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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3

Description: Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 3A, 3B, 3C

Exemplars

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-49

D-49

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1474 words
Author: Janet S. Anderson
Synopsis: Dragons are happy when they are well-fed. But when they become hungry, watch out!
Excerpt: However, waiting for meals could sometimes make dragons upset, then angry, and then dangerous. They were usually sorry, afterwards. But by then the damage had been done.

Even worse, feeling sorry made them cry, which flooded what was left of the house with boiling, bubbling tears. Thus, in every house, it was the calmest, most responsible, most trustworthy child who took care of the dragon.

Question: What would have happened if Holly and Kyle did not find the Seeds?
  1. The dragons would not have their favorite food, which would make them hungry and dangerous.
  2. The dragons would hum happily when they saw Holly and Kyle.
  3. The dragons would move to the Abbey because it was safer there.
  4. The dragons would not want to eat cherries, but they would want to eat locusts.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Tell about two clues in the selection that helped you figure out the ending.

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

Description: Analyzing setting, plot, and character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-25

D-25

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1511 words
Author: John R. Corvell
Synopsis: Now come on. There's no such thing as a bird the size of an elephant. Is there?
Excerpt: "All I can say," said one of the others, "is that it's too bad you didn't bring the evidence with you. We could all have had fresh egg for supper."

The men laughed and told Pierre to pick up the oars and carry them over to one of the boats. On the trip back to the ship, Pierre's tall tale was the topic of much joking.

Question: Which statement best describes the sailors' reaction to Pierre's story?
  1. They made fun of the story.
  2. They believed the story.
  3. They ignored the story.
  4. They felt afraid from the story.

Writing
✓ standard met

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

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: D-46

D-46

Grade level: 4
Word count: 1320 words
Author: Anonymous
Synopsis: Ancient people made up stories to explain how and why animals came to be. This tale tells how spiders first appeared.
Excerpt: And that is how the spider came to be. Arachne and her children have worked ever since that day. The great weaving goddess made it so that spiders can weave their silk into the best material in the land. But she also made it so that spiders are unable to speak.

That is why spiders are very quiet. They use their gift without being too proud. They make their beautiful, silky material only in dark places. You have to look hard to find them. But you can see them, in the places where people do not go.

Question: According to the selection, when the goddess made spiders, she did not want them to speak. Why?
  1. It was Arachne's proud words that made the goddess angry in the first place.
  2. The goddess knew that spiders weave only in places that are silent.
  3. Arachne's father wanted his daughter to weave more and talk less.
  4. The goddess thought that being able to talk would make the spiders too tired to work.

Writing
✓ standard met

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

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute