Passage-Related Reading Items for Informational Text: "The Lost People of Mesa Verde"

Enhanced Assessment

NECAP Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) for Reading End of Grade 7

Passage-Related Reading Items for Informational Text: "The Lost People of Mesa Verde"

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The Anasazi people first settled in Colorado in 500 AD. Read the article to find out more about them and then answer the questions that follow.
1	The Lost People of Mesa Verde By Elisa Marston In the dry land of southwestern Colorado a beautiful plateau rises. It has so many trees that early Spanish explorers called it Mesa Verde, which means "green table." For about eight hundred years Native Americans called the Anasazi lived on this mesa. And then they left. Ever since the cliffhouses were first discovered a hundred years ago, scientists and historians have wondered why.
2	Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones." When they first settled there, around 500 A.D., the Anasazi lived in alcoves in the walls of the high canyons. Later they moved to the level land on top, where they built houses of stone and mud mortar. As time passed, they constructed more elaborate houses, like apartment buildings, with several families living close together.
3	The Anasazi made beautiful pottery, turquoise jewelry, fine sashes of woven hair, and baskets woven tightly enough to hold water. They lived by hunting and by growing corn and squash. Their way of life went on peacefully for several hundred years.
4	Then around 1200 A.D. something strange happened, for which the reasons are no quite clear. Most of the people moved from the level plateau back down into alcoves in the cliffs. The move must have made their lives difficult because they had to climb back up to the plateau to do the farming. But it seems the Anasazi planned to stay in the canyon walls, for they soon filled the alcoves with amazing cliff dwellings. "Cliff Palace," the most famous of these, had more than two hundred rooms.
5	For all the hard work that went into building these new homes, the Anasazi did not live in them long. By 1300 A.D. the cliff dwellings were empty. Mesa Verde was deserted and remained a ghost country for almost six hundred years. Were the people driven out of their homes by enemies? No sign of attack or fighting, or even the presence of other tribes, has been found.
6	Archeologists who have studied the place now believe there are other reasons. Mesa Verde, the beautiful green table, was no longer a good place to live. For one thing, in the second half of the thirteenth century there were long periods of cold, and very little rain fell-or else it came at the wrong time of year. Scientists know this from examining the wood used in the cliff dwellings. The growth rings in trees show good and bad growing seasons. But the people had survived drought and bad weather before, so there must have been another reason.
7	As the population grew, more land on the mesa top had to be farmed in order to feed the people. That meant that trees had to be cut to clear the land and also to use for houses and fuel. Without the forests, the rain began to wash away the mesa top.
8	How do we know about erosion problems that happened about eight hundred years ago? The Anasazi built many low dams across the smaller valleys on the mesa to slow down rain runoff. Even so, good soil washed away, and the people could no longer raise enough food. As the forests dwindled, the animals, already over-hunted, left the mesa for mountainous areas with more trees.
9	And as the mesa "wore out," so did the people. It appears that the Anasazi were not healthy. Scientists can learn a lot about ancient people's health by studying the bones and teeth found in burials. The mesa dwellers had arthritis, and their teeth were worn down by the grit in corn meal, a main part of their diet.
10	As food became scarce, people grew weaker. Not many lived beyond their twenties. Women died very young, and few babies survived. Living so close together in the cliff houses, where everyone was hungry and worried the people must have suffered from emotional strain. They probably quarreled often.
11	In the end the Anasazi must have given up hope that things would get better. Families packed up and went away. Of course, the "ancient ones" did not simply disappear. They moved southeast to another area mingled with other peoples. After a while their heritage as the people of Mesa Verde was forgotten.
12	In time, the trees grew back and the plateau became green once more. But, for the Anasazi it was too late. Although they respected nature and tried to farm wisely, land that was used too hard could not support them forever.
13	Yet in their cliff houses and crafts the "ancient ones" left us a superb monument. It is truly one of the most fascinating pictures of America's past.

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Passage-Related Reading Items for Informational Text:
"The Lost People of Mesa Verde"

Sample Reading Items for End of Grade 7

Information about the Items

1. An antonym for erosion is

A. building up.
B. breaking out.
C. falling down.
D. washing away.

Key: A

R-7-3.1 (antonym)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-3.1: Shows breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by… Identifying synonyms, antonyms

Depth of Knowledge: Level 1 - Use word relationships (synonym/antonym) to determine meaning of words

2. What does mingled mean as used in paragraph 11?

A. separated
B. thought
C. conquered
D. mixed

Key: D

R-7-3.2 (use context)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-3.2: Shows breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by… Selecting appropriate words in context, including words with multiple meanings

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Use context cues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

3. Based on the article, describe how the life of the Anasazi changed. Use information from the article to support your response.

Key: Scoring Guide

R-7-7.2 (main idea, details)

Item Type: CR - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-7.2: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository text) by… Using information from the text to state the main/central ideas or to provide supporting details

Depth of Knowledge: Level 3 - Explain, generalize, or connect ideas, using supporting evidence from the text; Summarize or compare information within text passage

4. Use your own words and the information from the text to complete this timeline.

Date	500 AD	1200 AD		1300 AD
Event	Anasazi first settled Mesa Verde	Most people moved down into the alcolves in the cliffs		Cliff dwellings empty

4. See item above.

Key: Scoring Guide

R-7-7.3 (organize information)

Item Type: CR - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-7.3: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository) by… Organizing information to show understanding (e.g., representing main/central ideas or details within text through charting)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Locate information to answer questions related to explicit or implicit central ideas in informational texts; Organize information presented in informational text using mapping, charting

Date	500 AD	1200 AD		1300 AD
Event	Anasazi first settled Mesa Verde	Most people moved down into the alcolves in the cliffs		Cliff dwellings empty

5. According to the article, which statement below belongs in the empty box on the timeline?
A. Anasazi made pottery, jewelry, and baskets.
B. Food became scarce and people became unhealthy.
C. Anasazi moved up to the plateau.
D. Enemies drove them out of their homes.

5. See item above.

Key: B

R-7-7.3 (organize information)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

6. Explain the meaning of the title. Use information from the article to support your response.

R-7-8.2 (synthesize information within text)
Key: Scoring Guide

Item Type: CR - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-8.2: Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… Synthesizing information within or across text(s) (e.g., formulating assertions or controlling ideas)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 3 - Explain, generalize, or connect ideas, using supporting evidence from the text; Draw inferences about author's purpose, author's message or theme (explicit or implied)

7. The author's main purpose for writing the article is to

A. entertain with an interesting story about Mesa Verde.

B. inform about the interesting place and people of Mesa Verde.

C. teach readers about the dangers of over farming.

D. convince people how and why people of Mesa Verde disappeared.

Key: B

R-7-8.3 (author's purpose)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-8.3 Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… Drawing inferences about text, including author's purpose (e.g., to inform, explain, entertain, persuade) or message

Depth of Knowledge: Level 3 - Draw inferences about author's purpose, author's message or theme (explicit or implied)

8. Based on the information in the article, what most likely caused the mesa top to wash away?

A. The animals ate all the grass.

B. The soil was farmed too often.

C. The rain storms were too forceful.

D. The people cut too many trees.

R-7-8.3 (cause and effect) Key: D

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-8.3 Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… Using supporting evidence to form or evaluate opinions/judgments and assertions about the central ideas that are relevant

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Locate information to answer questions related to explicit or implicit central ideas in informational texts

9. For which information about the Anasazi are there opposing points presented in the article?

A. when they left the plateau of Mesa Verde

B. whether they were responsible farmers

C. whether they were resourceful people

D. when they made their pottery and jewelry

Key: A

R-7.8.4 (conflicting information)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-7-8.4: Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… Identifying possible conflicting information within text

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Locate information to answer questions related to explicit or implicit central ideas in informational texts

Supplemental Information about Text Passages Used for End of Grade 7
Title of Passage	Text Type	Text Descriptors
"The Lost People of Mesa Verde," by Elsa Marston	Informational Magazine Article	Informational text includes synthesized information with factual details Word choice reflects historical and cultural context (erosion, plateau, mesa, alcoves, cliff houses) Relationship between ideas is less explicit and requires inference and conjecture Understanding content requires some general historical knowledge of the southwest
For more information about "Increasing Text Complexity," see NECAP Reading GLEs Grades 3-8 - Appendix F For more information about Suggested Informational and Literary Texts, see NECAP Reading GLEs Grades 3-8 - Appendix A

Items: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

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© January 2005. Produced in partnership with New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont Departments of Education, Education Development Center, and the Center for Assessment. Permission to photocopy is granted for use in individual classrooms and professional development settings.