6.9.A
Description:
Explain the author's purpose and message within a text.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
5A, 6A, 6B
Exemplars
6B: Recognizing Persuasion
6B: Recognizing Persuasion
Description:
Recognizing Persuasive Devices
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-13
F-13
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1694 words
Author: Kelley Sachs
Synopsis: Non-native plants can often harm the environment when they invade a new area.
Excerpt:
Only so much can be done about invader species as strong as kudzu and bamboo. It takes a lot of work to remove these plants from anywhere they have taken root. With species invasions this powerful, sometimes the only thing a person can do is learn to live with the invader.
Question:
At the end of the selection, what does the author feel is a practical reaction to a strong kudzu invasion?
- acceptance
- anger
- delight
- relief
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Write a newspaper editorial or blog post to support an opinion expressed in a selection you read.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
6A: Recognizing Author's Intent
Description:
Recognizing Author's Purpose
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-45
F-45
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1835 words
Author: Heidi McLean
Synopsis: Many different kinds of people live within the protective walls of a typical Middle Ages village.
Excerpt:
You also notice that there are very few old people. People do not live long lives. Half of the population is age 21 or younger. Many people die from disease. One of the worst of these, known as the Black Plague, swept across Europe in waves in the mid-1300s. This dreadful disease took the lives of half the population, including many children. Childbirth is also a serious health hazard, taking the lives of about one woman in five. A similar percent of babies do not live to see their first birthday.
Question:
How does the author explain the small number of old people in the village?
- by describing some diseases that caused people to die young
- by stating that old people had to leave their homes to find work
- by showing that the rich were treated better than the poor
- by highlighting how villagers treated their oldest members with respect
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
What was the author's primary intent when he or she wrote a selection? What other objectives might the author have had in mind when writing the selection?
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
5A: Examining Text Structure
5A: Examining Text Structure
Description:
Examining Text Structure
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
F-12
F-12
Grade level: 6
Word count: 1756 words
Author: Mike Buchanan and Diane Lang
Synopsis: A lost pet uses every ounce of his energy to find his way home.
Excerpt:
A rabbit bounded across the parking lot and into the shadows of the woods, with Jeff racing after it, barking furiously.
Mom and Dad chased him and called his name, but all we could hear was Jeff barking until it became quiet.
For several days, when I stepped off the bus from school, I expected to see Jeff, but the yard was empty.
The next afternoon, when we took Fluff for her annual veterinarian checkup, Mom explained to Dr. Jacobs how Jeff had run away.
Mom and Dad chased him and called his name, but all we could hear was Jeff barking until it became quiet.
For several days, when I stepped off the bus from school, I expected to see Jeff, but the yard was empty.
The next afternoon, when we took Fluff for her annual veterinarian checkup, Mom explained to Dr. Jacobs how Jeff had run away.
Question:
The narrator of this selection is a
- child.
- mother.
- dog.
- vet.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Explain why an author chose to organize a selection's plot in an unconventional way. What benefits or disadvantages resulted from the action being presented in this way?
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions