CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.3

Description: Key Ideas and Details Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 2B, 3B, 3C, 6C, 9A, 9B

Exemplars

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

Description: Determining Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-56

B-56

Grade level: 2
Word count: 965 words
Author: R. Bender
Synopsis: A clever rat finds a way to hide from an angry cat. He cuts the fur from every rats' tail!
Excerpt: "The cat knows my tail is bare," the rat thought. "All the other rats in this village have fur on their tails. The cat can easily spot me." The rat wondered what he should do. But he was a wise rat. He soon had a plan.

Question: In this selection, which character is the wisest?
  1. the rat
  2. the cat
  3. the cook
  4. the cook's wife

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List two characters from a selection and explain why one of those characters is more important to the plot than the other character.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-30

B-30

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1093 words
Author: Adapted from a story by Michael H. Levitt.
Synopsis: The best leader isn't always the biggest or the strongest.
Excerpt: "So you think Dakota's mask is funny," said someone behind them. Everyone turned. It was Maka, the tall village chief.

"No, Maka," the kids said.

Maka added, "All kinds of animals come together. For this one night, they are all friends."

The kids were silent, listening to Maka. "Tonight is the night that animals will come together. We must be ready to help them pick their king. Our village will come together just as the animals do. We will all work and play together."

Question: Which two of the following statements about Maka are correct?
  1. He was not happy when the other children made fun of Dakota.
  2. He was a tall man who was the village chief.
  3. He agreed that Dakota was too small to make a wolf mask.
  4. He told Dakota to catch the wolf and bring it to the village.
  5. He forced the wolf to become the leader of the animals.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe a character from a selection, including how he or she looks, something the character might say, and the kinds of books this character might like to read.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-51

B-51

Grade level: 2
Word count: 573 words
Author: R. Bender
Synopsis: There is an important lesson to be learned in a farmer's fields.
Excerpt: The third kind of plant was flax. The farmer's family did not eat it. So why did he plant it? Flax plants grew tall. In the fall, the farmer would cut them. Then the farmer would use dried flax to make nets.

Why did the farmer need nets? He used them to trap birds. During the winter, the farmer's family did not have much food. The farmer used nets to trap birds so his family could eat.

Question: Why did the farmer plant flax seeds?
  1. So he would be able to feed his family in the winter.
  2. So the birds would have plenty to eat.
  3. Because his farm animals needed food to eat.
  4. Because they grew faster than other kinds of seeds.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Choose a selection you read in which one character's mood changed the moods of other characters. Use details from the selection to describe the mood changes..

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

6C: Recognizing Mood/Tone

Description: Recognizing Mood and Tone

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: HiB-52

HiB-52

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1105 words
Author: Herodotus
Synopsis: Croesus was a powerful king. Solon was a wise man. One day, Croesus asked Solon, "Who is the happiest man?" Solon's answer is not what Croesus thought it would be.
Excerpt: King Croesus had everything that could make him happy. He had lands and houses and servants. He had fine clothes to wear and beautiful things to look at. He could not think of anything that he needed. "I am the happiest man in the world," he decided.

Many years passed. King Croesus was much older and much richer. At that time, another king rose to power in Asia. His name was Cyrus. Cyrus was the head of a great army. He marched through one country after another. He took over many a rich and old kingdom. Croesus, with all his wealth, could not defeat the mighty Cyrus. King Croesus' city was taken. His great palace was burned. His gardens and stables were destroyed. His many fine things were carried away, and he himself was thrown into prison.

Question: Read this excerpt. The change in the Croesus' mood from the first paragraph to the second can best be described as moving from
  1. happy to sad.
  2. weak to strong.
  3. interested to bored.
  4. lonely to joyful.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe how you felt when you read a selection. Were you happy, sad, or did you feel something else? Explain why the selection made you feel this way.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9A: Comparing/Contrasting

9A: Comparing/Contrasting

Description: Compare, Contrast, and/or Integrate

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-52

B-52

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1249 words
Author: R. Bender
Synopsis: This old story teaches a lesson about listening to good advice.
Excerpt: They boy had never seen the bear look so nice. "Where are you going?" the boy asked.

"Don't go! Don't go!" cried the boy. "If you do you will never come back! You have the most beautiful fur in the world. It is the kind of fur that people want to use as a rug. The people at the wedding will be sure to harm you and take your fur."

"Where are you going?" the boy asked the wolf.

"Don't go!" said the boy again. "Your fur is so thick and warm. Winter is not far off now. The people at the wedding will harm you. They will take your fur."

Next the boy met the fox.

"You look very fine!" said the boy. "Are you going to the farmer's wedding?"

"You poor fellow," said the boy. "Take my advice. Stay at home. The farmer's dogs will tear you to pieces. They will be harming you to get your fur."

Question: In what way are the bear, the fox, and the wolf alike?
  1. They all are in danger of being harmed by the people at the wedding.
  2. They all change their minds about going to the wedding after talking with the boy.
  3. They all got up early to brush their fur before the wedding.
  4. They all met the boy for the first time when they went to the wedding.
  5. They all decided to ignore the boy's advice and go to the wedding.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: How is the life of a character in a selection similar to (or different from) your own life?

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9B: Classifying

9B: Classifying

Description: Classify

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: HiB-20

HiB-20

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1134 words
Author: Frank Scott York
Synopsis: Myles meets a mysterious swimmer while on a camping trip with his friends.
Excerpt: "I thought you'd be out there looking for her," he said, smiling. "No luck today?"

Myles stared at him. "I just left her," he said. "She lives in that big house on the other side of the lake."

The old man's smile faded. "No one has lived in the house across the lake in 10 years, not since the day the girl vanished." He shook his head. "I've been standing here watching you swim alone in the lake," he said. "There was no one else in the water but you."

Myles turned and looked out over the water. The sun was high now, and the girl was gone, somewhere in the brightness of the glittering lake.

Question: There are many ghost stories in cultures all over the world. Many ghost stories have strange things that happen in them, and they often take place in a lonely or quiet area with old buildings nearby. This selection can be called a ghost story because it tells about a
  1. girl whom only certain people see, a quiet lake, and an old, empty house.
  2. deep forest, a popular general store, and a man who tells stories.
  3. young man, a busy vacation spot, and a bad accident.
  4. camping trip, a bad decision, and three friends who run out of food.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: What makes a character a hero or a villain? List the names of characters who are heroes or villains and explain why they belong to that group. The characters can be from fiction or non-fiction texts.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions