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AS.R.4

Description: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 3A, 5A, 5A, 6A, 6B, 6C

Exemplars

5A: Examining Text Structure

5A: Examining Text Structure

Description: Examining Text Structure

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: HiB-23

HiB-23

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1133 words
Author: L. Frank Baum
Synopsis: Dorothy is in for a most unusual ride.
Excerpt: When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes. They turned her eyes a serious gray. They had taken the red from her cheeks and lips. They were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots. He looked stern and solemn. He rarely spoke.

Question: Based on this excerpt, the color gray is repeated to give the idea that Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are
  1. serious.
  2. happy.
  3. confused.
  4. energetic.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Why would an author choose to tell a story that does not follow chronological order? Use an example from a fictional story you have read to support your argument.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6A: Recognizing Author's Intent

6A: Recognizing Author's Intent

Description: Recognizing Author's Purpose

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-68

B-68

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1004 words
Author: R. Bender
Synopsis: While walking around her house, Kayla discovers that people need to use math all the time.
Excerpt: Kayla sighed. "Dad, why do I need to learn math? No one uses math outside of school."

Question: Read this part from the selection. Why did the author use the word "sighed" in this part?
  1. to show that Kayla is upset
  2. to prove that Kayla is happy
  3. to explain why Kayla likes math
  4. to demonstrate that Kayla is afraid

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List all the things you like about a selection. Then explain which of these reasons are based on fact and which are based on opinion.

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

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-5

B-5

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1000 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: The English language is full of sayings that don't mean what they say.
Excerpt: Its history goes back a long way. In the 1500s, houses had roofs made of straw. Cats and dogs usually slept outside, not in the house. On a cold, rainy night, they went up to the roof. They snuggled under the straw. It was the only place where they could get warm. But wet straw can be slippery, so sometimes the cats and dogs fell off the roof. People looked out their windows and said, "Look! It's raining cats and dogs!" Today we say "it's raining cats and dogs" when it rains really hard.

Question: What might have happened if goats, rather than cats and dogs, sat on roofs in the rain?
  1. The idiom would be "it's raining goats!"
  2. It would rain even harder.
  3. People would panic when it started to rain.
  4. The idiom would be "where are the cats and dogs?"

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Use a selection you have read to finish this statement: "If only (a character) had done (this action) instead of (this action), then (make a prediction about what might have happened)." Use details from the selection to explain and support your prediction.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

5A: Examining Text Structure

5A: Examining Text Structure

Description: Examining Text Structure

SeeReader
~ standard partially met

Selection: B-11

B-11

Grade level: 2
Word count: 1026 words
Author: Tracey Baptiste
Synopsis: What makes a good pet? Loyalty? Friendliness? Fur?
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: How does the author organize the information in this selection?
  1. Things are compared to see how they are similar or different from one another.
  2. One problem is presented and many possible solutions are described.
  3. Information is presented randomly and is not organized.
  4. Events are described in alphabetical order.

Writing
~ standard partially met

Writing prompt: Explain an author's use of description in a selection, and how the description shaped the way you viewed and understood the person, object, or event described.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6B: Recognizing Persuasion

6B: Recognizing Persuasion

Description: Recognizing Persuasive Devices

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: B-34

B-34

Grade level: 2
Word count: 931 words
Author: Jan Mader
Synopsis: Marian Anderson changed the world with her voice.
Excerpt: Anderson became more and more famous with each passing year. In 1961, she sang the national anthem at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Two years later, President Kennedy awarded Anderson the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award goes to very few people--those who have made a major contribution to the well-being, peace, or culture of the United States. No one deserved it more.

Marian Anderson died in 1993 at age 96. She always believed her voice was a gift, one that she should share with the world.

Question: An opinion is a person's judgment about something. An opinion may or may not be based on facts. In this part from the selection, which phrase is the author's opinion?
  1. "no one deserved it more"
  2. "she sang the national anthem"
  3. "the award goes to very few people"
  4. "became more and more famous"

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Give examples of selections you have read that create a mood through the setting, feelings of characters, and choice of words.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions