Recently, your teachers have been asking you to dig deeper into the texts that you’re reading.  They’re not just asking you to identify the setting of a story, or the main character.  Now, they’re pushing you to answer a question and support it with evidence from the story.  For instance, after reading about Warren Faidley in the “Eye of the Storm” you might be asked to explain why Warren moves to different parts of the country depending on the season to take photos.  How would you answer this question?  That’s right you’d need to go back and reread the text.  Then, you’d have to use the text to explain your answer.  Recently, NPR did a story on some 5th graders doing this in their class.  Go to the story and listen to these students in action.

NPR: “Common Core Reading: Difficult, Dahl, Repeat”

Is this really any different than what you’ve had to do in the past?

Maybe it’s new, or perhaps you’ve been doing this in other classrooms too.  Now, the Common Core Standards are demanding you to do this more often.  Why?

Here’s an example of what it might look like.

Try it with partners.  Look back in the story “Eye of the Storm” to answer the following question:

Do you think Warren would face any danger in order to get a spectacular storm shot?  Use facts from the selection to support your answer.