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

"Chicago Fire" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned the city constructed of wood, and its rebuilding using brick. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: making a timeline of the event and writing a reflective paper about what made people stay after the fire using text to support ideas. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, and summarizing.