RI.3.1

Description: Ask and answer questions, and make and support logical inferences in order to construct meaning from the text.
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 1B, 3A, 3C, 8B, 8B

Exemplars

8B: Reasoning

8B: Reasoning

Description: Reasoning

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-51

C-51

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1436 words
Author: Jay Shabat
Synopsis: What is a great job for someone who loves to travel and experience new things? Teaching Chinese college students!
Excerpt: Being a teacher in China is different from teaching in the United States. For example, Chinese students usually do not talk to teachers when they are in the classroom. A teacher stands in front of the class and teaches a lesson. The students sit silently. They listen and take notes.

China is one of the most polluted countries in the world. In the city where I teach, pollution makes the skies gray and foggy. Many people have a hard time breathing with all the pollution in the air.

Question: Based on what you read in this selection, which two of the following statements are correct?
  1. The classrooms in China are quieter than the classrooms in America.
  2. Air pollution causes health problems for many people in China.
  3. It is easy to find an empty seat on a bus in China.
  4. American fast food restaurants are the only places to buy a meal in China.
  5. People in China are healthier than people from other places due to clean, fresh air.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write three "why" questions about a selection and provide evidence from the text on how those questions should be answered.

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: C-3

C-3

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1141 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: Have you had your rice today? For millions of people around the globe, the answer is yes.
Excerpt: In China, the word for rice means food. When Chinese people meet friends, they do not say, "How are you?" They say, "Have you had your rice today?" If you are not Chinese, that question might get you some strange looks.

Question: Why do people in China ask, "Have you had your rice today?"
  1. They want to make sure their friends are well fed and healthy.
  2. They think that people should not eat rice every day.
  3. They want to be invited to a dinner where rice is part of the meal.
  4. They always prepare extra rice for all of their friends and neighbors.

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

3A: Predicting Outcomes

3A: Predicting Outcomes

Description: Predicting Outcomes

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-7

C-7

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1130 words
Author: Kate Carter
Synopsis: When scientists explore the deep sea by submarine, they bump into some creepy characters.
Excerpt: A deep-sea vent is like a geyser, but it is on the ocean floor. It may be a mile or several miles below the surface. A deep-sea vent also blows hot water--hotter than boiling. But it blows the water into the cold ocean. That means the water around a deep-sea vent is much warmer than the rest of the ocean.

The temperature of the deep sea is much too cold for animals.

Question: What would most likely happen if all the deep-sea vents suddenly disappeared?
  1. The temperature of deep ocean water would become colder.
  2. More sunlight would reach the deepest part of the ocean.
  3. Sea creatures would have an easier time finding food.
  4. More sea creatures would start living in the deepest part of the ocean.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write an email to a friend who has not read the selection. Provide enough information about the selection's characters, settings, and events so your friend is able to predict what happened in the selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

3C: Analyzing Cause/Effect

Description: Analyzing Cause and Effect

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-20

C-20

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1338 words
Author: Manny Ruiz
Synopsis: The crocodile is one of the most ancient creatures on Earth. Will it go the way of the dinosaur?
Excerpt: If you do see a crocodile in the water, you may not know what it is. When it floats in a river, it looks just like a log. No one is afraid of a log. By the time you (or some other animal or fish) find out the log isn't a log, it's too late. The crocodile opens its big wide mouth and snap!

Question: A crocodile looks as if it is a log in the water. How is this helpful?
  1. The crocodile can surprise its prey.
  2. The crocodile can float like a piece of wood.
  3. Other animals can ride on the crocodile's back.
  4. Humans will not hurt the crocodile.

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

8B: Reasoning

8B: Reasoning

Description: Reasoning

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: C-5

C-5

Grade level: 3
Word count: 1270 words
Author: Madeline Arroyo
Synopsis: Fires can help the forest, but more often they destroy it.
Excerpt: Although we usually hear only about the harm a forest fire does, it is a part of the cycle of life on Earth. Some kinds of plants depend on fire to help their growth. During a fire, burned plants release nutrients into the ground. These make the soil rich and help new plants grow. This new growth is good for the forest and the animals that live there.

Question: Which statement from the selection supports the author's claim that sometimes a wildfire can be helpful?
  1. Burned plants release nutrients into the ground.
  2. The sun's heat can set off a fire.
  3. A fire team may battle a wildfire from the air.
  4. A soft wood tree, like a fir tree, will burn fast.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Write three "why" questions about a selection and provide evidence from the text on how those questions should be answered.

Evaluator

Organization: Certica Solutions