Rationale PARCC Narrative Task Grade 7 Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Narrative Task This lesson provides students with practice answering the selected and constructed response questions on the Narrative Task. Goal To complete a practice reading section of the Narrative Task Task Foci CCSS RL.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS RL.7.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS RL.7.3: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). CCSS RL.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama. Objectives Materials Procedures Students will complete a Narrative Task Narrative Task (excluding the prose-constructed response) Tell your students that today they will complete a practice PARCC Narrative Task. Remind students of the task focus. Students will read a short story or excerpt from a novel and answer questions about the literary elements in the story. Pass out the test. You have 20 minutes to complete this test. Ready? Begin. Remind class when five minutes remain. In closing, ask students for feedback on their test-taking experience. NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 1
Teacher Observations during the Task Observe how much time students are spending reading the texts; note how many students are reading the texts more than once. Observe which students are returning to the texts for each question, and which students are speeding through the questions. Assessment Refer to the answer key Extension Activities Standards Solution has many PARCC-aligned practice tests available online. NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 2
from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea Jules Verne 1. Captain Nemo s submarine was indeed a thing of marvels; for, besides the dining-room, it contained a large library of twelve thousand volumes, a drawing-room measuring thirty feet by eighteen, and fifteen high. The walls of this apartment were adorned with masterpieces of the great painters, and beautiful marbles and bronzes. A large piano-organ stood in one corner, and there were glass cases containing the rarest marine curiosities which a naturalist could wish to see. A collection of enormous pearls in a cabinet must have been worth millions, and Captain Nemo told me he had rifled every sea to find them. 2. The room assigned to me was fitted up with every luxury, yet the captain's own apartment was as simply furnished as a monastic cell, but in it were contained all the ingenious instruments that controlled the movements of the Nautilus, as his submarine was named. The electricity was manufactured by a process of extracting chloride of sodium from the sea-water, but the fresh air necessary for the life of the crew could only be obtained by rising to the surface. The engine-room was sixty-five feet long, and in it was the machinery for producing electricity as well as that for applying the power to the propeller. 3. The Nautilus, Captain Nemo explained, was capable of a speed of fifty miles an hour, and could be made to sink or rise with precision by flooding or emptying a reservoir. In a box, raised somewhat above the hull and fitted with glass ten inches thick, the steersman had his place, and a powerful electric reflector behind him illumined the sea for half a mile in front. 4. The submarine also carried a small torpedo-like boat, fitted in a groove along the top, so that it could be entered from the Nautilus by opening a panel, and, after that was closed, the boat could be detached from the submarine, and would then bob upwards to the surface like a cork. 5. It was on a desert island that Captain Nemo had carried out the building of the Nautilus, and from many different places he had secured the various parts of the hull and machinery, in order to maintain secrecy. 6. Deeply interested as I was in every detail of this extraordinary vessel, and excited beyond measure at the wonders which awaited me in exploring the world beneath the waves, I had still the feeling of a prisoner who dared scarcely hope that liberty might someday be obtained. But when the metal plates which covered the windows of the saloon were rolled back as we sailed under the water, and on each hand I could see a thronging army of many-coloured aquatic creatures swimming around us, attracted by our light, I was in an ecstasy of wonder and delight. NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 3
1. Part A: What does the word monastic mean as it is used in the second paragraph? A. like a nomad B. like a king C. like a monk D. like a chameleon Part B: What word from the passage best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word monastic? A. luxury B. ingenious C. furnished D. Nautilus 2. How is Captain Nemo portrayed in the passage? Note that not all answers will be used. A. secretive B. despicable C. adventurous D. ingenious E. kindly F. generous G. ancient H. innovative Nemo s Characteristics 3. Part A: What conflict is suggested between Nemo and the narrator? A. Nemo is trying to buy the narrator s silence with excellent accommodations. B. The narrator accused Nemo of thievery. C. Nemo is holding the narrator captive. D. The narrator insulted the Nautilus design. Part B: What passage provides the best textual evidence to the answer in Part A? A. Captain Nemo told me he had rifled every sea to find them. (paragraph 1) B. The room assigned to me was fitted up with every luxury (paragraph 2 ) C. The submarine also carried a small torpedo-like boat, fitted in a groove along the top (paragraph 4) D. I had still the feeling of a prisoner who dared scarcely hope that liberty might someday be obtained. (paragraph 6) NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 4
4. Identify the cause-and-effect relationships triggered by the setting. Each option in the table below is either a cause or an effect. You will use all of them. OPTIONS A. Escape is not easy. B. Nemo controls the people on board. C. The setting is the ocean. D. Nemo commands the submarine. E. The submarine must surface for oxygen. F. Nemo cannot keep the submarine submerged indefinitely. CAUSES EFFECTS NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 5
5. Part A: What is Nemo s greatest strength, based on the passage? A. He knows how to work covertly. B. He can acquire sought-after objects with great ease. C. He mastered a way to create electricity from salt water. D. He engineered a submarine with remarkable abilities. Part B: What passage from the text best supports the answer to Part A? A. The walls of this apartment were adorned with masterpieces of the great painters, and beautiful marbles and bronzes. (paragraph 1) B. there were glass cases containing the rarest marine curiosities which a naturalist could wish to see. (paragraph 1) C. It was on a desert island that Captain Nemo had carried out the building of the Nautilus, and from many different places he had secured the various parts of the hull and machinery, in order to maintain secrecy. (paragraph 5) D. The electricity was manufactured by a process of extracting chloride of sodium from the sea-water (paragraph 2) 6. What ironies are found in the passage? Match each irony with its incongruity, or opposite effect. Note that not all answers will be used. A. The narrator enjoys the oceanic sights. B. Nemo is secretive. C. The narrator is worried about being freed. D. For the most part, the submarine is luxuriously furnished. E. Nemo throws lavish parties. F. Nemo s living quarters are plain. Irony Incongruity, or opposite effect NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 6
Answer Key 1A: C 1B: A 2 Nemo s Characteristics A. secretive C. adventurous D. ingenious H. innovative 3A: C 3B: D 4 Cause Effect D. Nemo commands the submarine. B. Nemo controls the people on board. E. The submarine must surface for oxygen. F. Nemo cannot keep the submarine submerged indefinitely. C. The setting is the ocean. A. Escape is not easy. 5A: D 5B: C 6 Irony Incongruity, or opposite effect D. For the most part, the submarine is luxury F. Nemo s quarters are plain. iously furnished. C. The narrator is worried about being freed. A. He enjoys the oceanic sights. NT Reading Lesson 4: Practice Completing the Assessment Page 7