R.2
Description:
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
1A, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2A, 2A, 2A, 2A, 2B, 2B, 2C, 2C, 2C, 2C, 2C, 3A, 5B
Exemplars
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-4
C-4
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1243 words
Author: Mary Dunn
Synopsis: Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about the environment while everyone else was asleep.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
What is another good title for this selection?
- Warrior for the Environment
- The Woman Who Loved Birds
- The Cape Cod Shoreline
- Why Chemicals Are Bad
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe three clues in a selection that helped you determine the main idea of the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2B: Analyzing Relative Importance
2B: Analyzing Relative Importance
Description:
Determining Relative Importance
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-25
C-25
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1130 words
Author: Marshif Quoyle
Synopsis: How do green plants matter? Let us (lettuce!) count the ways.
Excerpt:
The links in that food chain begin with a green plant and then go on to insects and worms.
People and other large animals are at the end of many food chains. A food chain ends with an animal that will not be eaten by another animal.
The second link in any food chain is always a creature that eats plants.
People and other large animals are at the end of many food chains. A food chain ends with an animal that will not be eaten by another animal.
The second link in any food chain is always a creature that eats plants.
Question:
Think about what you read. Put these links to a food chain in order, from the first link in the last.
- plant
- grasshopper
- frog
- hawk
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe parts of a selection that held important clues to help you understand what was happening.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2C: Summarizing
2C: Summarizing
Description:
Summarizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-58
C-58
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1452 words
Author: Roberta Bard
Synopsis: After visiting with his friend Peter, Johann makes a discovery that puts soldiers at risk.
Excerpt:
"The British army beat Washington at Brandywine and chased him out of Philadelphia. It's only luck that he's escaped so far. He'll have to surrender soon. He doesn't have any supplies or equipment. His men don't even have uniforms or guns."
"But the Patriots are fighting against the true government," Peter replied. "They are breaking the law."
"But the Patriots are fighting against the true government," Peter replied. "They are breaking the law."
Question:
Read this part from the selection. Which of the following statements best summarizes what Peter believed?
- The Patriots were breaking the law and they would be defeated by the Loyalists.
- The Loyalists were dangerous men.
- The king and the colonists supported one another.
- Washington had a strong army that could not be defeated.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write one paragraph that describes the main information about a selection you read.
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:
F-6
F-6
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1783 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: Flying high over the countryside, spies in hot air balloons could spot enemy troops.
Excerpt:
"My husband has built at least five balloons of different sizes to use as observation posts," explained Mrs. Lowe. "Realizing the need to refuel the balloons frequently, he also invented and operated a portable gas generator that could be transported to positions near the battlefields."
The driver nodded and said, "What did I hear about your sending valuable intelligence reports about Falls Church?"
"That was an exciting encounter. I was in Arlington, Virginia, high above the countryside, and I was able to telegraph intelligence on the Confederate troops so that the Union soldiers could take aim at the enemy and maintain fire on them without even seeing them."
The driver nodded and said, "What did I hear about your sending valuable intelligence reports about Falls Church?"
"That was an exciting encounter. I was in Arlington, Virginia, high above the countryside, and I was able to telegraph intelligence on the Confederate troops so that the Union soldiers could take aim at the enemy and maintain fire on them without even seeing them."
Question:
Which two major contributions did Mr. Lowe make to the war effort?
- He sent valuable information on enemy troop positions.
- He invented a portable gas generator to fuel balloons.
- He wounded his arm in a hot air balloon accident.
- He fired on the enemy without even seeing them.
- He spent most of his time on a barge in the river.
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
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-6
F-6
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1783 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: Flying high over the countryside, spies in hot air balloons could spot enemy troops.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
This selection is mainly about the Civil War and
- some brave people who help the Union spy on enemy forces.
- some children who take a hot air balloon ride in Virginia.
- some Confederate soldiers who are looking for deserters.
- some farmers who hide spies in their barns.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how the same theme is represented in two different selections. Compare/contrast how the theme is represented through characters and events in both selections.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2C: Summarizing
2C: Summarizing
Description:
Summarizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-51
F-51
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1334 words
Author: Barbara D. Krasner
Synopsis: Immigrants to the United States had to pass physical examinations, and a chalk mark on the shoulder indicated their result.
Excerpt:
After several hours, the Palmieris approached the inspectors' desks at the back of the Great Hall. A man checked their tags and spoke to Mama in Italian.
The inspector checked her responses against the information on the ship's manifest. He seemed to be satisfied. One official handed "landing cards" to Mama, Angelina, and her sisters. Feeling relief and excitement, they made their way back downstairs and collected their bags.
The inspector checked her responses against the information on the ship's manifest. He seemed to be satisfied. One official handed "landing cards" to Mama, Angelina, and her sisters. Feeling relief and excitement, they made their way back downstairs and collected their bags.
Question:
According to this part in the selection, what is a "landing card"?
- a document permitting entry into the United States
- a notation in the passenger list of a ship's manifest
- a ticket needed to board the ferry to Ellis Island
- an indication that an immigrant was in good health
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
5B: Examining Sequence
5B: Examining Sequence
Description:
Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-15
F-15
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1649 words
Author: Mike Buchanan and Diane Lang
Synopsis: A student visits Honduras, where the water is clear and the people are friendly.
Excerpt:
Before a group of classmates and I were to set foot on Roatan, many different cultures had lived there. The most famous early inhabitants of the Bay Islands (as Roatan and its neighbor islands of Guanaja and Utila are called) were the Maya, but other people (called the Paya and Lenca) lived there as well.
In the early 1500s, Christopher Columbus sailed into the area and landed on Guanaja. This was tragic for the gentle native people, who had no defense against the diseases that the explorers brought over from Europe.
For many years, Britain and Spain struggled for control of the Bay Islands, but there was another interesting group of people who lived there. Pirates had stayed on the island we were visiting.
In the following decades, people from the Cayman Islands settled on Roatan. Many of them knew how to fish and found the reefs off the coast of Roatan to be prime fishing areas.
In the early 1500s, Christopher Columbus sailed into the area and landed on Guanaja. This was tragic for the gentle native people, who had no defense against the diseases that the explorers brought over from Europe.
For many years, Britain and Spain struggled for control of the Bay Islands, but there was another interesting group of people who lived there. Pirates had stayed on the island we were visiting.
In the following decades, people from the Cayman Islands settled on Roatan. Many of them knew how to fish and found the reefs off the coast of Roatan to be prime fishing areas.
Question:
Put the following in the order in which they came to Honduras, starting with the earliest.
- The Maya settled there.
- Columbus landed there.
- Pirates visited there.
- Cayman Islanders fished there.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write summary paragraphs for a prequel and sequel to a selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2C: Summarizing
2C: Summarizing
Description:
Summarizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-3
F-3
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1579 words
Author: Travis J. Best
Synopsis: Jeremy Lin's road to stardom on the basketball court is unique.
Excerpt:
Gie-Ming would take Jeremy and his two brothers to the local YMCA to run drills every day after school. He made them practice the same things over and over to perfect them. Bird's picture-perfect jump shot. Magic's kickout passes. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar's famous overhead skyhook, something very rare for a guard to perfect. Gie-Ming pushed them hard, but the boys were game; they could not wait to hit the gym and keep getting better.
Question:
Which saying characterized the training Lin received from his dad on the court?
- Practice makes perfect.
- First things first.
- Nice guys finish last.
- It's what on the inside that counts.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Create a news report based on a selection you have read. Report facts from the selection as well as additional facts you researched from reputable sources.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-4
F-4
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1740 words
Author: Kelley Sachs
Synopsis: Some scientists believe life could exist on planets outside our solar system.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
This selection is mainly about astronomers and
- how they are learning about newly discovered planets.
- why they are sure life cannot exist outside our solar system.
- when they think space travel to exoplanets will be possible.
- what they are doing to prove all planets revolve around suns.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Using the Internet or other research tools, find three additional pieces of information that support the main idea stated in the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2B: Analyzing Relative Importance
2B: Analyzing Relative Importance
Description:
Determining Relative Importance
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-1
F-1
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1577 words
Author: Tamara Ellis Smith
Synopsis: A new idea for sneaker soles was inspired by a household item.
Excerpt:
At that time, six people died while mountain climbing in the Swiss Alps, which was partly due to their improper footwear. This inspired a friend of the climbers to create a new shoe sole.
Two years later, he patented his invention of a rubber sole that resisted abrasion and provided superb traction on all sorts of surfaces. In 1954 the first successful climb of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, was made by hikers wearing shoes with these soles.
Two years later, he patented his invention of a rubber sole that resisted abrasion and provided superb traction on all sorts of surfaces. In 1954 the first successful climb of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, was made by hikers wearing shoes with these soles.
Question:
Based on this selection, which shoe characteristic is most important for mountain-climbers?
- traction
- length
- price
- warmth
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
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-11
J-11
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2199 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Skylar and Jason's relationship is already strained when they're paired together for a class project. Will their "no-technology" challenge make them, or break them?
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
What is the main idea of this selection?
- Face-to-face interaction can lead to a personal understanding that technology doesn't always allow.
- We must each find a purposeful path to follow in life that is different from that of our peers.
- Creative teachers provide learning environments that inspire and encourage individual discoveries.
- Teenagers benefit from relationships the most when they date more than one person in high school.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Explain how the author presents a theme in a selection through plot, characters, and setting. Describe the events that embody the theme.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2C: Summarizing
2C: Summarizing
Description:
Summarizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-26
J-26
Grade level: 10
Word count: 2122 words
Author: Jake Gibson
Synopsis: The practice of devising secret codes and developing ways to break them has been around since ancient times.
Excerpt:
Frequency analysis is a method that measures the rate to which certain letters and groups of letters appear in a given language. Using this method can uncover the algorithm used to originally generate that cipher.
Acknowledging the rate to which letters and groups of letters appear in words and sentences, frequency analysis determines patterns where ciphertext letters can be connected to plaintext letters. The patterns are then used to recreate the cipher and then decipher the entire encryption.
Acknowledging the rate to which letters and groups of letters appear in words and sentences, frequency analysis determines patterns where ciphertext letters can be connected to plaintext letters. The patterns are then used to recreate the cipher and then decipher the entire encryption.
Question:
What does this excerpt tell you about cryptanalysis?
- Frequency analysis uses patterns in languages to decipher encryptions.
- Letter frequency differs greatly depending on the language.
- Frequency analysis scans ciphertexts for vowels to discover weaknesses in ciphers.
- Encryptions that use the letters A, E, O, and T are easier to decipher.
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
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
1A: Recalling Explicit Details
Description:
Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
J-34
J-34
Grade level: 10
Word count: 1806 words
Author: Peter Brassai
Synopsis: Hitchcock made dozens of thrillers that demonstrated his mastery of suspense, shock, and menace.
Excerpt:
Hitchcock had a distinctive and decidedly visual style, always emphasizing imagery over dialogue. Critics praised his ability to generate suspense through innovative visual effects, such as montage, oblique camera angles, and cross-cutting between objective shots of a scene and subjective views from an actor's perspective.
Question:
According to the selection, Hitchcock's filmmaking style could be considered "distinctive and decidedly visual" due to his use of which two of the following visual effects?
- montage
- cross-cutting
- fish-eye
- perspective
- zoom
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
1B: Analyzing Implicit Details
1B: Analyzing Implicit Details
Description:
Drawing Conclusions, Making Inferences from information in text
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-48
C-48
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1339 words
Author: Charles Reade
Synopsis: Is there a hidden treasure on an old man's farm? The old man searches even while his neighbors laugh and his wife doubts him.
Excerpt:
"What difference does it make if I cut all the roots?" the old man shouted. "These old trees aren't worth a penny a piece. They are all in such poor condition! All together the do not give us enough good apples to make a living. These trees will make us into beggars! During my father's time, these trees used to produce wagon loads of the very finest fruit. How I wish these trees were all dead!"
Summer passed. Autumn followed. The old man's old trees had more apples than they had ever had before. In fact, the branches of the old trees staggered under their weight of fruit. The old man and his wife sold the apples and made more money than they could ever use.
Summer passed. Autumn followed. The old man's old trees had more apples than they had ever had before. In fact, the branches of the old trees staggered under their weight of fruit. The old man and his wife sold the apples and made more money than they could ever use.
Question:
Which character changes the most, and in what way does the character change?
- The old man changes the most because at first he thinks the trees are worthless, but then he learns they are the treasure.
- The wife changes the most because at first she is looking for the treasure, but then she doubts that it really exists.
- The neighbors change the most because at first they help the old man dig holes, but then they start to laugh at him.
- The stranger changes the most because at first he makes a lot of noise, but later he sneaks away from the old man.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Did the title of this selection provide you with clues about the selection's main idea? Why or why not?
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2A: Determining Main Idea
2A: Determining Main Idea
Description:
Determining Main Idea and Themes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-60
C-60
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1197 words
Author: Jacque Summers
Synopsis: This story tells how one Native American girl found a special way to use the basket she made.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
This selection is mainly about a
- shy girl who discovers a way to communicate comfortably with others.
- grandmother who teachers her granddaughter to speak in a loud, strong voice.
- chief who entertains children with stories about animals.
- new way to make baskets so they are colorful and useful.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe three clues in a selection that helped you determine the main idea of the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
2C: Summarizing
2C: Summarizing
Description:
Summarizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-33
C-33
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1352 words
Author: Caroline Mays Brevard
Synopsis: A young girl has an unexpected visit.
Excerpt:
No excerpt is available for this question.
Question:
The meeting between Betsy and General Washington happened "by chance." This means it was
- a bit of good luck.
- carefully planned.
- a risky thing to do.
- not good timing.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write one paragraph that describes the main information about a selection you read.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
3A: Predicting Outcomes
3A: Predicting Outcomes
Description:
Predicting Outcomes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
C-44
C-44
Grade level: 3
Word count: 1130 words
Author: Erica Cirino
Synopsis: A day at the zoo requires detective work when car keys disappear.
Excerpt:
The next exhibit they searched was the safari exhibit. This was Marco's favorite place in the whole zoo. They hopped on the safari train again. Marco and his dad were so happy that they nearly forgot about the lost keys.
Question:
In the selection, Marco rides on the safari train two times. When he rides on the train, what kind of expression would you probably see on his face?
- a smile
- a frown
- anger
- surprise
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write an email to a friend who has not read the selection. Provide enough information about the selection's characters, settings, and events so your friend is able to predict what happened in the selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions