Reading original short passages and answering questions about theme, tone, word choice, structure and the author's purpose, using evidence from the text.
Alabama Course of Study content standard: 9.4; 9.R2 · inference, theme and the author's craft
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
Theme is the insight about life a text develops. Support it with specific evidence.
Ask why an author includes a detail: to show change in a character, set a mood or limit a claim.
Word choice carries meaning: “spongy” soil suggests it soaks up water.
Example: Why might an author mention that Noor “had stopped checking her phone”? Earlier, the phone held her attention. Now she is noticing something else: the people around her. Answer: To show she has become interested in the people around her
Close Reading in Alabama
In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 1 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, before Literary Elements.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What does the word “Still” do at the start of the third paragraph?
Tiny Forests
In a few cities around the world, planners have started creating “tiny forests”: dense patches of native trees and shrubs planted in spaces about the size of a tennis court. Because the plants are packed closely, they grow fast, creating shade, habitat and a spongy layer of soil that soaks up rainwater.
Supporters point out that these forests are cheap compared with large parks and can fit on vacant lots or school grounds. Studies of early projects report cooler temperatures nearby and more birds and insects within a few years. Children who help plant them often develop a stronger sense of ownership over their neighborhoods.
Still, the evidence is young. Most tiny forests have existed for less than a decade, and long-term results are unknown. Critics add that planting a few small patches should not replace protecting the older forests and wetlands that already store enormous amounts of carbon. The strongest approach, many experts suggest, is to treat tiny forests as one tool among many.
It starts a joke.
It ends the discussion.
It introduces a limitation after the benefits.
It repeats the first point.
It introduces a limitation after the benefits.
Hint: “Still” signals a turn from the advantages to the concerns.
Question 2
Why does the author mention that most tiny forests are less than a decade old?
Tiny Forests
In a few cities around the world, planners have started creating “tiny forests”: dense patches of native trees and shrubs planted in spaces about the size of a tennis court. Because the plants are packed closely, they grow fast, creating shade, habitat and a spongy layer of soil that soaks up rainwater.
Supporters point out that these forests are cheap compared with large parks and can fit on vacant lots or school grounds. Studies of early projects report cooler temperatures nearby and more birds and insects within a few years. Children who help plant them often develop a stronger sense of ownership over their neighborhoods.
Still, the evidence is young. Most tiny forests have existed for less than a decade, and long-term results are unknown. Critics add that planting a few small patches should not replace protecting the older forests and wetlands that already store enormous amounts of carbon. The strongest approach, many experts suggest, is to treat tiny forests as one tool among many.
To show they are very old
To explain how to plant them
To show that long-term effects are not yet known
To prove they have failed
To show that long-term effects are not yet known
Hint: The passage says “long-term results are unknown.”
Question 3
What does the word “spongy” suggest about the soil?
Tiny Forests
In a few cities around the world, planners have started creating “tiny forests”: dense patches of native trees and shrubs planted in spaces about the size of a tennis court. Because the plants are packed closely, they grow fast, creating shade, habitat and a spongy layer of soil that soaks up rainwater.
Supporters point out that these forests are cheap compared with large parks and can fit on vacant lots or school grounds. Studies of early projects report cooler temperatures nearby and more birds and insects within a few years. Children who help plant them often develop a stronger sense of ownership over their neighborhoods.
Still, the evidence is young. Most tiny forests have existed for less than a decade, and long-term results are unknown. Critics add that planting a few small patches should not replace protecting the older forests and wetlands that already store enormous amounts of carbon. The strongest approach, many experts suggest, is to treat tiny forests as one tool among many.
It can absorb and hold water.
It is full of rocks.
It is made of foam.
It is dry and hard.
It can absorb and hold water.
Hint: Sponges soak up liquid. The passage says the soil “soaks up rainwater.”
Question 4
Which claim is supported by evidence in the passage?
Tiny Forests
In a few cities around the world, planners have started creating “tiny forests”: dense patches of native trees and shrubs planted in spaces about the size of a tennis court. Because the plants are packed closely, they grow fast, creating shade, habitat and a spongy layer of soil that soaks up rainwater.
Supporters point out that these forests are cheap compared with large parks and can fit on vacant lots or school grounds. Studies of early projects report cooler temperatures nearby and more birds and insects within a few years. Children who help plant them often develop a stronger sense of ownership over their neighborhoods.
Still, the evidence is young. Most tiny forests have existed for less than a decade, and long-term results are unknown. Critics add that planting a few small patches should not replace protecting the older forests and wetlands that already store enormous amounts of carbon. The strongest approach, many experts suggest, is to treat tiny forests as one tool among many.
Tiny forests store more carbon than old forests.
Tiny forests cost more than large parks.
Nearby temperatures were cooler and more birds and insects appeared.
Tiny forests have existed for centuries.
Nearby temperatures were cooler and more birds and insects appeared.
Hint: Reread the second paragraph for what “studies of early projects report.”
Question 5
What does the author reveal about Odile in the last sentence?
The Quiet Season
Every winter, the town of Alder Creek went quiet. The loggers headed south, the tourists vanished, and the only sound along Main Street was snow sliding off tin roofs.
Some people called it boring. Odile called it honest. In summer, the town performed: banners on lampposts, a fiddler in the park, shopkeepers smiling at strangers. In winter, you saw what the town was when nobody was watching: a handful of neighbors shoveling each other's walks, a lit window at the library, a pot of soup passed over a fence.
“You can't see a place properly when it's showing off,” Odile liked to say. She had lived there for seventy years and had never once wanted to leave during the quiet season.
She dislikes winter.
She plans to move away.
She is deeply attached to the town and its quiet season.
She works for the tourist office.
She is deeply attached to the town and its quiet season.
Hint: Seventy years and “never once wanted to leave” show strong attachment.
Question 6
Which theme is best supported by the passage?
The Quiet Season
Every winter, the town of Alder Creek went quiet. The loggers headed south, the tourists vanished, and the only sound along Main Street was snow sliding off tin roofs.
Some people called it boring. Odile called it honest. In summer, the town performed: banners on lampposts, a fiddler in the park, shopkeepers smiling at strangers. In winter, you saw what the town was when nobody was watching: a handful of neighbors shoveling each other's walks, a lit window at the library, a pot of soup passed over a fence.
“You can't see a place properly when it's showing off,” Odile liked to say. She had lived there for seventy years and had never once wanted to leave during the quiet season.
Small towns should be left.
The most meaningful parts of a community may be found in quiet, everyday kindness.
Summers are better than winters.
Tourists ruin small towns.
The most meaningful parts of a community may be found in quiet, everyday kindness.
Hint: Look at the details Odile values: neighbors shoveling, a lit library window, soup passed over a fence.