"Before Chicago" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about Native Americans who lived in what is now Chicago. It describes what life was like for them and tells how Chicago got its name. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes determining the main idea and underlining five sentence that support it. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 requiring close reading, textual evidence, and main idea.