Black Girls

1. Part A: Which statement best expresses the central idea of the text? (RI.1.2)

• Dias’ decision to take action when she faced something unfair led to a movement that influenced others.

• Dias believed that she fell into her role as a social activist, and that it would be hard for others to accomplish something similar.

• Dias drew attention to the issue that black girls are rarely the main characters in books, prompting authors to include them.

• Dias was met with resistance when she attempted to bring attention to the lack of black main characters in books, but she persisted.

2. Part B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A? (RI.1.1)

• “Dias says she couldn’t connect with the characters in the books so she ‘couldn’t learn lessons from those stories.’” (Paragraph 1)

• “When Dias complained to her mother about her problem, her mother asked her what she was going to do about it.” (Paragraph 2)

• “She will share tips for kids to make changes in their lives and communities and ‘pay it forward about whatever makes your heart sing.’” (Paragraph 5)

• “Dias has raised almost 4,000 books. Now, she has started talking to teachers and lawmakers about how to include diverse books in schools.” (Paragraph 3)

3. How does the detail “the exclusion of black girls in literature and schools ‘hurts all of us’” help develop ideas in the text (Paragraph 4)? Select all that apply. (RI.2.5)

• It displays that having black female main characters can lead other youth to feel excluded.

• It reveals how harmful excluding black girls from literature can be for readers and for our society.

• It draws a connection between the exclusion of black girls in literature and their exclusion in the real world.

• It connects how communities and writers should join forces to create more novels with a diverse main character.

• It shows that the stories children read and the characters featured in them can impact how they come to understand the world around them.

4. Part A: How were Dias’ parents elaborated within the text? (RI.1.3)

• Her mother encouraged Dias to take action and carry out her plan.

• Her father offered to buy her more books with black main characters.

• They encouraged her to write her own books with black main characters.

• They sympathized with their daughter, but didn’t think there was much that could be done.

5. Part B: Which quote from paragraph 2 best supports the answer to Part A? (RI.1.1)

• “Dias thought about her options. She could just ask her dad to buy her a lot of new books.”

• “With the help of her mother, she decided to create a drive called #1000blackgirlbooks.”

• “Dias realized she probably wasn’t the only black girl feeling like she couldn’t relate to her school reading curriculum.”

• “But after doing some research to find books with black girls as the main characters, she realized that there weren’t very many to choose from.”

6. Read the following sentence from the passage.

That’s how Marley Dias felt when she was 11 years old and all of the books she read in school “were about white boys and their dogs.”

How does this sentence help develop the author's explanation of why Dias began the movement? (RI.2.5)

• It exhibits what is displayed in the few books she had read.

• It explains what she focused on in her reading classes at school.

• It supports her emotions and led to her beginning #1000blackgirlbooks.

• It clarifies her age and supports the focus of her #1000blackgirlbooks movement.

7. The author explains the focus of Dias’ book to develop the reader’s understanding of using social media in a positive manner. Select the details from the text that support this development. (RI.1.3)

• Dias’ goal with the #1000blackgirlbooks campaign was to collect 1,000 books about black girls.

• Now, she has started talking to teachers and lawmakers about how to include diverse books in schools.

• Dias says she couldn’t connect with the characters in the books so she “couldn’t learn lessons from those stories.”

• According to Cooperative Children’s Book Center, fewer than 10 percent of children's books released in 2015 had a black person as the main character.

8. What is the purpose of paragraph 4 in the article?

• to demonstrate the importance of social media

• to clarify that she merely wanted to reach her goal of 1000 books

• to exhibit how interested people are to meet Marley Dias and thank her

• to show how the focus on the issue has expanded due to its significance