John F. Kennedy Moon Speech
 Preparation Notes
o Preview the transcripts of President Bush's and President Obama's NASA
speeches before sharing them with students.
o Students will need to access a dictionary and/or thesaurus for some of the
multiple-choice (MC) items.
o At least one constructed-response (CR) task requires a dictionary.
o Preview any videos you plan to share with students.
o Preview any websites you plan to share with students.
 Selected-Response Items
o These items target standards within the RI and L strands of the CCSS:
Item Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Reading Informational – Grade 8
CCSS Target
RI.8.6
RI.8.6
L.8.5a
L.8.5b
L.8.4a
RI.8.5
RI.8.4
RI.8.3
RI.8.2
RI.8.1
L.8.4b
L.8.5c
Revised 11/11/2013
 Constructed-Response Tasks
CR1 (RI.8.2)
Student prompt:
Summarize the text. Include at least three important details to support your
answer.
3
2
1
0
The response accurately summarizes
the text and includes at least three
important details.
The response accurately summarizes
the text and includes two important
details.
The response accurately summarizes
the text and includes one important
detail.
The response does not accurately
summarize the text.
CR2 (RI.8.2)
Student prompt:
Determine one main idea in the text. Explain how the author supports that idea.
Use at least two details from the text to support your answer.
3
2
1
0
The response includes one main idea
and at least two supporting details
from the text.
The response includes one main idea
and one supporting detail from the
text.
The response includes one main idea
but does not include any supporting
details from the text.
The response does not include a main
idea.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
CR3 (RI.8.7)
Teacher instructions:
Find a video of President Kennedy's Moon Speech at Rice University and show it
to your students.
Student prompt:
Identify at least one advantage and at least one disadvantage to watching the
speech instead of reading the speech.
2
1
0
The response includes one advantage
and one disadvantage to watching
the speech.
The response includes either one
advantage or one disadvantage to
watching the speech.
The response does not include one
advantage or one disadvantage.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
CR4 (RI.8.8)
Student prompt:
Evaluate President Kennedy's argument that space exploration deserves to be a
top priority. Use at least three details from the text to support your answer.
Consider: In general, how effective is his argument? How does he support his
argument? Does he use facts or opinions? Is his argument supported by wellresearched information, or does he use evidence that is irrelevant?
4
3
2
1
0
The response evaluates the
effectiveness of the argument and
includes at least three supporting
details from the text.
The response evaluates the
effectiveness of the argument and
includes two supporting details from
the text.
The response evaluates the
effectiveness of the argument and
includes one supporting detail from
the text.
The response evaluates the
effectiveness of the argument but
does not include any supporting
details from the text.
The response does not evaluate the
effectiveness of the argument.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
CR5 (RI.8.9)
Teacher instructions:
Find a transcript of President Bush's speech to NASA and President Obama's
speech to NASA. Have students read both.
Student prompt:
President Bush and President Obama have different visions for the future of
NASA. In a paragraph, identify and explain where the two presidents disagree on
facts or interpretations. Begin your paragraph with a topic sentence, include at
least three details from the text, and end your paragraph with a concluding
sentence.
5
4
3
2
1
0
The response includes the following five elements:
- a topic sentence that compares the two
presidents' visions
- supporting detail 1
- supporting detail 2
- supporting detail 3
- an effective concluding sentence
The response includes four of the required
elements.
The response includes three of the required
elements.
The response includes two of the required
elements.
The response includes one of the required
elements.
The response does not include any of the required
elements.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
CR6 (L.8.4c)
Student prompt:
Use a dictionary. Write a definition for the word "incumbency" and then use
"incumbency" in a sentence.
2

Definition:

Sentence:
The response includes an accurate
definition and an appropriate
sentence.
The response includes either an
accurate definition or an appropriate
sentence.
The response does not include an
accurate definition or an appropriate
sentence.
1
0
CR7 (L.8.4c)
Student prompt:
Use a dictionary. Write the part of speech for the word " incumbency " as it is
used in the text.

1
0
Part of speech:
The response includes the correct part
of speech of the word.
The response does not include the
correct part of speech of the word.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
CR8 (L.8.4c)
Student prompt:
Look in a dictionary for the pronunciation of "incumbency." Write the
pronunciation.
Pronunciation for "incumbency":
1
The response includes a correct
pronunciation.
The response does not include a
correct pronunciation.
0
CR9 (L.8.4d)
Student prompt:
Use a dictionary. Write a definition for the word "embark" and then use "embark"
in a sentence.
2
1
0

Definition:

Sentence:
The response includes an accurate
definition and an appropriate
sentence.
The response includes either an
accurate definition or an appropriate
sentence.
The response does not include an
accurate definition or an appropriate
sentence.
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013
 Activity/Discussion Ideas
Not available for this text
 Other Standards
Activity (RH.6-8.9)
Find a secondary source on the same topic. Ask students to analyze the
relationship between the primary and secondary source. Discuss any or all of the
following: Who is the audience of each text? What is the purpose of each text?
What is the same? What is different?
Reading Informational – Grade 8
Revised 11/11/2013