Reading Plus State Standards Alignment: Exemplars

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-4

Excerpt: As the pilot's words filled me with hope, I perused the steep chutes and precarious descents for signs of my brother. But, honestly, I suspected the worst. I knew avalanches most often kill by suffocation. There is air even in dense avalanche debris, but it is unattainable if the victim's mouth and nose are plugged with snow. Even if the victim can draw a breath, his exhalations will begin to make any available air less accessible by coating the snow surface around his mouth with ice.

Question: Choose the sentence in this excerpt that gives the most likely explanation for why people suffocate in an avalanche.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Create a new graphic organizer that indicates a selection's main idea, characters, and supporting details, and how these three areas intersect.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-6

Excerpt: Quitting her job to become his full-time caregiver, Mrs. Hayward erected a shrine to Sam in the living room, decorating the fireplace mantel and nearby shelves with his football and soccer trophies.

She tirelessly prepared his favorite meals, but nothing could alleviate Sam's dark moods as the family almost drained its finances to bring in physical therapists to rehabilitate Sam. Because he had lost all hope, his improvement was slow.

Question: Why did Sam's mom display his trophies in the living room?

to demonstrate he had the ability to show determination and courage
to remind him that he can rejoin his teams when he gets better
to show visitors that he had been a star athlete before his injury
to motivate him to do the same vigorous exercises he once did

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe how you arrived at conclusions about a selection's main idea and characters if information about these text elements was not directly stated.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-4

Excerpt: Still, with all his daredevil ways, I never believed he'd risk his life in unchartered territory. As I said, he was a creature of habit and had his favorite sanctuaries. But after the initial investigation and then the exhaustive rescue operations, and still no trace of my brother, I knew the rescue team was searching in vain. Evidently, Jake had decided to test his endurance and cruise the adjacent Maroon Bowl.

Question: What was the most important clue leading to Jake's rescue?

the deduction of his sister that he took the challenge of the Maroon Bowl
the Gortex jacket with the tracking reflector left behind in the locker
the signal from Jake's cell phone before the battery went dead.
the ski pass scanned Friday at 12:04 p. m. at the base of the Highlands

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you are an attorney cross-examining the characters in a selection. What questions would you ask them to elicit the most important details about the plot?

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-23

Excerpt: "That cursed bet!" murmured the old man, clutching his head in despair. "He's only forty years old, he will deprive me of my last penny, marry, enjoy life, and I will look on like an envious beggar and hear the same dreaded words from him every day: 'I'm obliged to you for my life's happiness.' No, no, it's too much -- the only escape from bankruptcy and disgrace is that the man should die."

Question: Based on this excerpt, what conclusion can be made about the banker's motivations?

His greed drove him to consider committing a terrible crime.
His jealousy caused him to feign friendship while plotting revenge.
His selfishness drove him to lie about the original wager.
His pride caused him to openly reject his wealth while secretly hiding it.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you are the main character in a selection you read. Would your emotional reactions to events in the selection be the same as those of the actual character? Explain why or why not.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

4C: Visualizing

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-31

Excerpt: Epimetheus watched her. If he had cried out, Pandora would probably have withdrawn her hand, and the fatal mystery of the box might never have been revealed. But Epimetheus himself, although he would not admit it aloud, had his own share of curiosity to know what was inside. Perceiving that Pandora was resolved to find out the abstract secret, he determined that his friend should not be the only wise person in the cottage. If there were anything pretty, valuable, or remarkable in the box, he meant to take half of it to himself.

Question: Read this excerpt. What kind of expression could you expect to see on Epimetheus' face?

fixed
agitated
grim
pitying

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Explain how and why visions or pictures of a character, setting, or event develop and change with the introduction of new information. Use details from a selection you have read to illustrate and support your explanation.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

8A: Judging Validity

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-4

Excerpt: Soon I'll be going off to a university in the Midwest, experiencing a much different climate from the harsh and rugged landscape of the Rockies. My goal is to live as seamlessly with nature as possible under any conditions. Jake predicts I'll be back, and he's probably right. But for now, I choose to live free of avalanches and high walls, unclogged and uncomplicated by a softer terrain.

Question: Which sentence supports the implication that Morgan has been affected deeply by Jake's harrowing experience in the Maroon Bowl?

But for now, I choose to live free of avalanches and high walls, unclogged and uncomplicated by a softer terrain.
We all misjudged my brother: my parents, his friends, teachers, and even me, his younger sister
Soon I'll be going off to a university in the Midwest and experiencing a much different climate.
What perplexed me most was that he didn't wear a tracking device or carry his cell phone.

Writing
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Writing prompt: Did the author of the selection have first-hand knowledge about the subject presented? If yes, explain how you can tell. If no, explain how first-hand knowledge might change the author's perspective.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

8B: Reasoning

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-31

Excerpt: But Pandora, heeding nothing of all this, lifted the lid nearly upright, and looked inside. Chaos ensued. It seemed as if a sudden swarm of winged creatures brushed past her, taking flight out of the box, while, at the same instant, she heard the voice of Epimetheus, with a lamentable tone, as if he were in pain.

What had made their escape out of the solitary box? They were the whole family of earthly Troubles. There were evil passions and a great many species of cares. There were more than a 150 sorrows. There were diseases in a vast number of miserable and painful shapes. There were more kinds of naughtiness than it would be of any use to discuss.

Question: Answer these two questions. What do the winged characters represent and how do they change the world?

They symbolize human problems.
They transform the world from pleasure to misery.
They symbolize suffering.
They transform the world from despair to delight.
They symbolize ancient gods.

Writing
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Writing prompt: Should fictional stories show the world as it really is, or as it should be? Use details from a selection you have read, as well as your reasoning skills and personal experiences, to write your answer.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

9B: Classifying

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-23

Excerpt: During the first year of solitary imprisonment, the lawyer, judging from his frantic short notes, suffered terribly from loneliness and boredom; from his cell day and night came the sound of the piano. He was sent books of whimsical character: novels with complicated yet preposterous love interests, stories of crime and fantasy, comedies, and so on.

In the second half of the sixth year, the prisoner began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history; in the space of four years about six hundred volumes were purchased at his request.

Later, after the tenth year, the lawyer sat immovable before his table and read only the New Testament; the banker found it peculiar that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred erudite volumes should have spent nearly a year examining one book, easy to understand and by no means thick. The New Testament was then replaced by the history of religions and theology.

During the final two years of his solitary confinement the prisoner read an extraordinary amount, quite haphazardly: he would apply himself to the natural sciences, then he would devote himself wholeheartedly to Byron or Shakespeare. Notes came from him requesting, simultaneously, books on chemistry, a textbook of medicine, a novel, and some treatise on philosophy or theology -- he read as though he were swimming in the sea among broken fragments of shattered wreckage, and in his desperate desire to survive was eagerly grasping one piece after another.

Question: Based on these excerpts, which two statements best describe the significance of books in this selection?

At the beginning they represent entertainment and study.
At the end they symbolize a descent into madness.
At first they represent man's superior knowledge.
At the end they represent man's foolishness.
From start to finish they represent the knowledge of human history.

Writing
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Writing prompt: Classify the kinds of characters in a fictional narrative selection (narrator, protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, foil, symbolic, etc.) and describe their functions. Use details from a selection you have read to illustrate and explain your classifications.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-2

Excerpt: Another distinctive anatomical feature is the horseshoe crab's ten eyes. Two are located on the underside of the crab and the rest on the shell. The tail also has an anatomical feature called photoreceptors, which are sensitive to light and dark. Even with all of this anatomical equipment, however, the horseshoe crab's vision is not very good. Yet another anatomical oddity is the crab's blood, which is blue due to its copper content. By comparison, human blood is red, because of its iron content.

Question: What are two distinctive features of the horseshoe crab's anatomy?

Its tail is sensitive to light and dark.
It has ten eyes, located on both sides of the shell.
It uses its legs like flippers to swim.
It can see its prey from a long distance away.
Its mouth has a wide jaw and strong teeth.

Writing
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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

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

SeeReader
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Selection: K-25

Excerpt: When the injury is a concussion, the pressures are particularly intense. A cast, a sling, or a limp make the nature of an injury clear. The effects of concussions are not as readily apparent. While a lack of mental acuity or dizziness may be a problem, physically the player may appear to perfectly healthy. Teammates playing with torn tendons, ripped cartilage, severely bruised muscles, or hairline fractures may look askance at another player who is sitting out practices or games with no apparent injury.

Question: What is the main reason some coaches overlook the need to pull players who incur a blow to the head from competition?

The players usually have no visible signs of injury.
Parents don't like to see their kids sit on the bench.
Other team members are relying on the players to win.
The injured players insist on returning to action on the field.

Writing
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Writing prompt: When reading for information, why is it important to concentrate on the most important facts? Give an example from your social studies or science textbook of how you would do this.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

2C: Summarizing

SeeReader
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Selection: K-8

Excerpt: The implications of this study are very important. Besides being essential for brain and body health, eating fat is also important for promoting feelings of happiness. Doctors now believe the connection between eating fats and being happy may account for the reason why many people on low-fat diets experience depression.

Question: Why are the implications of the Belgian study important?

The scientists found that fat is vital for a healthy brain and body as well as for a cheerful temperament.
The scientists discovered that eating fatty junk foods can lead to heart problems and other ailments.
Researchers realized that most people consume too much fat in their daily meals.
Researchers determined that people on low-fat diets tend to be happier and healthier.

Writing
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Writing prompt: Create a news report based on a selection you have read. Report facts from the selection as well as additional facts you researched from reputable sources.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

SeeReader
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Selection: K-14

Excerpt: Assizes were made up of 12 local "free and lawful men" who, under oath, made decisions based on their personal knowledge of the true property owner or heir. They dealt with civil, not criminal, cases and were different from modern civil juries in that the jurors were "self-informing." This means that panel members used their pre-existing knowledge as a basis for their decisions.

Question: Based on this excerpt, assize jurors were different from jurors in civil trials today because they

already knew the details of the case.
heard cases involving property issues.
were composed of 12 lawful men and women.
based their decisions only on evidence presented during trial.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe a character with whom you empathize, and explain why you feel this way.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

SeeReader
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Selection: K-12

Excerpt: While working at Hewlett-Packard as a summer intern, Jobs met another electronics geek, Steve Wozniak, who would become his future business partner and co-founder of Apple. Jobs briefly attended Reed College, but he dropped out after one semester because he was concerned that college expenditures were eating up his parents' savings. He continued auditing classes at Reed while crashing with friends.

Question: Jobs dropped out of college because

he was concerned about straining his family's finances.
he did not have the patience to attend classes.
he got a job as an intern at Hewlett-Packard.
he was too busy running his own company.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Using your science book, give three examples of each of the following: single cause--single effect, single cause--multiple effects, multiple causes--single effect.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

6B: Recognizing Persuasion

SeeReader
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Selection: K-10

Excerpt: Those espousing this calendar base their arguments principally on perceived disadvantages of the traditional calendar. They emphasize that students forget much of what they have learned when they are away from school for lengthy summer breaks. Additionally, they assert that children get bored after the first few weeks away from class, so a long stretch of vacation can be counterproductive. Conversely, they indicate that too many consecutive weeks of instruction without a break can diminish motivation and cause burnout for both teachers and students.

Question: What are the two main arguments for advocates of the "balanced calendar"?

Students forget much of what they have learned over a long summer break.
Too many weeks of instruction without a break can diminish motivation and cause students to "burn out."
Older students will be able to more easily find jobs so they can save for college.
The cost of operating the schools would be less, thus saving taxpayers money.
A balanced calendar would allow more students to take part in extracurricular activities.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Imagine you want to make a documentary about a non-fiction selection you read. Describe the steps you would need to take to make your documentary as accurate and unbiased as possible.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

7C: Interpreting Images

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-45

Image:

Question: The object in this image can be detected by

dolphins, which use sonar to detect the presence of metals in the water around them.
dolphins, which use their sense of smell to detect explosives that are about to detonate.
dogs, which use their sense of smell to detect explosives in the water.
dogs, which use their sense of hearing to detect explosives that are about to detonate.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Choose an image from a nonfiction selection you have read. Use the image as inspiration to write a new fictional piece on the same topic.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

8B: Reasoning

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: K-41

Excerpt: On the first day of their entombment, shift supervisor Luis Urzua took off his distinctive white helmet and announced to his workers, "We are all equal now.... There are no bosses and employees." From then on the miners worked together to maintain the mine, search for escape routes, and sustain morale.

"We knew that if society broke down we would all be doomed," explained Mario Sepulveda. "Each day a different person took a bad turn, and every time that happened, we worked as a team to try to keep the morale up."

Question: Which of the following can you conclude from these two excerpts?

Survival for all depended on working together to keep spirits high.
A strong leader was needed to establish rules and maintain order.
Each miner had to find his own way to accept the fate of the dire situation.
Both bosses and employees had to spend equal time searching for escape routes.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Do people learn by studying the past? Use details from a selection you have read, as well as your reasoning skills, to support your answer.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

CCRA.R.1

Exemplars

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

SeeReader ✓ standard met

K-4

Writing ✓ standard met

Evaluator

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

1B: Analyzing Implicit Details

SeeReader ✓ standard met

K-6

Writing ✓ standard met

Evaluator

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

SeeReader ✓ standard met

K-4

Writing ✓ standard met

Evaluator

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

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K-23

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Evaluator

4C: Visualizing

4C: Visualizing

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K-31

Writing ✓ standard met

Evaluator

8A: Judging Validity

8A: Judging Validity

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K-4

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Evaluator

8B: Reasoning

8B: Reasoning

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K-31

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Evaluator

9B: Classifying

9B: Classifying

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K-23

Writing ✓ standard met

Evaluator

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

1A: Recalling Explicit Details

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K-2

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Evaluator

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

2B: Analyzing Relative Importance

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K-25

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Evaluator

2C: Summarizing

2C: Summarizing

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K-8

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Evaluator

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

3B: Analyzing Plot/Character

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K-14

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Evaluator

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

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K-12

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