De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Changes [Pdf]

"Chicago Changes" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about how Chicago changed from a small town to a large city. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining main idea, underlining supporting text and then writing an essay about Chicago's present changes using examples of your own. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 and 2 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, and summarizing.