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RI.8.3

Description: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 3B, 3C, 9B

Exemplars

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: H-16

H-16

Grade level: 8
Word count: 1759 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: A Mexican American author draws on her heritage for inspiration.
Excerpt: Like Cisneros when she was growing up, Esperanza wants to leave her street to pursue a better life. She feels discontented and confined in her family home and notices other women in the same situation. She yearns for a room of her own and a house of which she can be proud.

Question: Esperanza and Cisneros are alike in that they both
  1. want to be in control of their own lives.
  2. take well-paid jobs to support themselves.
  3. felt contentment during their childhoods.
  4. can live happily in their family homes.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe a character with whom you empathize, and explain why you feel this way.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: H-31

H-31

Grade level: 8
Word count: 1705 words
Author: Luke Cooper
Synopsis: After World War II ended, the Monuments Men helped return looted treasures to their rightful owners.
Excerpt: The MFAA began its mission by drawing up lists of monuments and other important cultural sites and providing them to Allied forces. For example, in Florence, Italy, which is home to some of the greatest art treasures of Europe, the MFAA provided Allied forces with aerial photographs marked with key cultural sites. These photos helped pilots avoid damaging the sites during bombing raids.

Question: Why did the Monuments Men provide Allied bombers with aerial photographs of key cultural sites?
  1. so the bombers could avoid damaging them during air raids
  2. so the bombers could destroy the sites before the Nazis did
  3. so there would be photographs to help reconstruct any destroyed sites
  4. so the photographs would not fall into the hands of the Nazis

Writing
✓ standard met

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

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9B: Classifying

9B: Classifying

Description: Classify

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: H-64

H-64

Grade level: 8
Word count: 1684 words
Author: Ellen R. Braaf
Synopsis: So where did dogs come from? Scientists have narrowed down the dog's ancestors to a single species—the gray wolf.
Excerpt: During the last Ice Age, about 60,000 to 12,000 years ago, ancient humans and wolves had much in common. They were hunters who shared the same lands and competed for the same prey. And both lived in well-organized social groups.

Question: Which list of words best describes the similarities between wolves and ancient humans?
  1. hunters, territorial, organized, social
  2. gatherers, peaceful, messy, aloof
  3. scavengers, dangerous, smart, quick
  4. vicious, aggressive, productive, lonely

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List three of your personal interests. By using the Internet or visiting a library, find five books that relate to each of those interests. Label the books as fiction or non-fiction and indicate how each book relates to an interest.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions