the cause and effect relationship in a selection you read.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions