CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3

Description: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 1A, 1A, 2B, 3A, 3A, 3A, 3B, 3B, 3B, 3C, 5B

Exemplars

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.

Question: Think about what you read. Put these links to a food chain in order, from the first link in the last.
  1. plant
  2. grasshopper
  3. frog
  4. 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

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-7

C-7

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1130 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: When scientists explore the deep sea by submarine, they bump into some creepy characters.
Excerpt: A deep-sea vent is like a geyser, but it is on the ocean floor. It may be a mile or several miles below the surface. A deep-sea vent also blows hot water--hotter than boiling. But it blows the water into the cold ocean. That means the water around a deep-sea vent is much warmer than the rest of the ocean.

The temperature of the deep sea is much too cold for animals.

Question: What would most likely happen if all the deep-sea vents suddenly disappeared?
  1. The temperature of deep ocean water would become colder.
  2. More sunlight would reach the deepest part of the ocean.
  3. Sea creatures would have an easier time finding food.
  4. More sea creatures would start living in the deepest part of the ocean.

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

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-9

C-9

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1237 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: Laura Dekker did what no 16-year-old had ever done before. Some people say no 16-year-old ever should.
Excerpt: Government officials insisted Laura was too young for such a difficult journey and did not have the skills to survive a year alone on a sailboat. They said she must stay home, go to school, and forget about attempting such a trip until she was older.

She thought it was unfair of the government to tell her she couldn't go. In the end, though, there was nothing she could do. She just had to wait.

Question: How did Laura feel when the government prevented her trip?
  1. She was disappointed because she felt the government was being unfair.
  2. She was relaxed because she understood the government's point of view.
  3. She was happy that people were looking out for her and wanted to protect her.
  4. She was angry at the person who told the government about her trip.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Explain why you agree or disagree with the behavior of a character.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-20

C-20

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1338 words
Author: Manny Ruiz
Synopsis: The crocodile is one of the most ancient creatures on Earth. Will it go the way of the dinosaur?
Excerpt: If you do see a crocodile in the water, you may not know what it is. When it floats in a river, it looks just like a log. No one is afraid of a log. By the time you (or some other animal or fish) find out the log isn't a log, it's too late. The crocodile opens its big wide mouth and snap!

Question: A crocodile looks as if it is a log in the water. How is this helpful?
  1. The crocodile can surprise its prey.
  2. The crocodile can float like a piece of wood.
  3. Other animals can ride on the crocodile's back.
  4. Humans will not hurt the crocodile.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write three "why" questions about things that happened in a selection and then answer those questions.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

5B: Examining Sequence

5B: Examining Sequence

Description: Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-1

C-1

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1242 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: Musician Ray Charles wanted to be great, not famous, but he was both.
Excerpt: Ray heard a piano for the first time when he was four years old.

Ray and George did not have an easy time. Their parents worked a lot, but sometimes they did not have enough money to get food. One day, when Ray was five and George was four, George fell into the wash tub and drowned. Ray was not paying attention, and by the time he saw what was happening, it was too late.

Then, more trouble came. Ray started to lose his eyesight. By the time he was seven, he was blind.

When Ray was 10, his father died in an accident at work. Five years later, his mother got sick and died also.

Question: Put these events from Ray's life in the order in which they occurred, from first to last.
  1. Ray heard a piano for the first time.
  2. Ray's younger brother died.
  3. Ray lost his eyesight.
  4. Ray's father died.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a timeline of the sequence of events in a selection.

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."

Question: Which two major contributions did Mr. Lowe make to the war effort?
  1. He sent valuable information on enemy troop positions.
  2. He invented a portable gas generator to fuel balloons.
  3. He wounded his arm in a hot air balloon accident.
  4. He fired on the enemy without even seeing them.
  5. 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

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-11

F-11

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1680 words
Author: Adapted from a story by Lewis Carroll
Synopsis: Alice lets her curiosity get the better of her, as she tumbles into a world of fantasy.
Excerpt: In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how she could possibly get out. The rabbit-hole went straight like a tunnel for some distance. Then it dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself tumbling down a very deep well.

Question: What does Alice's decision to jump into the rabbit-hole tell about her character?
  1. She sometimes overlooks the results of her actions.
  2. She would do anything to help an animal in trouble.
  3. She always weighs the pros and cons of a situation.
  4. She likes to be with others rather than by herself.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you are the main character in a selection you read. Would your emotional reactions to events in the selection be the same as those of the actual character? Explain why or why not.

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-2

F-2

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1760 words
Author: Karen Berman
Synopsis: When traveling, it's good to know the local customs.
Excerpt: Greetings are universal customs, but they are given in many ways. In most major cities around the world, you would never say hello to strangers on the street. Greeting strangers is common in small towns, where not saying hello to everyone you pass might be considered rude. In Muslim countries, however, men and women do not speak unless they already know each other. To do so would be to commit a major etiquette mistake.

Question: Which of the following would be considered an etiquette mistake?
  1. saying hello to strangers on the street in a Muslim country
  2. accompanying a handshake with a smile in South Africa
  3. shaking hands with everyone in the room in Cameroon
  4. asking questions about a person's health in Kenya

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: 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: There are many, many more exoplanets than the eight planets in our solar system. There are 760 so far, and scientists have only just begun to find them. It makes sense to assume that some of these far away planets might be very much like Earth. Some rocky planets probably have plenty of water on their surface, and stay at a temperature between freezing and boiling most of the time. These two conditions could make it possible for Earth-like life to exist.

Question: From what you have read, which of the following is most likely?
  1. Some exoplanets could resemble Earth in their composition and climate.
  2. There are not many more exoplanets than the eight planets in our solar system.
  3. Astronauts are now training for missions to the farthest exoplanet.
  4. We will never know whether exoplanets really exist in our solar system.

Writing
✓ standard met

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

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: F-5

F-5

Grade level: 6
Word count: 1658 words
Author: Ben Robinson
Synopsis: Fencing is an Olympic sport that offers athletes an opportunity to learn the skills of the gladiators.
Excerpt: Times were anything but easy for Keeth. With all the odds stacked against him and so much sadness in his life, he could have very well quit the sport of fencing, but he was not to be defeated. For Keeth, neither quitting nor failure was an option. He devoted himself to the sport of fencing more intensely than ever. He used the training and competitions to distract himself from his grief, and to prove that his parents were right to get him into the sport in the first place.

Question: Which two details contribute to the reader's understanding of Keeth Smart's character?
  1. He never considered quitting or failing.
  2. He put a lot of effort into his training.
  3. He took a break from competitions.
  4. He never was confident in his skills.
  5. He was slow to recognize his potential.

Writing
✓ standard met

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

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

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: Skylar's relationship with Jason, one of the few seniors in Mr. Crawford's American literature class and her boyfriend for the past year, had become noticeably stressed and strained. Jason, meanwhile, glanced surreptitiously at Skylar, joking around with Conner and some other friends on the opposite side of the classroom.

Although their romantic feelings returned, neither of them lost sight of their convictions for the future, and they finally reached a mutual understanding. "I'm not disappointed anymore," Skylar admitted. "I felt rejected at first, but now that we've addressed things, I get your drift, as my parents would say."

Question: Based on what you have read, what could have happened if Jason had complained about being partnered with Skylar?
  1. Jason and Skylar would not have repaired their relationship while in the same class.
  2. Jason would have complained about being partnered with Amanda.
  3. Jason and Skylar would have received a poor grade on their assignment.
  4. Skylar would have complained about being partnered with Jason.

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