Reading Sage: Paired Reading Passages Opinion Writing

Paired Reading Passages: Persuasive, Opinion, and Argumentative Essays. Write a Persuasive, Opinion, or Argument essay to support claims in an analysis of a paired reading text. Using paired text with substantive topics with deep themes is a skill that starts in the 3rd grade. Some writing assessments use paired texts with a video excerpt to assess the use of valid evidence, reasoning and relevant and sufficient development of persuasive opinions and arguments. OREO: Opinion Reason Evidence and Opinion

Prepare your students' for the end-of-year (EOG) Persuasive Writing/Opinion writing exams. Opinion, Claim, Thesis statements, Counterclaims, Argumentative Writing, Persuasive Writing, Opinion Writing, Essay, and Counterclaim Sentence Starters and sample student anchor papers.Opinion/Argument Writing PacketGrades 3-6
4th Grade • ELACC4RL9: Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. ELACC4RI9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Earth-Friendly Diet

There are many ways in which you can follow an earth friendly diet. Eat an organic vegetarian diet consisting of unprocessed natural foods. Farmer’s market, Cage-free eggs, non-genetically modified foods (GMO-Free) and locally grown organic produce have become a part of our diet and is a result of the sustainable food movement which is spreading around the world. We should be consuming local foods rather than import costly foods in terms of environmental costs.

On the next shopping trips try to carry a reusable jute bag or any other bags and this is how you are helping the planet to stay clean and safe. The United States uses 100 billion polyethylene grocery bags annually, which requires the use of 12 million barrels of oil for production and only 1% of the polyethylene grocery bags are recycled. Then what happens to the rest of the polyethylene grocery bags? They are either dumped into oceans, rivers or landfills and we all know that polyethylene grocery bags are non-biodegradable and many aquatic animals, which are endemic animals, die of starvation after they consume them. Try to avoid paper bags as they involve cutting down about 14 million trees annually.
We should always try to use the least amount of packaging for any of the products because most of the time we see that the packaging materials that are used are mainly made up of Styrofoam, which is a carcinogen, creates hazardous wastes and produces greenhouse gasses during production. These are unsustainable products and finally, end up in landfills, rivers and oceans.
Plastic bottles should also be avoided. Reusable water bottles should be used to drink water and this can lessen the amount of waste by a large percentage. Try to consume local tap water and you can even use filters to help purify it. If each citizen in the United States switched to reusable water bottles, we would keep 50 billion plastic bottles out of our landfills and oceans.
We should always try to eat foods that are grown locally. The food will be fresher and they contain more nutrients and vitamins than the foods that are shipped from hundreds of miles away or imported from other countries. Processed or preserved foods are not very healthy.
Eating more plant based produce than any other category of food will make a great positive impact for the earth. Producing one pound of wheat takes 25 gallons of water, one pound of beef uses 5,000 gallons of water. That is enough to float a battle ship!
The organic foods that are grown and processed through farming contribute to the biodiversity of our earth. They are used without using any of the chemical fertilizers and only green or organic manure are used for the production. The chemical fertilizers often seep into the soil and sterilize and kill all of the micro-organisms. The death of these useful micro-organisms creates soil that is anaerobic and lacking organic nutrients. Moreover, these fertilizers can pollute the water of rivers and oceans due to surface run-off. Additionally, the fertilizers can be harmful to us when we consume them.
Many healthy vegetables can be consumed raw and do not need to be cooked or boiled at all. This will save the power that would have been used for cooking. In China, food is first chopped into small pieces for quick preparation. This allows them to cook just as much food while using less energy.
Eating seasonal vegetables and fruits is beneficial for our health and our environment. You should look for foods that grow locally near you.
Another way to benefit the environment and our health is to grow our own food. Many community gardens are available where you will get your own area to grow vegetables and fruits that will be fresh, organic and healthy.
Happy healthy drug-free ice cream! Visions of happy cows eating grass in green pastures are a fantasy is the US. Milk production in the US can be a cruel and unhealthy process. Many of you may not know that dairy cows are injected with antibiotics and other artificial hormones to boost their milk production. These can be harmful to both human beings and cows. Also, they have major impacts on the environment. Moreover, dairy production on an industrial basis may at times transmit antibiotics and growth hormones that can be harmful. So we should always make our preference for the antibiotic-free and hormone-free products. Drug-free cows and free-range livestock are good for the environment and the kind and humane way to produce dairy foods.

The Sugar Diet: America’s Addiction to sugar

It is said that America has an addiction with sugar and high fructose corn sweeteners. In spite of the fact that sweeteners are in most of the products we eat, California was the first state to enact a tax on sugary drinks to curb America’s addiction.

17 percent of children and more than one-third of the people in America are obese.
In the last thirty years, the diagnoses of type 2 diabetes has increased 10 times its initial value.
Over $190 billion is spent annually by Americans on the treatment of diseases that are directly or indirectly related to obesity.

According to health professionals and health advocates, the main culprit is sugar. Though a number of other factors have contributed to obesity in the United States. Sugar is still the main ingredient that has caused major health issues.

Recently Berkley, California became the first US city in which the tax on sugary drinks has come into effect. Similar measures are also being debated in large cities like San Francisco and New York City. However, Americans do not like government putting restrictions on their diet as many are now addicted to the sugar. America’s addiction to sugar is associated with significant amounts of money for companies like Coca-Cola and Nestle.

America’s rate of consumption of carbonated beverages is greater than any other country. The super-sized beverages that are served to and consumed by Americans contribute largely to the increasing number of children with early onset diabetes. Elementary school children spend an average of 28 hours per week watching Television or playing video games on a Television.

Many products besides carbonated beverages have also led to the increased consumption of sugar. For example:

Roughly 120lbs of sugar are consumed by a typical American per year according to the journal from Clinical Nutrition. The consumption has increased by 50% since 1950.
The “war on fat” movement that Americans had waged in the 1970s was meant to curb the fat content of the food, but they failed on the part when they sprinkled some sugar in it.
More than 80% of canned or processed foods that Americans consume contains sugar from soy milk to whole wheat bread, and any of the food items that come in between them.

Britain is not too far behind….

Teens in Britain consume three times the recommended amount of sugar. That mainly accounts for 15.6% of their part of one day’s source of energy
One in four Brits are considered overweight or obese, which is almost two thirds of the population. Iceland and Malta are among the western European countries with the most obese individuals.
Among children aged 4-5 years, one out of five are overweight and one out of three children age 10-12 are obese.

Sugar is not a pocket-friendly product for the commoners:

Approximately $190 million are spent by Americans annually on the treatment of diseases that are linked to excessive weight gain, which is more than the net domestic product of New Zealand.
The American rate of obesity has doubled for adults and tripled for children since 1980.
Seven percent of Americans have type 2 diabetes.

From canned peaches to ketchups everything that the Americans consume contains sugar. Just as the people crave fat and salt, they crave sugar and it’s not an astonishing fact from a business perspective. According to a recent survey:

Milk chocolates like Hershey syrups and bars contain 23 grams of sugar
Jam Doughnut contains 8grams of sugar
Coca-Cola contains 35grams of sugar
Ice cream (vanilla) / Cornetto contains 22grams of sugar.

In spite of such staggering statistics people are not thinking about lowering their sugar consumption.

THESE PAIRED ARTICLES ARE FIRST DRAFTS AND NEED EDITING

Coral Reef Systems: The Great Barrier Reef

The world’s biggest coral reef system is The Great Barrier Reef which is located off the sea coast of Queensland in the Coral Sea, in Australia. It consists of 900 islands that extend for more than 2300 kilometers and there are more than 2900 individual coral reefs. It covers approximately 133,000 square miles. The Great Barrier Reef is the one and only structure that has been made by the living organisms and that can be seen far away from the outer space. The millions of tiny organisms known as the coral polyps have built this structure which supports a huge aquatic life system and has been recognized as one of the World Heritage Site in 1981. It was labelled as one of the seven natural wonders in the world by CNN. The Great Barrier Reef is the State Icon of Queensland as stated by the Queensland National Trust.

The Great Barrier Reef ecosystem also faces some natural impacts through climatic Changes, coral bleaching, run-off and the crown-of-thorns starfishes often break in, in cyclic proportions. The coral cover of the reef is lost more than by half since 1985 as shown in the reports published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2012. The area is protected from any kind of human activities like fishing and also the tourism is limited so that the natural structure does not get exploited.

The Great Barrier Reef has formed one of the cultural and spiritual aspects for the people who dwell in the Torres Strait Island for the Aboriginal Australians. It is a quite famous tourist spot that generates economic activities for the area and generates more than 3 million dollars per year.

Ecology of the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the home to many endangered and vulnerable species which are even endemic to this coral Reef system. The Great Barrier Reef is home to the humpback whale, dwarf minke whale and the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and many such other tiny species of porpoises, dolphins and whales. The reef system supports a large population of dugongs. Other than these there are several species of snapper, eighty-four species of spawns, red-throat emperor, coral trout, red bass, clownfish and forty nine species of the mass spawn. In the northern and the southern sections, up to 50 metres in the warm waters of the reef systems lives over seventeen species of sea snakes.

The species of sea turtles like the hawksbill turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Olive Ridley, flatback turtle, green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle come to the reef systems for breeding. The green sea turtles are divided genetically between the northern and the southern part of the reefs. There are fifteen species of seagrass grows in the seabed of the ocean like Halodule and Halophila that provides fish habitats and also attracts turtles and dugongs. The coast near the reef is home to many saltwater crocodiles which live in the salt marshes and the mangroves and also to a large species of skates, sharks, stingray and chimaera live on the reef system. Over 5000 species of mollusk have been found on the reefs which include cone snails, giant clam and various nudibranchs. Nine species of sea horses, seven species of frogs and over 50 species of pipefishes has been found in the Great Barriers. More than 215 species of birds migrate to the reefs each year and add to the diversity of the region.

Threats to the Great Barrier Reef

Ocean warming and elevated temperatures have resulted in coral bleaching which has become an annual occurrence now. They are becoming susceptible to diseases that results in ecological effects for the communities in the coral reefs. The declining water quality and pollution in the water as also contributed largely to the death of many species of organism. The loss of coastal wetland has also snatched away many habitats of the organisms.

Coral Reef Systems: The Great Barrier Reef

The world’s biggest coral reef system is The Great Barrier Reef which is located off the sea coast of Queensland in the Coral Sea, in Australia. It consists of 900 islands that extend for more than 2300 kilometres and there are more than 2900 individual coral reefs. It covers approximately 133,000 square miles. The Great Barrier Reef is the one and only structure that has been made by the living organisms and that can be seen far away from the outer space. The millions of tiny organisms known as the coral polyps have built this structure which supports a huge aquatic life system and has been recognised as one of the World Heritage Site in 1981. It was labelled as one of the seven natural wonders in the world by CNN. The Great Barrier Reef is the State Icon of Queensland as stated by the Queensland National Trust.

Ecology of the Great Barrier Reef

The species of sea turtles like the hawksbill turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Olive Ridley, flatback turtle, green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle come to the reef systems for breeding. The green sea turtles are divided genetically between the northern and the southern part of the reefs. There are fifteen species of seagrass grows in the seabed of the ocean like Halodule and Halophila that provides fish habitats and also attracts turtles and dugongs. The coast near the reef is home to many saltwater crocodiles which live in the salt marshes and the mangroves and also to a large species of skates, sharks, stingray and chimaera live on the reef system. Over 5000 species of mollusc have been found on the reefs which include cone snails, giant clam and various nudibranchs. Nine species of sea horses, seven species of frogs and over 50 species of pipefishes has been found in the Great Barriers. More than 215 species of birds migrate to the reefs each year and add to the diversity of the region.

Threats to the Great Barrier Reef

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a comic book superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Spider-Man is the biggest superhero in the Marvel Universe. He is the most loved Marvel superhero. Spider-Man was created by the famous Stan Lee along with Steve Ditko. Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker, a teenager who is an orphan. He lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May who love him as he was their son. Peter was not always Spider-Man. Prior to the accident that made him Spider-Man; Peter Parker led a normal life just like any other teenager. His world completely changes when a radioactive spider bites him and that gives him his powers. He gains agility, strength and ability to climb walls and ceilings. He tries to capitalize his new powers and enters a television program wearing a costume, as “Spider-Man”. One day he ignores to stop a thief who is fleeing and ironically, that thief later kills his uncle Ben. It is then that Peter Parker acknowledges the fact that great power bestows greater responsibility on a person.

Spider-Man is the first teenage superhero who is not a sidekick of a bigger one like Robin, Super boy or Wonder Girl. Despite his superpowers, Peter Parker struggles with his daily life. He has to help his widowed aunt pay rent and is also taunted by his friends. But Peter is a humble child and has a good heart. Also, he is a very good student and his intellect is often said to be genius level.

Powers of Spider-Man:

1. Enhanced physiology: After the spider bit Peter Parker, his physiology changed completely. His metabolism has increased greatly. Also, the composition of his skeleton, tissues, muscles and his nervous system has all been highly enhanced. Originally peter had to wear glasses, but after the spider bite, his vision was perfect. He could see perfectly without any glasses. Also, he got an enhanced healing factor as a power.

2. Wall-crawling: Spider-Man is capable of crawling walls and ceilings. He can stick to any surface with his hand, feet and his back.

3. Enhanced strength, agility and durability: Spider-Man is frequently said to have the proportional strength of a spider. Spider-Man can leap several stories vertically or the width of a city street. Spider-Man's agility and reflexes are far more exemplary than those compared to an ordinary human. Spider-Man has the ability to maintain balance in any form of a platform that he can stick to.

4. Spider-Sense: Spider-Man's sense of tingling at the base of his skull, symbolizing him to personal danger in relation to the proximity of that danger.

Being a science geek with great intellect, Peter Parker himself constructs many devices that complement his powers. The most notable tech is his mechanical web-shooters. This mechanism produces an extraordinary adhesive, generating web-fluid in various shapes and types, including a single rope-like strand to swing from, a net to tie up enemies, and a simple mesh of web to foul machinery or blind an opponent. He can also design the web material into forms such as spherical guard or hemispherical barrier, or a shield or a hang-glider wing. Other equipment includes spider-tracer which is a spider-shaped adhesive homing device.

Archenemies of Spider-Man are:

1. Doctor Octopus: He is considered to be spider-man's archenemy. It has been clearly implied that Peter could turn out to be like him if he was evil and irresponsible. He is just the opposite of Peter Parker in many ways. His character is of great significance as he is known to have defeated spider-man the first time they confronted.

2. Norman Osborn: This character is also depicted as Spider-man's nemesis and goes by the villainous identity of Green Goblin. He is responsible for attempting to kill spider-man's girlfriend, being involved in the murder of Peter’s Aunt May and some other heroes.

3. Venom: This character is also graded as Spider-Man’s archenemy. Venom's ulterior motive is to destroy Spider-Man's life and get in his head to mess with his thoughts. The fact that he is almost unbeatable is because he has very few weaknesses.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a warrior princess of the Amazons, a land where no men are allowed (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology). She is known by the secret identity Diana Prince. She has a wide range of superpowers and has superior combat and battle skills. She has a variety of weapons, namely the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a boomerang and occasionally a shield. She is one of the founding members the famous Justice League, an organization of superheroes which often work together to fight bigger and fiercer villain/villains.

Wonder Woman is a warrior. She is a highly compassionate ambassador. She refers to the rest of earth as “Man’s World”. Her humanity, her feeling of compassion and her giving love without discrimination is a great character of hers. In the beginning, Wonder Woman is shown to be having an aversion towards men due to her Amazonian upbringing. But this changes slowly with time as she resides in the world outside Amazons. A distinctive element of her characterization is a group of signature mythological motifs including Great Aphrodite, Great Hera and so on.

The powers of Wonder Woman are:

1. Superhuman strength. She is the strongest female heroine of all female characters in the DC Comics Universe. She can also heal very fast because she has been portrayed as a Demigoddess.

2. Speed, agility, durability, endurance and great reflexes are also her special abilities. She can react quickly enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets.

3. She can fly.

4. She is a specialist in hand to hand combat. She is also blessed with great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess.

Wonder Woman uses some special equipment like:

1. Her bulletproof bracelets: These were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis. These bracelets are indestructible and are able to absorb the impact of any incoming attacks. She can strike the bracelets together which will then give rise to force that can literally cause concussion and cause one to bleed from his ears.

2. The Lasso: This weapon symbolises truth and is known to have been forged by Hephaestus. It’s known to force the truth out of everyone who comesin contact with it. Diana keeps the lasso with her all the time and knows to use it as a whip as well..

3. Tiara: It is utilised as a throwing weapon with a razor sharp edge, which acts very much in the same manner as a boomerang. The Tiara allows Wonder Woman to be immune from telepathic charges. It gives Diana permission to establish telepathic contact. It is depicted that the red ruby centered on her Tiara has telepathic power.

Wonder Woman has an array of enemies. But there are some of them, who have grown to be her major competent. Some of them are:

1. Cheetah: She is regarded as the greatest archenemy of Wonder Woman. Cheetah is a she-villain who rose to overshadow Wonder Woman and end her forever.

2. Ares: He is the Greek God of War. He is the Biggest Amazonian adversary of Wonder Woman. Like Cheetah, Ares has been a very frequent rival of Wonder Woman.

3. Doctor Psycho: He is presented as an adversary of Wonder Woman. He is able to harness supernatural energies. He has consistently been portrayed as suffering from mental illness (ranging from possessiveness to full-blown insanity), possessing a diminutive stature, and harbouring a misogynistic hatred of women.

4. Giganta: Giganta is Dr. Doris Zeul. She suffers from a fatal blood disease. So she captivates Wonder Woman wanting to put her "life-essence" into Wonder Woman's body using a machine of her own. She is interrupted by Wonder Girl halfway through the experiment and thus ends up with her consciousness in a gorilla named Giganta. She has the ability to enlarge her size. Thus, becoming a formidable opponent.

Paired Articles: Earth-Friendly Diet and The Sugar Diet: America’s Addiction to Sugar

Earth-Friendly Diet

On the next shopping trips try to carry a reusable jute bag or any other bags and this is how you are helping the planet to stay clean and safe. The United States uses 100 billion polyethene grocery bags annually for whose production almost 12 million barrels of oil is consumed and only 1% of the polyethene grocery bags are recycled. Then what happens to the rest of the polyethene grocery bags? They are either dumped into oceans, rivers or landfills and we all know that polyethene grocery bags are non-biodegradable and many aquatic animals who are endemic animals die out of starvation and after they consume these poisonous polyethene grocery bags. Try to avoid paper bags as they involve cutting down about 14 million trees annually.
We should always try to use the least amount of packaging for any of the products because most of the time we see that the packaging materials that are used are mainly made up of Styrofoam which is a carcinogen, creates hazardous wastes and produces greenhouse gasses. These are unsustainable products and finally, end up in landfills, rivers and oceans.
Plastic bottles should also be avoided. Reusable water bottles should be used to drink water and this can lessen the amount of waste by a large percentage. Try to drink tap water directly because packed locally available water bottles provide none other than tap waters. Try to use filters to drink pure water.
We should always try to eat foods that are grown locally. The food will be fresher, and they can retain more amount of nutrients than the foods that are imported from other countries and that are shipped and need to be kept in cans for a long period of time. Processed or preserved foods are not very healthy.
Eating more produce than any other category of food will make a great positive impact for the earth.
The organic foods that are grown and processed through farming contribute to the biodiversity of our earth. They are used without using any of the chemical fertilizers and only green or organic manure are used for the production. The chemical fertilizers often sip into the soil and cause infertility, death of the useful micro-organism who makes the soil fertile by making them loose internally and help in internal ploughing. Moreover. these fertilizers can pollute the water of rivers and oceans due to surface run-off. Moreover, the fertilisers can be harmful to us when we consume them.
The vegetables that are good to eat raw for our health can be easily gulped down without boiling them unnecessarily. This will save the power that would have been used for cooking.
The vegetables and fruits which are seasonal are very good for our health and moreover local purchasing would be quite beneficial for our environment. You should look for foods that grow locally nearby you.
Another healthy process of saving our environment is to grow our own food. Many community gardens are available where you will get your own area to grow your own vegetables and fruits that will be fresh, organic and healthy.
Happy healthy drug-free ice cream! Visions of happy cows eating grass in green pastures are a fantasy is the US. Milk production in the US can be a cruel and unhealthy process. Many of you may not know that dairy cows are injected with antibiotics and other artificial hormones to boost their milk production. These can be harmful to both human beings and cows. Also, they have major impacts on the environment. Moreover, dairy production on an industrial basis may at times transmit antibiotics and GHG that can be harmful. So we should always make our preference for the antibiotic-free and hormone-free products. Drug-free cows and free-range livestock are good for the environment and the kind and humane way to produce dairy foods.

The Sugar Diet: America’s Addiction to sugar

It is said that America has a love affair with sugar in spite of the fact that in California United states’ first tax on sugary drinks has gone into effect.

17 percent of children and more than one-third of the people in America are obese.
In the last thirty years, the diagnoses of type 2 diabetes has increased 10 times its initial value.
Over $190bn is spent by the Americans’ annually on the treatment of diseases that are directly or indirectly related to obesity.

According to policymakers and health advocates, the main culprit is sugar though other than it a number of reasons have contributed to peoples’ worry in United States but still sugar is the main ingredient that has caused major health issues in most of the peoples’ life.

Recently in Berkley, situated in California became the first US city in which the tax on sugary drinks has come into effect. Similar measures are also being debated in large cities like San Francisco and New York City. But Americans do not like that the government puts any restriction on their diet and it is very obvious that the Americans will not decrease their sugar consumption. America’s addiction to sugar is associated with significant amounts of money being made on addiction. Britain is also not very far from this race in sugar consumption.

On earth, America’s rate of consumption of Frizzy drinks is greater than any other country. The super-sized soda bottles that the Americans consume contribute largely in increasing the number of diabetes patients and other diseases.

Not only the Frizzy drinks but also many other products has also led to the increased consumption of sugar for example:

Roughly about 120lbs of sugar is consumed by a typical American per year according to the journal from Clinical Nutrition. The consumption has increased by 50% since 1950.
The “war on fat” movement that the Americans had waged in 1970s, was seriously on the issue that they will curb down the fat content of the food, but they failed on the part when they sprinkled some sugar in it.
More than 80% of the food that are canned or processed that the Americans’ consume contains sugar from soy milk to whole wheat bread, and any of the food items that come in between them.

Britain is not too far behind….

The amount of sugar that are recommended for the teens in Britain, they consume 3 times more amount of sugar in their food that mainly accounts for 15.6% of their part of one day’s source of energy
One in four Brits are considered as overweight or obese which is almost two third of the population per unit area. Iceland and Malta are among the western European countries in which have the maximum amount of obese individuals.
Amongst the children aged 4-5 years, one out of five children are overweight and among the age group10-12 one out of three children are obese.

Sugar consumption is not at all pocket-friendly product for the commoners:

Approximately $190 million are spent by the Americans annually on the treatment of diseases that are linked to excessive weight gain which is more that the net domestic product of entire New Zealand.
Amongst the Americans the rate of obesity, since 1980, has doubled among the adults and among the children it has tripled.
Type 2 diabetes has become common disease amongst seven percent of the Americans.

From canned peaches to ketchups everything that the Americans consume contains sugar. Just as the people crave for fat and salt, they crave for sugar and it’s not astonishing fact from the perspective of business. According to a recent survey:

Milk chocolates like Hershey syrups and bar contain 23gm of sugar
Jam Doughnut contains 8gm of sugar
Coca-Cola contains 35gm of sugar
Ice cream (vanilla) / Cornetto contains 22gm of sugar.

In spite of such staggering statistics people are not thinking about curbing their sugar consumption.

Captain James Cook Mini Biography

James Cook is one of the most renowned explorers and navigators that the world has ever seen, and according to many has done more to fill the unknown spots on the map of the world than anyone else in history has. He is famous for having discovered the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of New Zealand and Australia on his ship Endeavor, while also disapproving the existence of the fabled southern supercontinent, Terra Australis. He also provided the most detailed and accurate map of the Pacific through his many voyages.
James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, to a Scottish farmhand in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England. Cook worked as a farmhand alongside his father as he grew up, and had the first real exposure to the life on sea when he turned 18. Cook received an offer for apprenticeship from a Quaker ship-owner in Whitby, England when he came of age. This apprenticeship proved to be a life changing experience for Cook, and he developed intimate relation with the ships and the sea.
The apprenticeship with the Quaker ship-owner was just a beginning to a long and eventful career on the high seas. James Cook dreamt of joining the British Navy, and this desire eventually led him to joining the same a few years later. He showed great skill and fortitude during his life in the navy, and this resulted in Cook being promoted to the rank of ship’s master by the time he was 29 years of age.
James Cook shone in his role as a ship’s master in the British Navy, and this became even more apparent during the Seven Years War, which lasted from 1756 to 1763. During the war, Cook served the Royal Navy by commanding a captured ship with great success. However, his real claim to fame lay far away from the hustle and bustle of naval warfare, in the field of exploration to the far edges of the known world during the latter half of the eighteenth century.
James Cook was chosen to command the first scientific expedition to ever head for the Pacific Ocean. This was a monumental endeavor because of the limited knowledge in hand during those times regarding the geography of the region. Cook’s ship was aptly named HMS Endeavor to reflect upon the mammoth efforts made by the captain and crew to extend the horizon of knowledge regarding the world.
James Cook discovered and charted New Zealand in 1770 on his ship the HMS Endeavor, and this was in addition to the discovery and exploration of the Great Barrier Reef of the coast of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef was an incredible feat because of the fact that its infamy as one of the most dangerous areas to navigate for any ship.
James Cook returned to England after having completed his scientific expedition. However, he was soon chosen for a mission to circumnavigate and explore the Antarctica. On this voyage, Captain Cook charted a number of islands that exist in the Pacific such as Tonga, Easter Island, New Caledonia, the South Sandwich Islands, and South Georgia. Apart from that, he also disapproved the existence of the mythical southern supercontinent, Terra Australis.
James Cook also made valuable contribution towards improving the health condition of sailors while on long expeditions by trying to control scurvy, which is caused by vitamin efficiency, and was a huge problem for sailors. He sought to do so by feeding his crew a meal consisting of watercress, sauerkraut, and orange extract.
James Cook met his demise while fighting a skirmish with the islanders of Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, during a winter layover on February 14, 1779.

Questions

James Cook is famous as a –

Explorer and pirate
Explorer and navigator
Admiral and navigator

Which among the following is not a famous achievement of James Cook?

Discovering New Zealand
Discovering and charting the Great Barrier Reef
Discovering Antarctica

Under whom James Cook did do his first apprenticeship?

A naval officer
His father, a farmhand
A Quaker ship-owner

What role did James Cook play as a naval officer during the Seven Years War?

He was the admiral of the Royal Navy
He commanded a captured ship for the Royal navy
He took no part in the war

Where did James Cook head during his first scientific mission and on which ship?

The Atlantic, HMS Excalibur
The North Sea, HMS Enterprise
The Pacific, HMS Endeavor

What is the name of the fabled southern supercontinent whose existence James Cook refuted through his explorations?

Terra Australia
Terra Australis
Terra Australasia

James Cook sought to fight scurvy with a combination of what diet?

Sandwiches, sauerkraut, and orange juice
Sauerkraut, orange extract, and onions
Watercress, sauerkraut, and orange extract

Norse explorer Leif Erikson Explores America 500 years before Columbus

Leif Erikson holds the distinction of being the very first European voyager and explorer to have set his feet upon the land in the New World. In fact, the Norse voyagers were the first Europeans to have pioneered establishments on the mainland in North America, quite contrary to the generally held view of Christopher Columbus of holding that distinction. Leif Erikson was among descendants of the first generation of Nordic voyagers who had settled down in Greenland, and were ready to explore even further. In fact, Leif Erikson holds the distinction of pioneering the Nordic settlement of Vinland, which was present in the present-day Labrador and Newfoundland communities in Canada. Leif Erikson was also an important figure in the spread of Christianity in Greenland.

Leif Erikson was born to the famous Nordic explorer from Norway, Erik Thordvalsson, or more popularly Erik the Red, in Iceland in 970 AD. However, his father migrated to Greenland with his family in 986 AD. It was during the stay in that country that Erik discovered two Norse colonies, which were the Eastern and the Western settlements. Erik the Red named those two colonies according to the traditional beliefs as the Landnama and the Eiriks Saga Rauda respectively. It was while in Greenland that Leif reached his adulthood, and decided to marry quite early as an adult. The woman Leif married, by the name of Thorgunna, was a resident of Greenland but of Icelandic origin. The couple went on to have a child, a boy by the name of Thorkell Leifson.

Leif resided in Greenland with his family for a number of years, but then decided to settle down in Norway. Upon arriving in Norway, Leif decided to convert to Christianity like many of the other Norsemen of the time, with the blessings of the Norwegian sovereign, King Olaf I. His conversion was something that his father did not approve of, but his mother was quite supportive of the decision, and she converted and went on to found a new church. Next, Leif decided to return to Greenland, and purchased a ship called Bjarni Herjolfsson from a local merchant. He boarded the ship with 35 other men that he had recruited for the voyage, and used the ship for exploring the western boundaries of Canada and Greenland. Moreover, in the year 1003, Leif led the Saga of the Greenlanders. This saga happened to coincide with the route followed by the Bjarni towards the Northern coastal areas.

During the voyage, Leif Erikson and his crew of 35 men made a number of landfalls on different islands that dot the coast of Canada. The first island that Leif came across was the Helluland or the Land of the Stones that was nothing but an island covered with solid rock formations. Next, Leif renamed as Baffin Island the Land of the Stones before he made his following landfall. Finally, Leif and his crew reached the island of Markland or the present-day Labrador Island, and then left it to make landfall at Leifsbudir. This name literally means Leif’s Storage Houses in the Icelandic tongue, and Leif’s crew suggested this name after discovering that they had indeed reached their hometown.

Later on, Leif returned to Greenland upon the orders of King Olaf I to spread Christianity among the islanders, and stayed at the remote town of Brattahild with his father Erik. The general consensus is that Leif breathed his last somewhere around 1020, and his family slipped into oblivion thence on. However, he has made a return into the popular culture with the discovery of the fact that Leif had discovered a Norse settlement along Newfoundland, with the name of Le Anse Aux Meadows. Since 1964, the US Congress has proclaimed October 9 as the Leif Erikson Day.

Questions

Why is the name Leif Erikson so special?

Because he was the first mate of Christopher Columbus during the maiden voyage to the New World
Because he was the first recorded European to set feet upon the New World
Because he was the first Nordic person to embrace Christianity

Leif Erikson was the pioneer of the Nordic settlement known as –

Markland
Vinland
Newfoundland

Leif Erikson was born in 970 AD. in –

Norway
Iceland
Greenland

Leif Erikson’s decision to convert to Christianity was –

Under the patronage of King Olaf I of Norway
Chided by his father but supported by his mother
Both

The ship Leif Erikson used for his voyages was –

The royal vessel Bjarni Herjolfsson
Bjarni Herjolfsson that was bought from a local merchant
Part of the expedition led by his father, Erik the Red

What was the name given by Leif Erikson to the Land of Stones?

Helluland
Baffin Island
Markland

October 9 has been proclaimed as the Leif Erikson Day in the United States of America by the –

US President
US Congress
US Supreme Court

GRADE 3 STAAR READING PASSAGES
The Ants and the Grasshopper
A Better Community
The Big Game
The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!"
Changing Our Street (realistic fiction)
Community Meeting
Community Meeting
Community Progress
The First Flag
Flying
How the Firefly Got Its Light
Letter to Grandmother
Little Pink Riding Hood English / Spanish
The Little Red Hen
Making Progress
Mama's Happy Christmas
More Trees
My Community
My First Baseball Game
My Job
My New Brother
My Sister, the Soldier
My Summer
The New Family
Our Lemons
Prairie Farmers
Potawatomi Prairie
See Our Progress
Spring is Coming
The Turtle and the Rabbit
The Turtle and the Ducks
Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind?The Ants and the Grasshopper
A Better Community
The Big Game
The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!"
Changing Our Street (realistic fiction)
Community Meeting
Community Meeting
Community Progress
The First Flag
Flying
How the Firefly Got Its Light
Letter to Grandmother
Little Pink Riding Hood English / Spanish
The Little Red Hen
Making Progress
Mama's Happy Christmas
More Trees
My Community
My First Baseball Game
My Job
My New Brother
My Sister, the Soldier
My Summer
The New Family
Our Lemons
Prairie Farmers
Potawatomi Prairie
See Our Progress
Spring is Coming
The Turtle and the Rabbit
The Turtle and the Ducks
Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind?

STAAR Grade Level Nonfiction Reading Passages
2nd-3rd Grade Reading Level

After the Chicago Fire sequence and summarize
American Explorers evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Animal Studies infer and support the main idea of a passage
Block Clubs infer and support the main idea of a passage
The Captain's Job infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago Changes identify and support the main idea in nonfiction texts
Chicago Fire sequence events, infer motive, and write about nonfiction
Chicago Legacy: Burnham's Plan locate and use information to analyze a situation, write about a topic English / Spanish
Chicago Legacy, DuSable's Choices and Changes locate and use information to analyze a situation, then write about it English / Spanish
Chicago's First Leader infer and support the main idea of a passage
The First Flyers infer and support the main idea of a passage
George Washington Carver
Grant Park write an extended response about a nonfiction reading
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet
Learn about Ghana infer and support the main idea of a passage
Letter to the Mayor evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Native American Life--Potawatomi Profile
Native American Life--Potawatomi Profile with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Natural Gas: An Energy Resource infer and support the main idea of a passage
A New Park evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Pigeon Creek infer and support the main idea of a passage
Pioneer Families infer and support the main idea of a passage
Prairie Ecology analyze information in a nonfiction text
Prairie Ecology with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Read to Learn about Symbols, Maps, and Art evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Saving Your Family's Energy Dollar infer and support the main idea of a passage
Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage
Staying in Phoenix summarize a passage
Transportation Changes infer and support the main idea of a passage

STAAR 4th Grade Reading Level Passages
The Astronaut's Diary
The Challenge
Changing Transportation Routes
The Different Bird
The Election
The Food Change
The Gift
The Hero
The History Mystery
I Like Plants
The Lion and the Spider
The Little Red Hen
Letter from Chicago
Lincoln's Choice
The Missing Money
My Community
My Cousin's Lesson
My Father's Miracle
My New President
My Painting
The New Student
A New Day Realistic Fiction about the Election of Barack Obama and Civil Rights
Pigeon Express
Potawatomi Prairie
Prairie Farmers
The Prairie Project
A Proud Flight The story of Icarus
The Quarterback
Summer
The Technology Trip
The Train
Traveling with Lewis and Clark
Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind?

Grade Level Nonfiction Passages
4th Grade Reading Level
Traveling West evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
What is a Fable? evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Working at the Hospital evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Breaking the Food Chain infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago Changer, Jane Addams infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago High Schools evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Chicago Legacy: Burnham's Plan locate and use information to analyze a situation, write about a topic English / Spanish
Chicago Legacy, DuSable's Choices and Changes locate and use information to analyze a situation, then write about it English / Spanish
City Government infer and support the main idea of a passage
The Early Chicago Environment and People classify information and summarize a nonfiction topic
Learn about Egypt infer and support the main idea of a passage
The Football Team identify the main idea
A Garden in Lawndale evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea (4th grade reading level)
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet
Illinois Pioneers and Prairies infer while reading a history
Learning about the Solar System identify the main idea of a passage, write an extended response about a nonfiction passage
Natural Gas: An Energy Resource infer and support the main idea of a passage
Penguins
Pilsen, A Community Changes identify causes and effects
Plants and Places infer and support the main idea of a passage
Prairie Changes identify an author's purpose, write an extended response
Prairie Changing the Ecosystem with Multiple Choice Questions analyze information in a nonfiction text
Seasons on the Prairie infer and support the main idea of a passage
Seasons on the Prairie with Multiple Choice Questions
Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage
Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions
Space Food infer and support the main idea of a passage
Staying in Phoenix infer and support the main idea of a passage
Today's Telephone infer and support the main idea of a passage
Transportation Workers evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
What is a Fable? evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Working at the Television Station evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Working at the Hospital evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
The Working Tools of Insects infer and support the main idea of a passage

5th Grade Reading Level
Barack Obama Makes History
The Cloud
Columbus and the Egg historical fiction
The Difficult Journey
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Flying
The Gulls of Salt Lake
I Like Plants
Making Progress
Mama's Happy Christmas
More Trees
Mousie
My Job
My New Brother
Nature's Violet Children
Potawatomi Prairie
Soldier's Letter
The Technology Trip
Training for the Presidency

Grade Level Nonfiction Passages
5th Grade Reading Level
American Explorers infer and support the main idea of a passage
Animal Studies infer and support the main idea of a passage
Better Living in Chicago: Jane Addams restate a situation presented in text; write to communicate about a situation (5th grade reading level)
Chicago Changes infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago Fire infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago Legacy: Burnham's Plan locate and use information to analyze a situation, write about a topic English / Spanish
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I can infer the author's purpose
Election Choices infer and support the main idea of a passage
From Many Places evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Learn about Ethiopia infer and support the main idea of a passage )
George Washington Carver
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet
How Did People Solve a Problem?
How Have Students Made Community Progress? analyze a problem and solution in a text, identify and support the main idea
Penguins
Prairie Keepers analyze information in a nonfiction text
Prairie Keepers with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Public Transportation evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Read to Learn about City Systems evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Read to Learn about Elections evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
The Recycle Center evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Reversing the Chicago River identify cause-effect relations and infer predictions
Seasons on the Prairie analyze information in a nonfiction text
Seasons on the Prairie with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage
Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions
Valley Forge infer and support the main idea of a passage
Who Am I sequence events, infer motive, and write about nonfiction

6th Grade Reading Level
City Mouse--a Fable
Community Progress realistic fiction about a mural
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The First Flag
A Good Student realistic fiction about starting high school
A Great Digger--A North American Fable
His First Dollar historical fiction about Abraham Lincoln
Letter to Grandmother
The Lost Dog
Potawatomi Prairie
See Our Progress
Sir Gobble

Grade Level Nonfiction Passages
6th Grade Reading Level
Before Chicago infer and support the main idea of a passage
Chicago's First Leader infer and support the main idea of a passage
The Early Chicago Environment and People classify information and summarize a nonfiction topic
Election Choices infer and support the main idea of a passage
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet
Inferential Questions: Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech
Labor Day Address--Barack Obama Speech infer and support the main idea of a passage
Learn about Zambia infer and support the main idea of a passage
Nutrition Lesson evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Plants and Food infer and support the main idea of a passage
Prairie Ecology evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Prairie Ecology with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Settlement analyze information in a nonfiction text
Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Seasons on the Prairie infer and support the main idea of a passage
Seasons on the Prairie with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Traveling West infer and support the main idea of a passage

7th Grade Reading Level
Barack Obama Makes History
Columbus and the Egg historical fiction about an event showing Columbus as a smart person
A Good Student realistic fiction about starting high school
I Like Plants
John's Bright Idea
Making a Difference
My First Baseball Game
My Summer
Potawatomi Prairie
The Red Apples
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet

Grade Level Nonfiction Passages
7th Grade Reading Level
Honest Abe infer and support the main idea of a passage
Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Labor Day Address--Barack Obama Speech infer and support the main idea of a passage
Learn about Kenya infer and support the main idea of a passage
Learning about the Solar System infer and support the main idea of a passage
Pilsen--A Community Changes identify causes and effects
Prairie Keepers infer and support the main idea of a passage
Prairie Keepers with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage
Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Today's Telephone infer and support the main idea of a passage

8th-10th Grade Reading Level
The Difficult Journey
The Gulls of Salt Lake
Lexington
My Job
My New President
My Sister, the Soldier
Potawatomi Prairie
See Our Progress
Training for the Presidency

Grade Level Nonfiction Passages
8th-10th Grade Reading Level
An African Heritage in Chicago identify and support the main idea in a nonfiction passage
Bold Plans, Big Dreams, City Progress identify and support the theme of a text
Changing the Ecosystem infer and support the main idea of a passage
Changing the Ecosystem with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Chicago is a City of Possibilities: Deval Patrick, Leader for Chicago analyze a text and write an extended response based on it
Deval Patrick's Acceptance Speech infer and support the main idea of a passage
George Washington Carver
Gwendolyn Brooks, An African American Poet
Honest Abe infer and support the main idea of a passage
Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Inferential Questions: Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech
Labor Day Address--Barack Obama Speech infer and support the main idea of a passage
Learn about Physical Therapists evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Learn about South Africa evaluate information, summarize, and identify and support a main idea
Maintaining Cultural Continuity infer and support the main idea of a passage
New Leadership analyze a speech
Settlement infer and support the main idea of a passage
Settlement with Multiple Choice Questions and Activities
Transportation Changes infer and support the main idea of a passage
What is Your Own Big Plan? (Barack Obama speech) analyze a text and respond to the issues it presents, write an extended response to a persuasive text
What Values Have Shaped Chicago? identify the main idea of a passage
Why is Community Service Important? identify the main idea and supporting information
Chicago High Schools infer predictions
Chicago Legacy: DuSable's Choices and Changes infer and support the main idea of a passage
Deval Patrick's Acceptance Speech infer and support the main idea of a passage
Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech
Frederick Douglass Speech on Women's Suffrage
John F. Kennedy's Remarks in the Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
President Barack Obama's Speech to Students

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address

Reading Sage

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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Paired Reading Passages Opinion Writing

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