R.2

Description: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 1A, 2A, 2A, 2B, 2B, 2C, 6B

Exemplars

2A: Determining Main Idea

2A: Determining Main Idea

Description: Determining Main Idea and Themes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-5

G-5

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1647 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: A boy gets pulled into the chaos of a historic workers' strike.
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: This selection is mainly about
  1. workers who join together to fight for their rights.
  2. company managers who take advantage of their workers.
  3. private detectives who try to break a steel-workers' strike.
  4. families who suffer hardships because of low wages.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Sometimes the main idea of a selection is not clear until you finish reading the text. Describe a selection you read that needed to be read from beginning to end before you had a full sense of the main idea.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

Description: Determining Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-8

G-8

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1746 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: Can young Arthur pull the sword from the stone?
Excerpt: Once upon a time, a noble monarch named King Arthur reigned over England. King Arthur was the flower of chivalry, and the founder of the famous order of the Knights of the Round Table. It was a far-off and famous age of chivalry, when the wandering knights sought adventures and performed wonderful deeds throughout the land.

Question: Which were the two major activities of the Knights of the Round Table?
  1. traveling the land seeking adventure
  2. performing good deeds for anyone in need
  3. defeating a monarch and ruling the land
  4. fighting in battles against one another
  5. showing they were capable of feeling mercy

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a Facebook fan page for a selection. Include the most important information to share with fans.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2C: Summarizing

2C: Summarizing

Description: Summarizing

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-57

G-57

Grade level: 7
Word count: 2127 words
Author: Quen Law
Synopsis: A boy who encounters the tortoise is rewarded for the way he treats it.
Excerpt: Ty had never imagined a tortoise this size. Could this be the legendary loshu tortoise known for its divine powers? Whether this was a divine creature or not, Ty didn't wait to find out, but bowed to it with respect.

"My apologies again," said Ty as he quickly picked up the empty basket. "I didn't mean to burden you with this. I had put it down to look for rice, as I need to fill my basket before I can go home tonight.

Question: Which of the following attributes does the tortoise reward?
  1. respect and kindness
  2. pride and courage
  3. laziness and intuition
  4. ambition and determination

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Sometimes the main idea of a selection is not clear until you finish reading the text. Describe a selection you read that needed to be read from beginning to end before you had a full sense of the main idea.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6B: Recognizing Persuasion

6B: Recognizing Persuasion

Description: Recognizing Persuasive Devices

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-5

G-5

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1647 words
Author: Mary R. Dunn
Synopsis: A boy gets pulled into the chaos of a historic workers' strike.
Excerpt: "Stay on that barge and go back where you came from!" another mill worker shouted. "Let us settle this with Mr. Frick who thinks he can withhold our pay and replace us with cheaper labor. Turn your boats around and head for safety if you know what is good for you."

Question: How does the author convince the reader that the steel workers' demands were reasonable?
  1. She mentions the injustices experienced by the workers.
  2. She shows that the union members are stronger than the Pinkertons.
  3. She explains how unions were formed to make workers rich.
  4. She describes the failures of the Industrial Revolution.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Retell a selection you have read using your own voice and perspective.

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: G-6

G-6

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1606 words
Author: Peter Kupfer
Synopsis: The African Americans who served as Tuskegee airmen deserve our respect and thanks.
Excerpt: In recognition of their great courage and skill, the African American airmen were honored with many medals and awards. Their ground-breaking feats paved the way for the desegregation of the U.S. military. Moreover, they helped remove racial barriers for all African Americans.

Question: What were the two most significant contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen?
  1. They paved the way for desegregation in the military.
  2. They helped remove barriers based on racial prejudice.
  3. They served in non-combat missions during the war.
  4. They inspired the creation of a popular movie.
  5. They attended a famous military base in Alabama.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a website for a non-fiction selection you read. Include the main idea and supporting details. Include images that would help viewers of your website better understand the topic.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2A: Determining Main Idea

2A: Determining Main Idea

Description: Determining Main Idea and Themes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-47

G-47

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1891 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: A woman describes the many daily challenges and few pleasures she experienced as a farmer's wife in the early 20th century.
Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.
Question: This selection is mainly about a
  1. woman's quest for personal fulfillment.
  2. family's struggles in the early 1900s.
  3. farmer's excessive demands on his wife.
  4. writer's gratitude to her minister.
  5. woman's quest for personal fulfillment.
  6. family's struggles in the early 1900s.
  7. farmer's excessive demands on his wife.
  8. writer's gratitude to her minister.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Using the Internet or other research tools, find three additional pieces of information that support the main idea stated in the selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

Description: Determining Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: G-7

G-7

Grade level: 7
Word count: 1961 words
Author: Karen Berman
Synopsis: Ruby Bridges was the first and only African American student in her school.
Excerpt: As Ruby's first day of school approached, Judge Wright began to fear that white segregationists might try to harm the children. He also knew they could not depend on city police, because they often sided with white people, no matter what. Judge Wright requested federal marshals, who were police officers from the U.S. government, to keep the children from being harmed. They drove Ruby to school that first day and for most of the following year.

Question: You can tell that ending segregation was dangerous mostly because
  1. federal marshals were brought in to enforce the court ruling.
  2. all students rode buses to their newly integrated schools.
  3. Ruby's mother had to stay with her all day in the classroom.
  4. Ruby had to eat her lunch alone in the school cafeteria.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a Facebook fan page for a selection. Include the most important information to share with fans.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions