CCRA.R.3: How Individuals, Events and Ideas Develop and Interact

Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-60 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Read these two sentences: 'The bus was late. Mira missed the first bell.' Did the first event cause the second, or did it only happen first? What one word could you add to make the link clear, and what would you need to know to be sure?"

   Take answers. Students will usually add "so" or "because." Push back: the sentences alone do not prove the cause; Mira might have missed the bell for another reason. Tell students that today they will track how people, events and ideas in a text affect each other, and that "why" questions need evidence just as "what" questions do.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Three things that develop and interact.

   • Individuals: characters in a story or real people in nonfiction. They develop when their feelings, beliefs or actions change.
   • Events: what happens. They develop when one leads to another or builds toward a turning point.
   • Ideas: beliefs, assumptions, principles or arguments. They develop when they are introduced, tested, changed or put into action.

   To analyze how and why they interact, students ask: What changed? What caused the change? Which words show it? How the anchor grows: the table lists every grade-level standard that carries CCRA.R.3. Note that RST.3 applies the anchor to procedures, where each step is an event that depends on earlier ones.

   Progression of CCRA.R.3 in grades 6-12

   Grade-level standard	Band and text type	What this band adds
   RL.6.3	Grade 6, literature	How a plot unfolds in episodes and how characters respond or change on the way to a resolution
   RL.7.3	Grade 7, literature	How story elements interact, for example how setting shapes characters or plot
   RL.8.3	Grade 8, literature	How particular lines of dialogue or incidents propel the action, reveal a character or provoke a decision
   RL.9-10.3	Grades 9-10, literature	How complex characters with conflicting motives develop, interact and advance the plot or theme
   RL.11-12.3	Grades 11-12, literature	The impact of the author's choices in developing and relating story elements, such as setting, order of action and how characters are introduced
   RI.6.3	Grade 6, informational text	How a key individual, event or idea is introduced, illustrated and elaborated, for example through anecdotes
   RI.7.3	Grade 7, informational text	The interactions between individuals, events and ideas: how ideas influence people or events, and the reverse
   RI.8.3	Grade 8, informational text	How a text connects and distinguishes individuals, ideas or events through comparisons, analogies or categories
   RI.9-10.3	Grades 9-10, informational text	How an author unfolds a series of ideas or events: the order, how points are introduced and developed, and the links drawn
   RI.11-12.3	Grades 11-12, informational text	A complex set of ideas or sequence of events, and how specific individuals, ideas or events interact and develop
   RH.6-8.3	Grades 6-8, history/social studies	The key steps in a text's description of a historical or civic process
   RH.9-10.3	Grades 9-10, history/social studies	A series of events in detail, deciding whether earlier events caused later ones or only came before them
   RH.11-12.3	Grades 11-12, history/social studies	Weighing explanations for actions or events against the evidence, and saying where the text leaves matters uncertain
   RST.6-8.3	Grades 6-8, science and technical	Following a multistep procedure precisely in an experiment, measurement or technical task
   RST.9-10.3	Grades 9-10, science and technical	A complex procedure, attending to special cases or exceptions the text defines
   RST.11-12.3	Grades 11-12, science and technical	A complex procedure, then analyzing the specific results using the text's explanations

   Model text. Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) was a Canadian economics professor and humorist. "My Financial Career" appeared in his first collection, Literary Lapses, in 1910. The narrator is a young man opening his first bank account. Words to gloss: rattled (flustered), wicket (a small window at a bank counter), sepulchral (deep and gloomy, like a voice from a tomb), Pinkerton's (a well-known private detective agency of the time), Baron Rothschild and Gould (names of very rich banking and railroad families of the time), cheque (the British and Canadian spelling of "check"). Read part 1 aloud.

   1When I go into a bank I get rattled. The clerks rattle me; the wickets rattle me; the sight of the money rattles me; everything rattles me.

   2The moment I cross the threshold of a bank and attempt to transact business there, I become an irresponsible idiot.

   3I knew this beforehand, but my salary had been raised to fifty dollars a month and I felt that the bank was the only place for it.

   4So I shambled in and looked timidly round at the clerks. I had an idea that a person about to open an account must needs consult the manager.

   5I went up to a wicket marked "Accountant." The accountant was a tall, cool devil. The very sight of him rattled me. My voice was sepulchral.

   6"Can I see the manager?" I said, and added solemnly, "alone." I don't know why I said "alone."

   7"Certainly," said the accountant, and fetched him.

   8The manager was a grave, calm man. I held my fifty-six dollars clutched in a crumpled ball in my pocket.

   9"Are you the manager?" I said. God knows I didn't doubt it.

   10"Yes," he said.

   11"Can I see you," I asked, "alone?" I didn't want to say "alone" again, but without it the thing seemed self-evident.

   12The manager looked at me in some alarm. He felt that I had an awful secret to reveal.

   13"Come in here," he said, and led the way to a private room. He turned the key in the lock.

   14"We are safe from interruption here," he said; "sit down."

   15We both sat down and looked at each other. I found no voice to speak.

   16"You are one of Pinkerton's men, I presume," he said.

   17He had gathered from my mysterious manner that I was a detective. I knew what he was thinking, and it made me worse.

   18"No, not from Pinkerton's," I said, seeming to imply that I came from a rival agency.

   19"To tell the truth," I went on, as if I had been prompted to lie about it, "I am not a detective at all. I have come to open an account. I intend to keep all my money in this bank."

   20The manager looked relieved but still serious; he concluded now that I was a son of Baron Rothschild or a young Gould.

   21"A large account, I suppose," he said.

   22"Fairly large," I whispered. "I propose to deposit fifty-six dollars now and fifty dollars a month regularly."

   23The manager got up and opened the door. He called to the accountant.

   24"Mr. Montgomery," he said unkindly loud, "this gentleman is opening an account, he will deposit fifty-six dollars. Good morning."

   25I rose.

   26A big iron door stood open at the side of the room.

   27"Good morning," I said, and stepped into the safe.

   28"Come out," said the manager coldly, and showed me the other way.

   • How an individual is introduced

     What do paragraphs 1-2 of part 1 establish about the narrator before anything happens?

     Result: They set up his defining trait: "When I go into a bank I get rattled," and "I become an irresponsible idiot." Every later event will be driven by this nervousness, so the opening introduces the individual whose trait causes the plot.

   • An individual causes an event, and the event changes the individual

     Trace what happens after the narrator asks to see the manager "alone" (paragraphs 6 and 11-15).

     Result: His odd word makes the manager look "at me in some alarm" and take him to a private room, where "He turned the key in the lock" (paragraph 13). That event makes the narrator worse: "I found no voice to speak" (paragraph 15). The individual causes the event, and the event deepens the trait.

   • How an idea develops and drives action

     How does the manager's idea of the narrator change in paragraphs 16-24, and how does each idea change what he does?

     Result: First he thinks the narrator is a detective ("one of Pinkerton's men," paragraph 16) and stays private and serious. Next he thinks he is a rich man's son (paragraph 20) and expects "A large account." Finally he learns the sum is fifty-six dollars and calls it out "unkindly loud" (paragraph 24). Each new idea produces a new way of acting.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read part 2 aloud. Pairs track the narrator's state of mind in the margin with one word per paragraph (calm, nervous, panicked, desperate) and mark the paragraph where his plan changes.

   1I went up to the accountant's wicket and poked the ball of money at him with a quick convulsive movement as if I were doing a conjuring trick.

   2My face was ghastly pale.

   3"Here," I said, "deposit it." The tone of the words seemed to mean, "Let us do this painful thing while the fit is on us."

   4He took the money and gave it to another clerk.

   5He made me write the sum on a slip and sign my name in a book. I no longer knew what I was doing. The bank swam before my eyes.

   6"Is it deposited?" I asked in a hollow, vibrating voice.

   7"It is," said the accountant.

   8"Then I want to draw a cheque."

   9My idea was to draw out six dollars of it for present use. Someone gave me a chequebook through a wicket and someone else began telling me how to write it out. The people in the bank had the impression that I was an invalid millionaire. I wrote something on the cheque and thrust it in at the clerk. He looked at it.

   10"What! are you drawing it all out again?" he asked in surprise. Then I realized that I had written fifty-six instead of six. I was too far gone to reason now. I had a feeling that it was impossible to explain the thing. All the clerks had stopped writing to look at me.

   11Reckless with misery, I made a plunge.

   12"Yes, the whole thing."

   13"You withdraw your money from the bank?"

   14"Every cent of it."

   15"Are you not going to deposit any more?" said the clerk, astonished.

   16"Never."

   17An idiot hope struck me that they might think something had insulted me while I was writing the cheque and that I had changed my mind. I made a wretched attempt to look like a man with a fearfully quick temper.

   18The clerk prepared to pay the money.

   19"How will you have it?" he said.

   20"What?"

   21"How will you have it?"

   22"Oh"--I caught his meaning and answered without even trying to think--"in fifties."

   23He gave me a fifty-dollar bill.

   24"And the six?" he asked dryly.

   25"In sixes," I said.

   26He gave it me and I rushed out.

   27As the big door swung behind me I caught the echo of a roar of laughter that went up to the ceiling of the bank. Since then I bank no more. I keep my money in cash in my trousers pocket and my savings in silver dollars in a sock.

   1. The event. Ask: "What mistake does the narrator make in paragraphs 9-10 of part 2?" Teacher note: he meant "to draw out six dollars" but "had written fifty-six instead of six." It is a small slip with large results.
   2. The individual's response, and why. Ask: "Why doesn't he simply correct the cheque?" Teacher note: "I was too far gone to reason now. I had a feeling that it was impossible to explain the thing. All the clerks had stopped writing to look at me." His nervousness, made worse by the watching clerks, stops him from explaining.
   3. The new event it causes. Ask: "What does he decide in paragraphs 11-16?" Teacher note: "Reckless with misery, I made a plunge" and he withdraws "Every cent of it," answering "Never" to the question of further deposits. The decision comes from the feeling, not from any reason about money.
   4. How and why, together. Have pairs write one sentence that joins all three: event, response, new event. Model: "Because the clerks are staring when he discovers his mistake, the narrator is too embarrassed to explain it, so he pretends he meant to withdraw everything."
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Context for the next text. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, from Geneva Medical College in New York in 1849. In this excerpt from her memoir, published in 1895, she describes how she was admitted. Just before it, she explains that medical schools in Philadelphia and New York had turned her down. The excerpt includes the dean's letter to her and a set of resolutions passed by the students. The date line, the address line, and the closing and signature lines are printed on separate lines in the book, so each is numbered here as its own paragraph; the excerpt has 15 numbered paragraphs. Words to gloss: prospectuses (printed descriptions of a school), 3rd inst. (the third day of this month), quorum (enough members present to make a decision), judicious (wise), approbation (approval), and Republican Government (government of a republic, not a political party).

   Students read on their own and complete a three-column chart: Individuals (Blackwell, the dean, the students), Events (in order) and Ideas (beliefs stated or implied). They draw at least two arrows between columns and label each with a "because" sentence and a paragraph number. Quiz questions 8-14 check this reading.

   1I therefore obtained a complete list of all the smaller schools of the Northern States, ‘country schools,’ as they were called. I examined their prospectuses, and quite at a venture sent in applications for admission to twelve of the most promising institutions, where full courses of instruction were given under able professors. The result was awaited with much anxiety, as the time for the commencement of the winter sessions was rapidly approaching. No answer came for some time. At last, to my immense relief (though not surprise, for failure never seemed possible), I received the following letter from the medical department of a small university town in the western part of the State of New York:—

   2Geneva: October 20, 1847.

   3To Elizabeth Blackwell, Philadelphia.

   4I am instructed by the faculty of the medical department of Geneva University to acknowledge receipt of yours of 3rd inst. A quorum of the faculty assembled last evening for the first time during the session, and it was thought important to submit your proposal to the class (of students), who have had a meeting this day, and acted entirely on their own behalf, without any interference on the part of the faculty. I send you the result of their deliberations, and need only add that there are no fears but that you can, by judicious management, not only ‘disarm criticism,’ but elevate yourself without detracting in the least from the dignity of the profession.

   5Wishing you success in your undertaking, which some may deem bold in the present state of society, I subscribe myself,

   6Yours respectfully,

   7CHARLES A. LEE,

   8Dean of the Faculty.

   915 Geneva Hotel.

   10This letter enclosed the following unique and manly letter, which I had afterwards copied on parchment, and esteem one of my most valued possessions:—

   11At a meeting of the entire medical class of Geneva Medical College, held this day, October 20, 1847, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:—

   121. Resolved—That one of the radical principles of a Republican Government is the universal education of both sexes; that to every branch of scientific education the door should be open equally to all; that the application of Elizabeth Blackwell to become a member of our class meets our entire approbation; and in extending our unanimous invitation we pledge ourselves that no conduct of ours shall cause her to regret her attendance at this institution.

   132. Resolved—That a copy of these proceedings be signed by the chairman and transmitted to Elizabeth Blackwell.

   14F. J. STRATTON, Chairman.

   15With an immense sigh of relief and aspiration of profound gratitude to Providence I instantly accepted the invitation, and prepared for the journey to Western New York State.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Write one sentence about either text that uses "because" to link an individual, an event or an idea to another. Give the paragraph number. (2) Write one sentence about either text in which one event only comes before another, without causing it.

   Teacher note on the texts: Blackwell calls the students' letter "manly," a nineteenth-century word of praise meaning honorable and direct. Leacock's narrator calls himself an "idiot" twice as part of the comedy; ask students how this self-mockery shapes the reader's view of him rather than taking it as a judgment of anyone.

   For homework: students read the original article below, about an invented school. Its paragraphs are numbered 1-6.

   1In September, an eighth grader named Imani Brooks noticed two things at her school. After every storm, rainwater stood in puddles on the flat roof above the library, and every week the cafeteria threw away crates of vegetable scraps. She wrote both facts on an index card, pinned it above her desk and added a question: Could one problem solve the other?

   2The custodian, Mr. Ferrell, told her the roof could hold planters only near its edges, where the beams were strongest. That limit changed her plan. Instead of one large garden in the middle, Imani sketched a ring of narrow beds along the walls, with two barrels to catch the rain.

   3In October the science teacher, Ms. Abara, let the class build a compost bin for the cafeteria scraps. Two students quit the compost team after the first week, complaining about the smell. Imani moved the bin into the shade and mixed in dry leaves, and the smell faded.

   4The first planting, in March, failed: a late frost killed most of the lettuce. Several students said the roof was the wrong place for a garden. Imani's notebook from that week has one line: "Frost, not roof." She replanted in April and covered the beds with old sheets on cold nights.

   5By June the ring of beds had grown enough greens for the cafeteria salad bar on four Fridays. In May the principal had asked Imani to present the project at the district science fair, where she explained the rain barrels, the compost and the frost covers.

   6The next fall, the two students who had quit the compost team signed up to run it.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence shows an idea influencing an event?

   AThe mayor gave a long speech on a rainy Tuesday in April. BBelieving every child deserved books, the mayor raised money for a library. CThe library opened in 1905 and closed for repairs in 1930. DThe mayor and the first librarian were cousins who grew up nearby.

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 3 of part 1 of "My Financial Career," what sends the narrator to the bank even though banks rattle him?

   AHis salary has been raised to fifty dollars a month. BThe bank manager has written to invite him in. CA friend has warned him to keep his money safe. DHe has been robbed and wants to report the theft.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraphs 26-27 of part 1, the narrator says "Good morning" and steps into the bank's safe. What does this event show about how he has developed since the opening paragraphs?

   AHe has grown calmer and now feels free to joke with the manager. BHe is curious to see how much money the bank keeps in the safe. CHis nervousness has grown so great that it now controls his body. DHe wants to show the manager that he really is a detective.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In part 2, the narrator says "deposit it," and "The tone of the words seemed to mean, 'Let us do this painful thing while the fit is on us.'" (paragraph 3). What does this reveal about him?

   AHe is angry at the clerk for keeping him waiting so long. BHe has changed his mind and no longer wants an account. CHe is in physical pain from an injury earlier that day. DHe treats an ordinary deposit as if it were an ordeal.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 17 of part 2 says, "An idiot hope struck me that they might think something had insulted me while I was writing the cheque and that I had changed my mind. I made a wretched attempt to look like a man with a fearfully quick temper." How does an idea drive his action here?

   AHe decides that the clerks are laughing and walks out at once. BHe imagines a story the clerks might believe and acts it out. CHe remembers the bank's rules and follows them more carefully. DHe admits his mistake and calmly asks to start over again.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How has the narrator changed by the end of the story, and why?

   AHe has learned to bank calmly, because the clerks were kind to him. BHe has become a regular customer, because the manager trusts him. CHe has decided to work at a bank, because he now knows the job. DHe gives up banks for good, because the visit humiliated him.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Short Answer

   When the clerk asks how he wants the money, the narrator answers "in fifties," and then, asked about the remaining six dollars, says "In sixes" (part 2, paragraphs 19-25). Explain why he gives these answers and how they fit the pattern of the whole story.

   Show model answer

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to paragraph 1 of the Blackwell excerpt, how many schools did she apply to in this search?

   ATwo, one in Philadelphia and one in New York BSix, all of them in the western part of New York CTwelve of the most promising country schools DEvery medical school in the Northern States

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Blackwell says the letter came "to my immense relief (though not surprise, for failure never seemed possible)." What does this aside reveal about her as an individual?

   AShe was confident that she would reach her goal in the end. BShe expected Geneva to reject her as the others had done. CShe had been told in advance that she would be admitted. DShe cared little whether any school accepted her or not.

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The dean writes that the class "acted entirely on their own behalf, without any interference on the part of the faculty" (paragraph 4). What is the most logical inference about why he stresses this?

    AHe wants to show that the faculty pushed the students to vote yes. BHe wants Blackwell to thank each professor for the invitation. CHe wants to hide the fact that the students never actually met. DHe wants it clear that the decision to admit her was the students'.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The dean wishes Blackwell success "in your undertaking, which some may deem bold in the present state of society" (paragraph 5). What does this phrase show about ideas at the time?

    APeople in 1847 generally expected women to become doctors. BMany people then thought a woman studying medicine was daring. CThe dean believed that her plan was certain to fail quickly. DNew laws in 1847 required medical schools to admit women.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How does the students' first resolution (paragraph 12) connect an idea to an event?

    AIt uses a rule of the college to explain why she must wait a year. BIt cites the dean's orders to explain why the class had to admit her. CIt uses a principle of education for both sexes to justify inviting her. DIt uses the cost of tuition to explain why a new student is welcome.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Blackwell had the students' letter "copied on parchment" and calls it "one of my most valued possessions" (paragraph 10). What does this show about the event's effect on her over time?

    AShe treasured the students' letter for years as a keepsake. BShe sent the letter back because she distrusted the students. CShe showed the letter to the other schools to change their minds. DShe forgot about the letter once her studies at Geneva began.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Short Answer

    Grades 11-12 focus: here are two explanations for why Blackwell was admitted. (a) The students believed in the principle in their resolution. (b) The faculty did not want to decide and passed the choice to the students. Which explanation does the excerpt support better? Cite evidence for each, and say where the text leaves matters uncertain.

    Show model answer

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A procedure says: "1. Fill the beaker to the 100 mL line with water. 2. Add one spoonful of salt. 3. Stir until no crystals remain. 4. If crystals remain after two minutes of stirring, add 20 mL more water and stir again." A student has stirred for two minutes and still sees crystals. What should the student do next?

    AAdd a second spoonful of salt and stir again BPour out the water and start over at step 1 CRecord that the salt has fully dissolved DAdd 20 mL more water and stir again

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence states that one event caused another, rather than only listing them in order?

    AThe storm ended at noon, and the game began at three. BBecause the storm flooded the field, the game moved indoors. CFirst the storm ended; later that week, the field was mowed. DThe storm came in June, the same month the season opened.

17. Question 17 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In a story, a shy boy is made to give a speech, does better than he expected, and later volunteers to lead a club. What does this sequence show?

    AThe boy's shyness causes the speech to go badly. BThe club causes the boy to give his first speech. CAn event changes the character, and the change leads to a new event. DThe boy stays the same while the events around him change.

18. Question 18 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which statement best compares what drives events in "My Financial Career" and in the Blackwell excerpt?

    AIn Leacock a misunderstanding drives events; in Blackwell, a principle. BIn both texts, a written letter is the event that sets things in motion. CIn Leacock the manager's kindness drives events; in Blackwell, luck. DIn both texts, the main individual stays the same from start to end.

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    How does Blackwell herself, not only the dean and the students, shape the events in the excerpt? Cite two of her own actions with paragraph numbers, and explain how each moves events forward.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Part 1, paragraph 26 says, "A big iron door stood open at the side of the room." Did the open door cause the narrator to step into the safe, or only come before it? Explain, with evidence.

    Show model answer

These are the grade-level standards that carry anchor CCRA.R.3 in grades 6-12, plus closely related anchors.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.