De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Letter to Grandmother [Pdf]

"Letter to Grandmother" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a family of early settlers who moved west. A girl writes a letter to her grandmother telling her about their new life on the plains. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes sequencing, describing character traits, determining main idea, providing textual support, and summarizing. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 and 2 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, and summarizing.