8.5.E
Description:
Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
Maps to Reading Plus skills:
3B, 4C, 8B, 9A
Exemplars
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
3B: Analyzing Plot/Character
Description:
Analyzing setting, plot, and character
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-16
H-16
Grade level: 8
Word count: 1759 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: A Mexican American author draws on her heritage for inspiration.
Excerpt:
Like Cisneros when she was growing up, Esperanza wants to leave her street to pursue a better life. She feels discontented and confined in her family home and notices other women in the same situation. She yearns for a room of her own and a house of which she can be proud.
Question:
Esperanza and Cisneros are alike in that they both
- want to be in control of their own lives.
- take well-paid jobs to support themselves.
- felt contentment during their childhoods.
- can live happily in their family homes.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe a character with whom you empathize, and explain why you feel this way.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
8B: Reasoning
8B: Reasoning
Description:
Reasoning
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-41
H-41
Grade level: 8
Word count: 2036 words
Author: Lucy McNamara
Synopsis: An eye doctor devotes his life to curing avoidable blindness in poor and remote parts of the world.
Excerpt:
The results of the trial showed that patient outcomes after six months were about the same: 98 percent of each group had excellent eyesight. However, Dr. Ruit took only about half as much time to perform each of his surgeries, and more of his patients had normal vision on the first day after surgery. It was clear that his results were equal to, or better than, those at a modern Western hospital, and at a fraction of the expense.
The publication of this trial in a professional journal, combined with Dr. Ruit's live demonstration at the 2008 meeting in Hong Kong, removed any possible reasons for other eye doctors to question the value of Dr. Ruit's cataract procedure.
The publication of this trial in a professional journal, combined with Dr. Ruit's live demonstration at the 2008 meeting in Hong Kong, removed any possible reasons for other eye doctors to question the value of Dr. Ruit's cataract procedure.
Question:
Dr. Ruit invited Dr. Chang to participate in a clinical trial so that other eye doctors
- would adopt his efficient and economical surgical method that yielded excellent results.
- would move to Nepal and open their own eye centers to cure avoidable blindness.
- would raise funds so he could purchase modern equipment like that used in California.
- would nominate him for an award that would bring him international recognition for his work.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
How would you apply what you learned in a selection to your own life?
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
4C: Visualizing
4C: Visualizing
Description:
Visualizing
SeeReader
✓ standard met
Selection:
H-6
H-6
Grade level: 8
Word count: 1907 words
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Synopsis: No one can escape death by hiding behind a mask.
Excerpt:
Now in no one of the seven rooms was there any lamp amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or that hung from the roof. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a metal bowl of fire that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances.
Question:
If you took a tour of the section of the abbey with the seven rooms, you would see
- garish rays of light reflecting off tinted glass.
- elaborate lamps hanging from the roof.
- bright sunlight streaming in through clear windows.
- dark corridors having no source of illumination.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Describe how you relate scenes you visualize from reading with real life scenes. Give examples.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions
9A: Comparing/Contrasting
9A: Comparing/Contrasting
Description:
Compare, Contrast, and/or Integrate
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:
Gram shuffled into the kitchen, tapping her metal cane on the linoleum floor, her brocade lounging jacket hanging loosely over her shoulders. "Please help me into the parlor, Maggie; I hope you'll join me for some tea this afternoon."
A month later, Gram boarded the plane with almost no assistance from Maggie, who had noticed that her grandmother appeared much younger since they had started planning their trip. She was steadier on her feet and her face seemed to have fewer wrinkles.
A month later, Gram boarded the plane with almost no assistance from Maggie, who had noticed that her grandmother appeared much younger since they had started planning their trip. She was steadier on her feet and her face seemed to have fewer wrinkles.
Question:
What do these two excerpts tell you about Gram?
- Gram felt revived by her decision to visit her homeland.
- Gram let her health deteriorate from inactivity.
- Gram was happy to be dependent on her family.
- Gram made a decision to take better care of herself.
Writing
✓ standard met
Writing prompt:
Compare and contrast the views expressed by a fictional character to your own views.
Evaluator
Organization:
Certica Solutions