De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Turtle and the Ducks [Pdf]

"The Turtle and the Ducks" is a one page fairy tale/fable a turtle who wants to fly south with the ducks. They develop a plan, but the turtle will have to keep his mouth shut. 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 requiring close reading, textual evidence, main idea, and summarizing.