IA #2 PLAN
MC
Item
Standard
1
RL4
2
RL 1
3
RL 1
4
RL 4
5
RL 4/L 5
6
RL 2
Theme
7
RL 4
Tone
8
RL 9
Genre-structure
9
RL 3
10
RL 3
11
RL 6
Elements of a story interact/affect other elements
(plot)
Elements of a story interact/affect other elements
(setting)
Point of view
12
RL 9
13
RI 5
Compare/contrast portrayal of time in fiction and
historical account (poem/fiction excerpt)
Organization structure
14
RI 1
Read closely and find answers
15
RI 1
Read closely and find answers
16
L2
Conventions-comma usage
17
L2
modifier
18
L2
Dialogue
19
RL 4
20
RL/RI 9
Learning Target
Figurative language-personification
Read closely determine meaning of word/formulate
inferences
Read closely determine meaning of word/phrase
Poetic devices-symbolism
Connotation/ meaning of word
Figure of speech/simile
Compare/contrast two passages-theme
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department
IA # 2 Pretest 2012-2013
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American
poet. Longfellow was born and raised in the region of Portland, Maine. He attended
university at an early age at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After several
journeys overseas, he returned to the United States in 1836, and took up the
professorship at Harvard University. He had settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where
he remained for the rest of his life, although he spent summers at his home in Nahant.
He began publishing his poetry, including "Voices of the Night" in 1839 and Ballads and
Other Poems, which included his famous poem "The Village Blacksmith", in 1841.
Longfellow was such an admired figure in the United States during his life that his 70th
birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, speeches, and the
reading of his poetry. He had become one of the first American celebrities. His work
was immensely popular during his time and is still today.
The Village Blacksmith
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1
5
10
15
Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department
20
25
30
35
40
45
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling—rejoicing—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
Vocabulary
bellows- a mechanical device that blows a
strong current of air; used to make a fire burn
more fiercely or to sound a musical
instrument
forge - n. a furnace where metals are heated
and wrought; a smithy; a workshop that
produces wrought iron
sexton - n. An employee or officer
of a church who is responsible for the care
and upkeep of church property and
sometimes for ringing bells and digging
graves.
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department
____2. What conclusion can you draw about the blacksmith from the details in these lines
(lines 13-14) from “The Village Blacksmith”?
Week in, week out, from morn till night, / You can hear his bellows blow.
a. He likes to work at night.
b. He works hard.
____
4.
c. He gets up early.
d. He ignores his family.
What does the “Paradise” in the following lines (lines 31-32) symbolize?
“It sounds to him like her mother’s voice, /Singing in Paradise!”
a. Earth
b. in the clouds
c. Heaven
d. an island
The Long Winter
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Chapter One
Make Hay While The Sun Shines
(1) The
mowing machine's whirring sounded cheerfully from the old buffalo wallow south of the claim shanty,
where bluestem grass stood thick and tall and Pa was cutting it for hay.
(2) The sky was high and quivering with heat over the shimmering prairie. (3) Half-way down to sunset, the sun
blazed as hotly as at noon. (4) The wind was scorching hot. (5) But Pa had hours of mowing yet to do before he
could stop for the night.
(6) Laura drew up a pailful of water from the well at the edge of the Big Slough. (7) She rinsed the brown jug till
it was cool to her hand. (8) Then she filled it with the fresh cool water, corked it tightly, and started with it to the
hayfield.
(9) Swarms of little white butterflies hovered over the path. (10) A dragon-fly with gauzy wings swiftly chased a
gnat. (11) On the stubble of cut grass. (12)The striped gophers were scampering. (13)All at once they ran for their
lives and dived into their holes. (14) Then Laura saw a swift shadow and looked up at the eyes and the claws of a
hawk overhead. (15) But all the little gophers were safe in their holes.
(16) Pa was glad to see Laura with the water-jug. (17) He got down from the mowing machine and drank a
mouthful. (18) "Ah! that hits the spot!" he said, and tipped up the jug again. (19) Then he corked it, and setting it
on the ground he covered it with cut grass.
(20) "This sun almost makes a fellow want a bunch of sprouts to make a shade," he joked. (21) He was really glad
there were no trees; he had grubbed so many sprouts from his clearing in the Big Woods, every summer. (22)
Here on the Dakota prairies there was not a single tree, not one sprout, not a bit of shade anywhere.
(23) "A man works better when he's warmed up, anyway!" Pa said cheerfully, and chirruped to the horses. (24)
Sam and David plodded on, drawing the machine. (25) The long, steel-toothed blade went steadily whirring
against the tall grass and laid it down flat. (26) Pa rode high on the open iron seat, watching it lie down, his hand
on the lever.
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department
(27) Laura sat in the grass to watch him go once around. (28) The heat there smelled as good as an oven when
bread is baking. (29) The little brown-and-yellow striped gophers were hurrying again, all about her. (30) Tiny
birds fluttered and flew to cling to bending grass-stems, balancing lightly. (31) A striped garter snake came
flowing and curving through the forest of grass. (32) Laura felt suddenly as big as a mountain sitting hunched
with her chin on her knees, when the snake curved up its head and stared at the high wall of her calico skirt.
(33) Its round eyes were shining like beads, and its tongue was flickering so fast that it looked like a tiny jet of
steam. (34) The whole bright-striped snake had a gentle look. (35) Laura knew that garter snakes will not harm
anyone, and they are good to have on a farm because they eat the insects that spoil crops.
(36) It stretched its neck low again and, making a perfectly square turn in itself because it could not climb over
Laura, it went flowing around her and away in the grass.
(37) Then the mowing machine whirred louder and the horses came nodding their heads slowly in time with their
feet. (38) David jumped when Laura spoke almost under his nose.
____
8. This passage is best described as historical fiction because it
a. Illustrates how family members get along c. Has fictional elements like plot, setting,
and characters
b. Includes realistic dialogue
d. Describes events that happened during a
real period in history
____ 12. How are the two passages, “The Village Blacksmith” and “The Long Winter” similar?
a. They both have a young girl as the main
character
b. They both show a family that believes
in hard work
c. They both suggest that work is more
difficult in summer
d. Both are contemporary/realistic fiction
19. Constructed Response
Identify a simile from the poem, “The Village Blacksmith.” Explain what this figure of speech is comparing
20. Extended Response
A. Define theme.
B. Determine a common (same) theme for the reading passages “The Village Blacksmith” and “The Long Winter.”
Support and explain your response with two key events from the text that contributes to the theme.
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department
The Big Idea
This is only part of the pacing calendar for
the year.
Learning Chunk #1
Reading
 Genres
 Prose fiction/nonfiction (RL 7.9, RI 7.2, RI7.3)
 Drama (RL 7.3, RL7.4, RL 7.5)
 Poetry(RL 7.4, RL7.5)
 Literary Elements (RL 7.2, RL 7.3, RL 7.6)
 Text Structure (RI 7.5)
 Main idea/details (RI 7.2/7.3)
 Fact/Opinion(RI7.10)
Learning Chunk #2
Reading
 Genres
 Prose fiction/ nonfiction (RL 7.9, RI 7.2
 Poetry(RL 7.4, RL7.5)
 Main idea/details (RI7.2/7.3)
 Literary Elements (RL 7.2, RL 7.3, RL 7.4)
 Context clues-root/prefix/ suffix/
synonyms/antonyms (L7.4)
Writing
Writing





Informational Piece (W7.2)
Organization (W7.2, 7.9 a-b)
Sentences/paragraphs (W 7.3, W 7.4)
Ideas (W7.4, W7.5)
Narrative-(poem/story) (W7.3)
Language:
Language:








Clauses-sentence structure -independent/
dependent clauses (L7.1)
Dialogue (L7.2)
Punctuation/Capitalization (L7.2, W7.3)
Spelling(L7.2, L7.4) (commonly misspelled words)
Modifiers
Adjectives (L 7.2)
Commas (L 7.2)
Context clues root/ prefix/ suffix/
synonyms/ antonyms (L7.4)
 Spelling-words with prefix/suffix (L7.2,
L7.4)
Created by Stuart Pepper Middle School Language Arts Department