De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Father's Miracle [Pdf]

"My Father's Miracle" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child who learned that his father was one of the people responsible for reversing the direction of the Chicago River, making it flow to the Mississippi instead of into the lake. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining the theme or lesson learned and underlining supporting text. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1 and 2 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, and summarizing.