8R3
Description:
Key Ideas and Details
In literary texts, analyze how particular lines of dialogue or events propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. In informational texts, analyze how individuals, events, and ideas are introduced, relate to each other, and are developed.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
3A, 3B, 3C, 3C, 5B
Exemplars
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?
- so the bombers could avoid damaging them during air raids
- so the bombers could destroy the sites before the Nazis did
- so there would be photographs to help reconstruct any destroyed sites
- 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
5B: Examining Sequence
5B: Examining Sequence
Description:
Examining Sequence of Ideas and Events
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-22
H-22
Grade level: 8
Word count: 1857 words
Author: Peter Brassai
Synopsis: Your sense of small can tell you a lot about the world around you.
Excerpt:
When you smell a flower, for example, you really are smelling the odor molecules, called esters, evaporating from the flower.
So how do you tell one smell from another? Part of the answer lies in the space behind your nose, where millions of tiny smell receptors are located. Each receptor is encoded by a specific gene that enables it to distinguish certain odor molecules. When these smell receptors are stimulated, they send signals to your brain. The brain then interprets the signals as a smell you may recognize -- like the smell of chocolate-chip cookies. Scientists believe the brain can recognize as many as 10,000 different smells.
So how do you tell one smell from another? Part of the answer lies in the space behind your nose, where millions of tiny smell receptors are located. Each receptor is encoded by a specific gene that enables it to distinguish certain odor molecules. When these smell receptors are stimulated, they send signals to your brain. The brain then interprets the signals as a smell you may recognize -- like the smell of chocolate-chip cookies. Scientists believe the brain can recognize as many as 10,000 different smells.
Question:
Put the process of how the nose identifies a smell in the correct order, starting with the first.
- Odor molecules travel through the nose.
- Smell receptors send signals to the brain.
- The brain interprets signals from smell receptors.
- The brain recognizes a familiar smell.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Create a timeline of the sequence of events in a selection. Use the Internet or other research tools to find other historical events that occurred during the same timeframe and incorporate the dates on your timeline.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
3A: Predicting Outcomes
3A: Predicting Outcomes
Description:
Predicting Outcomes
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-9
H-9
Grade level: 8
Word count: 1657 words
Author: Ben Robinson
Synopsis: Germs are everywhere so it's a good idea to have a plan of protection.
Excerpt:
After the athletic director and Coach Carter were notified, new policies to arrest the spread of MRSA and prevent future contamination were adopted. All athletes were checked and those who showed signs of infection received treatment. The mats had to be washed after every practice and meet to eliminate any residue from perspiration. In addition, all wrestlers were required to wash their hands with soap or hand sanitizer in the bathroom before and after practice. Finally, all team members had to wash their uniforms after every use.
Question:
How could Steve's case of MRSA be viewed as something positive?
- New policies were enacted to prevent its spread to others.
- Wrestling team members were provided with new mats.
- Infected members were barred from watching sports events.
- Bathrooms were cleaned and inspected at regular intervals.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe a selection that had a cliffhanger ending and explain why you were unable to predict the ending from context clues.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
Description:
Analyzing setting, plot, and character
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-32
H-32
Grade level: 8
Word count: 2030 words
Author: Anna Fisher
Synopsis: Many people escaped from East Germany through tunnels under the Berlin Wall, but some did not make it.
Excerpt:
"It's the anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall," Gram unexpectedly remarked, as Maggie started back into the kitchen. "Do you know about the wall that separated West Berlin from East Berlin?"
Maggie paused and faced her grandmother. "Of course, Gram, we studied the Cold War in history class. People from the eastern side couldn't escape, while those on the western side were free."
Then, one day, we watched as members of the Soviet militia brought out rolls of barbed wire, stringing it along the east-west border. Living conditions had worsened in East Germany, as the economic situation became bleak; in fact, government officials forced people to work on state-owned farms because there was a food shortage.
Maggie paused and faced her grandmother. "Of course, Gram, we studied the Cold War in history class. People from the eastern side couldn't escape, while those on the western side were free."
Then, one day, we watched as members of the Soviet militia brought out rolls of barbed wire, stringing it along the east-west border. Living conditions had worsened in East Germany, as the economic situation became bleak; in fact, government officials forced people to work on state-owned farms because there was a food shortage.
Question:
In which two ways were the lives of people in East Berlin different from those in West Berlin?
- East Berliners could not travel freely to and from the area.
- East Berliners experienced shortages of food.
- East Berliners were not permitted to get an education.
- East Berliners had to turn in all their valuables to the government.
- East Berliners had no means of sending letters through the mail.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
How could an author use a change in setting to show the journey of a fictional character from innocence to maturity? Give an example from a selection you have read.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect
3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect
Description:
Analyzing Cause and Effect
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-34
H-34
Grade level: 8
Word count: 2065 words
Author: Claire O'Connell
Synopsis: The pressure is on Lucas. He is the only one of his brothers left to take over the family fishing business.
Excerpt:
Lucas Tanner scratched a mosquito bite on his arm and then cast his line. "Saw the rest of the riggers go out to Minette Point this morning, so I guess we'll be the only fishing smack in Oyster Bay."
Mr. Tanner wrenched a dead shrimp from his barb, threw it over the side of the skiff, and hooked the curve of his Eagle Claw into an eyelet. "There's too much competition unless we find more remote inlets. After the oil spill of 2010, it's been near impossible to make a living, especially with your brothers off truck driving.
Mr. Tanner wrenched a dead shrimp from his barb, threw it over the side of the skiff, and hooked the curve of his Eagle Claw into an eyelet. "There's too much competition unless we find more remote inlets. After the oil spill of 2010, it's been near impossible to make a living, especially with your brothers off truck driving.
Question:
Choose the sentence in this excerpt that indicates why Lucas and his father decided to fish in Oyster Bay.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Give an example of how recognizing cause and effect helped you better understand the plot development of a selection.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions