De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: American Explorers [Pdf]

"American Explorers" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They traveled from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean with the help of Native Americans and made maps along the way. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most important information in each paragraph and writing a summary of key ideas and support for them. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standards 1, and 2 requiring close reading, textual evidence, central ideas/themes, and summarizing key ideas.