This document provides reading benchmarks and sample items for grades 9-10. It addresses key reading skills like determining main ideas, identifying relevant details, making inferences, and analyzing author's purpose and text structures. Sample items assess passages on topics like swing music and the Earth's geography. The document aims to guide students in critical reading skills and provide examples of how these skills will be assessed.

1. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
Quarter 2 – Week 4
Grades 9–10 Reporting Category 2: Reading Application
GRADES 9–10
Reporting Category 2: Reading Application
Benchmark Content Focus
Grades 9–10 • Author’s Purpose
LA.910.1.7.2 The student will analyze the author’s
(within/across texts) •
purpose and/or perspective in a variety of text and
Author’s Perspective
understand how they affect meaning.
(within/across texts)
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.3 The student will determine the main
• Main Idea (stated or
idea or essential message in grade-level or higher
implied) • Relevant Details •
texts through inferring, paraphrasing, summarizing,
Conclusions/Inferences
and identifying relevant details.
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.4 The student will identify cause-
• Cause and Effect
andeffect relationships in text.
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.5 The student will analyze a variety of
• Text Structures/
text structures (e.g., comparison/contrast,
Organizational Patterns (e.g.,
cause/effect, chronological order, argument/support,
comparison/contrast,
lists) and text features (main headings with
cause/effect, chronological
subheadings) and explain their impact on meaning in
order, argument/support)
text.
• Compare (similarities
LA.910.1.7.7 The student will compare and contrast within/across texts) •
Grades 9–10
elements in multiple texts. Contrast (differences
within/across texts)
GRADE 9
BENCHMARK LA.910.1.7.3
Clarification The student will determine the main idea (stated or implied), locate relevant details and
facts, draw logical conclusions, and make appropriate inferences within or across grade-
level appropriate texts.
Item Type At Grade 9, this benchmark will be assessed using MC, SR,or ER items.
Distractor Attributes Distractors may include, but are not limited to
• details that do not support the main idea;
• incorrect interpretations of the main idea;
• incorrect inferences or conclusions based on details found in the text;
• incorrect summary statements; and
• plausible but incorrect distractors based on the text.
Sample Item 15 Main Idea
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6.
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the article?
A. Art forms are fads that are enjoyed temporarily.
B. Personal preferences influence musical appreciation.
C. The value of music lies in how it enhances human lives.
D. The success of an artist is measured by future generations.

2. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
Sample Item 16 Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6. According to the article,
which musician helped America rediscover swing music?
A. Frank Sinatra
B. Duke Ellington
C. Louis Armstrong
D. Harry Connick Jr.

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Reading Warm Ups

4. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
ANSWER KEY
Sample Item 15 Main Idea
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6.
Which statement best expresses the main idea of the article?
A. Art forms are fads that are enjoyed temporarily.
B. Personal preferences influence musical appreciation. ★
C. The value of music lies in how it enhances human lives.
D. The success of an artist is measured by future generations.
Sample Item 16 Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6. According to the article,
which musician helped America rediscover swing music?
A. Frank Sinatra
B. Duke Ellington
C. Louis Armstrong ★
D. Harry Connick Jr.
Sample Item 17 Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6.
In what ways did swing experience a “true rebirth” in the late 1980s? Use details and examples from the
article to support your response. READ THINK EXPLAIN
An explanation similar to the following:
Swing music experienced a “true rebirth” in the 1980s. Dressing in retro
clothing, young people danced to swing music played by revival big bands, as
new singers reproduced the old sounds of the ’30s and ’40s. NPR’s David Miller
says younger people discovered the original big bands after first enjoying the
music played by the swing bands of today. In addition, swing music forms the
foundation for the popularity of ballroom dancing and has also helped the
revival of ballroom dancing.

5. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
Sample Item 18 Main Idea/Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Swing Is the Thing!” on page H–6. A top-score response for this task is
provided.
According to the article, why has swing music remained an important part of American culture for nearly a
century? Use details and information from the article to support your response. READ THINK EXPLAIN
An explanation similar to the following:
According to the article, swing music is as much a part of America as “baseball
and apple pie.” It was popular during “two of America’s most trying eras - the
Depression and World War II.” Swing music has roots in early African and Euro-
American music and has provided pleasure and comfort to Americans during
difficult times and continues to interest new generations. Even in the good times
after World War II, swing music never completely died out because of its
“infectious, up-tempo beat and rich orchestration,” which made it a popular
dance music. Since the 1980s, swing music has experienced a rebirth, with new
generations of Americans dancing to it. As the article states, “While swing music
probably won’t again dominate the popular musical scene as it once did, the
sound remains a vital part of American culture…”

6. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
Grades 9–10 Reporting Category 2: Reading Application
GRADES 9–10
Reporting Category 2: Reading Application
Benchmark Content Focus
Grades 9–10 • Author’s Purpose
LA.910.1.7.2 The student will analyze the author’s
(within/across texts) •
purpose and/or perspective in a variety of text and
Author’s Perspective
understand how they affect meaning.
(within/across texts)
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.3 The student will determine the main
• Main Idea (stated or
idea or essential message in grade-level or higher
implied) • Relevant Details •
texts through inferring, paraphrasing, summarizing,
Conclusions/Inferences
and identifying relevant details.
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.4 The student will identify cause-
• Cause and Effect
andeffect relationships in text.
Grades 9–10 LA.910.1.7.5 The student will analyze a variety of
• Text Structures/
text structures (e.g., comparison/contrast,
Organizational Patterns (e.g.,
cause/effect, chronological order, argument/support,
comparison/contrast,
lists) and text features (main headings with
cause/effect, chronological
subheadings) and explain their impact on meaning in
order, argument/support)
text.
• Compare (similarities
LA.910.1.7.7 The student will compare and contrast within/across texts) •
Grades 9–10
elements in multiple texts. Contrast (differences
within/across texts)
GRADE 10
BENCHMARK LA.910.1.7.3
Clarification The student will determine the main idea (stated or implied), locate relevant details, draw
logical conclusions, and make appropriate inferences within or across grade-level
appropriate texts.
Item Type At Grade 10, this benchmark will be assessed using MC items.
Distractor Attributes Distractors may include, but are not limited to
 details that do not support the main idea;
 incorrect interpretations of the main idea;
 incorrect inferences or conclusions based on details found in the text;
 incorrect summary statements; and
 plausible but incorrect distractors based on the text.
Sample Item 19 Conclusions/Inferences
The sample item below is based on “Cutting Off the World’s Roof ” on page H–15.
From reading the article, the reader can infer that the “world’s roof ” will
A. be avoided by adventure seekers.
B. increase in elevation in the future.
C. continue to be studied by geologists.
D. be affected by major fault movements.

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Reading Warm Ups
Sample Item 20 Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Walking” on page H–9.
According to the passage, the language of the Earth is
A. visible and audible.
B. silent and indescribable.
C. heard at certain times of the year.
D. learned through studying sunflowers.
Sample Item 21 Conclusions/Inferences
The sample item below is based on “Walking” on page H–9.
Based on the passage, which action will the narrator most likely take in the future?
A. She will transplant the lonely sunflower to a place with fertile soil.
B. She will collect seeds from the sunflowers along the unpaved road.
C. She will return to the spot where the sunflower bloomed in the spring.
D. She will explore a new walking path where numerous sunflowers grow.

8. Hialeah Gardens High School
Reading Warm Ups
ANSWER KEY
Sample Item 19 Conclusions/Inferences
The sample item below is based on “Cutting Off the World’s Roof ” on page H–15.
From reading the article, the reader can infer that the “world’s roof ” will
A. be avoided by adventure seekers.
B. increase in elevation in the future. ★
C. continue to be studied by geologists.
D. be affected by major fault movements.
Sample Item 20 Relevant Details
The sample item below is based on “Walking” on page H–9.
According to the passage, the language of the Earth is
A. visible and audible. ★
B. silent and indescribable.
C. heard at certain times of the year.
D. learned through studying sunflowers.
Sample Item 21 Conclusions/Inferences
The sample item below is based on “Walking” on page H–9.
Based on the passage, which action will the narrator most likely take in the future?
A. She will transplant the lonely sunflower to a place with fertile soil.
B. She will collect seeds from the sunflowers along the unpaved road. ★
C. She will return to the spot where the sunflower bloomed in the spring.
D. She will explore a new walking path where numerous sunflowers grow.