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4.7.G

Description: Discuss specific ideas in the text that are important to the meaning.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 1A, 1A, 1B, 1B, 3B, 3C, 4B, 9B

Exemplars

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

Description: Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-4

D-4

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1384 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: Animals use their tails in endless ways--from talking to just hanging around.
Excerpt: Animals even talk with their tails. If you have a dog, you know that already. Dogs use their tails all the time to talk to people and to other dogs. Have you seen a dog wag its tail? A dog that wags its tail is saying, "Life is good, and I am happy." When it wags its tail so hard that its body wiggles, it means, "I like you, and I want to be your friend."

If a dog curls its tail under its belly, it is saying, "I'm scared. Please go away." If a dog points its tail down, it is thinking.

Cats talk with their tails, too. If a cat wags its tail slowly, it is mad. The cat is expecting something bad to happen. Maybe you're about to give the cat a bath, or maybe a dog is getting ready to chase it. The cat is saying, "I'm ready to run away if you try to catch me."

Question: According to the selection, which two of the following statements are correct?
  1. Both dogs and cats wag tails to communicate.
  2. A dog wags its tail when it is happy, a cat wags its tail when it is scared.
  3. A dog wags its tail when it is angry, a cat wags its tail to say hello.
  4. Neither dogs nor cats are able to communicate with people.
  5. Cats are more likely to wag their tails when they are alone.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write a speech for a character in a selection you read in which the character describes his or her life, home, and the things he or she likes to do.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

Description: Drawing Conclusions, Making Inferences from information in text

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-16

D-16

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1550 words
Author: R. Bender
Synopsis: What might surprise you about someone you already know?
Excerpt: At the time, Sam's parents were young. They knew they needed to escape the violence and hardship in their village. They heard there were jobs in America, so they saved their money until they could afford to travel there on a small passenger ship.

Question: Sam's parents decided to leave their village. What is the main reason they left?
  1. to escape from violence
  2. to explore America
  3. to find new jobs
  4. to get a good education

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Did the title of this selection provide you with clues about the selection's main idea? Why or why not?

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-8

D-8

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1517 words
Author: Mary Dunn
Synopsis: Crows are smart survivors who also know how to have a good time.
Excerpt: But a crow's favorite food is pig heart. A crow will do just about anything to get at this treat. Knowing this, one scientist used pig heart to test the crow's thinking skills. He placed pieces of pig heart in a tiny bucket, and put the bucket inside a tall plastic tube. Beside the tube, he put a piece of wire. Then he watched to see what the crow would do. First, it pecked at the tube to see if it could get the food. No luck. Next, the crow put its beak into the tube, but it couldn't reach the snack. Then the crow picked up the wire and pushed it into the tube, but it couldn't pull out the meat. The crow then used its beak to bend the wire into a hook. Finally, the crow used the hook like a tool. Pulling out the bucket by the handle, the crow got its treat.

Question: Read this excerpt. Which two of the following characteristics best describe the crow that participated in this experiment?
  1. intelligent
  2. determined
  3. fearless
  4. confused
  5. friendly

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Explain why you agree or disagree with the behavior of a character.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-12

D-12

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1340 words
Author: Allen Huse
Synopsis: A gym teacher got the ball rolling--or dribbling.
Excerpt: No, if they ran with the ball, there'd be blocking and tackling and bruises and broken legs. How about something like a box, but raised off the ground, to throw the ball in and score points? Yeah, that was it; a raised goal would mean players needed to use ability rather than force to make points. They'd have to pass the ball to their teammates, not run with it.

Question: Why did Naismith decide to have players throw the ball instead of carry it?
  1. Players would have to use skill instead of force to score points.
  2. The games would be longer and more exciting for fans.
  3. The ball was too heavy to carry from one end of the court to the other.
  4. Fans could see the ball more easily if it was in motion.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write three "why" questions about things that happened in a selection and then answer those questions.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

4B: Interpreting Analogies

4B: Interpreting Analogies

Description: Interpreting Analogies

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-1

D-1

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1420 words
Author: Mary Dunn
Synopsis: Frogs sing to other frogs, but they also have a lot to say to people.
Excerpt: For a small animal, the frog can make a lot of noise. Some frogs make a sound you can hear from more than a mile away. These super-loud frogs puff up with air when they call. They look as if they have swallowed a large balloon. When a frog takes in a lot of air, it can make a very big sound.

Question: This selection describes a frog that puffs up with air to make a very loud sound. The selection says this kind of frog looks like a
  1. balloon.
  2. bird.
  3. soap bubble.
  4. beach ball.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: List five words in a selection that helped you form a picture in your mind. Do additional research to find a synonym and antonym for each word, and use the word in a sentence.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9B: Classifying

9B: Classifying

Description: Classify

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-20

D-20

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1491 words
Author: Kerry Mescallado
Synopsis: Many people like to go to amusements parks, but not many know how much work goes into them.
Excerpt: Some of the earliest amusement parks in the world date back to Europe in the 1600s. At that time, the parks were called "pleasure gardens." They included water fountains and flower gardens. They also had games and music. But not everyone could go. Only the kings, the queens, and the people who were rich had the money to go there.

Question: The pleasure gardens of the 1600s included
  1. fountains, games, flower gardens.
  2. music, roller coasters, zoos.
  3. music, ice slides, bowling.
  4. ice slides, fountains, pony rides.

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

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

Description: Identifying explicit details including character, time, setting and speaker

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-14

D-14

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1549 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: A king finds that having his greatest wish come true is one of the worst things to ever happen to him.
Excerpt: Once upon a time there lived a very rich king whose name was Midas. He loved two things more than anything else in the whole world; his daughter, first, and his gold, second.

Question: According to the selection, what two things does Midas love more than anything else?
  1. his daughter and his gold
  2. his gold and his garden
  3. his daughter and his kingdom
  4. his daughter and his wife

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write a speech for a character in a selection you read in which the character describes his or her life, home, and the things he or she likes to do.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

Description: Drawing Conclusions, Making Inferences from information in text

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: HiD-29

HiD-29

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1523 words
Author: Misha Berman
Synopsis: A little messiness might not be a problem. A disaster area is another story.
Excerpt: "The window is open!" Rebecca whispered, her eyes now big as full moons. Then she picked up one of the apples scattered on the floor. "Look, someone has bitten into this! Don't try to tell me Tiny was eating an apple."

Question: Why does Rebecca think there is an intruder?
  1. The window is open, and someone had bitten into an apple.
  2. She always thinks the opposite of what Dee thinks.
  3. She heard footsteps running down the hall.
  4. The cat is acting very guilty.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Did the title of this selection provide you with clues about the selection's main idea? Why or why not?

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions