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6th grade How a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article worksheet

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How a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article

Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    From Used Can to New Can (article)

    [1] A drink can feels light, but making one from fresh metal takes a surprising amount of energy. [2] Aluminum comes from an ore called bauxite, which must be mined, refined, and then processed with huge amounts of electricity.

    [3] Recycling avoids most of that work, because used aluminum only has to be melted down and shaped again. [4] This process uses about five percent of the energy that making new metal requires.

    [5] The savings depend on people sorting their cans, however, and many cans never reach a recycling bin. [6] In the United States, fewer than half of the aluminum cans sold each year are recycled.

    [7] Some states add a small deposit to the price of each can and return it when the can is brought back. [8] These programs reward the habit that makes recycling work, and states with deposits tend to recycle a larger share of their cans.

  2. Ari wants the sentence that turns the article from what recycling saves to what limits those savings. Which sentence is it?

    • Sentence [5]
    • Sentence [6]
    • Sentence [3]
    • Sentence [7]
  3. Bo's draft puts the second paragraph, sentences [3] and [4], before the first paragraph, sentences [1] and [2]. What goes wrong?

    • The article would lose its explanation of why recycling saves energy, so its main idea would fall apart.
    • Recycling would come first, and the phrase “that work” would point to nothing the reader has met.
    • Little would go wrong, because both paragraphs are about aluminum and each fact would still be there.
    • Readers would think the energy cost of new metal is caused by recycling, since recycling comes first.
  4. Towers That Sway on Purpose (article)

    [1] When an earthquake shakes the ground, a tall building does not simply stand still. [2] Engineers know that rigid walls crack under sudden pushing, so they design towers that can bend a little.

    [3] Steel frames are one answer, because steel stretches and springs back instead of snapping. [4] Another answer is a heavy weight hung near the top that swings against the motion of the building.

    [5] Taipei 101, a skyscraper in Taiwan, has a steel ball weighing about 660 metric tons hanging inside its upper floors. [6] When wind or an earthquake sways the tower, the ball swings the other way and reduces the movement.

    [7] Other buildings stand on flexible pads that let the ground move beneath them while the structure above stays steadier. [8] Together, these methods show that safe design often means managing movement instead of trying to stop it completely.

  5. Jun notices that sentences [5] and [6] give details about one idea stated earlier in the article. Which sentence states that idea?

    • Sentence [1]
    • Sentence [4]
    • Sentence [3]
    • Sentence [2]
  6. Luz wants the sentence that moves the article from the swinging-weight method to a different method. Which sentence is it?

    • Sentence [6]
    • Sentence [7]
    • Sentence [3]
    • Sentence [8]
  7. Reading the Story in Tree Rings (article)

    [1] Each year a tree adds a new layer of wood just under its bark, and the layer shows up as a ring. [2] Wide rings usually form in wet years when growth is easy, while narrow rings form in dry or cold years.

    [3] Scientists can therefore read a trunk like a record of past weather. [4] They do not need to cut down the tree, because a thin tool can pull out a core about the width of a pencil.

    [5] The patterns of wide and narrow rings in old wooden beams can overlap with patterns in living trees from the same region. [6] By linking these overlapping patterns end to end, researchers can build a record that stretches back thousands of years.

    [7] This record lets them find the exact year a wooden beam in an old building was cut. [8] It also shows when long droughts struck, which helps them judge how unusual today's weather is.

  8. Milo wants the sentence that carries the article from what one tree can show to how many trees can be combined. Which sentence is it?

    • Sentence [4]
    • Sentence [3]
    • Sentence [6]
    • Sentence [5]
  9. Noah wants the two sentences that give uses of the long record described in sentence [6]. Which pair is it?

    • Sentences [6] and [7]
    • Sentences [7] and [8]
    • Sentences [4] and [5]
    • Sentences [2] and [3]
  10. Pia reads a classmate's note: “Sentence [4] is not needed, because sentence [3] already explains how scientists read tree rings.” Which reply is accurate?

    • The note is wrong: [3] says what a trunk can show, and [4] adds how to study it without harming the tree.
    • The note is right, because [4] repeats that scientists can read a trunk and adds nothing about the tree.
    • The note is wrong, because [4] names the tool that scientists prefer over any other method.
    • The note is wrong, because [4] adds the way long records are built, which [3] leaves out.
  11. The Clock That Sped Up Basketball (article)

    [1] In the early years of professional basketball, a team that led late in a game could simply hold the ball. [2] Players passed it back and forth without shooting, and fans grew bored watching the clock run down.

    [3] In 1950, one game ended with a final score of only 19 to 18. [4] Games like that showed league owners that scoring might drop even further if nothing changed.

    [5] Danny Biasone, who owned the Syracuse Nationals, figured that a lively game held about 120 shots. [6] Dividing the 2,880 seconds of a game by 120 shots gave him 24 seconds for each shot.

    [7] The league adopted a 24-second shot clock in 1954, and teams now had to shoot before time ran out. [8] Scoring jumped, games became livelier, and versions of the clock are still used around the world today.

  12. Ren's draft puts the last paragraph, sentences [7] and [8], before the third paragraph, sentences [5] and [6]. What goes wrong?

    • The article would lose the reason that the old game was dull, so readers could not see why a rule was needed.
    • Little would change, because the clock would still be adopted and the facts about it would still be there.
    • Readers would meet the 24-second clock before learning where 24 came from, so the number would seem random.
    • Readers would think the 24-second clock caused the counting of shots, since the clock is described first.
  13. Sentence [4] warns that scoring might drop even further. Tala looks for the later sentence that shows the opposite happening. Which sentence is it?

    • Sentence [7]
    • Sentence [8]
    • Sentence [6]
    • Sentence [5]
  14. Zee reads a classmate's note: “Sentences [3] and [4] could be cut, because sentences [1] and [2] already show the problem.” Which reply is accurate?

    • The note is wrong, because [3] shows that the 1950 game was the first one with stalling.
    • The note is wrong: [1] and [2] describe the stalling, and [3] and [4] add proof that it was costing points.
    • The note is wrong, because [3] and [4] explain how the shot clock was designed, which [1] and [2] do not.
    • The note is right, because [3] and [4] repeat the same stalling problem with a number added.
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6th grade How a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

How a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can say what job one sentence does in an article: it sets up a problem, explains, gives proof, answers, turns the article or sums up.
  • I can say what a whole paragraph does for the article, and how it grows out of the paragraph before it.
  • I can tell what a reader would lose if a sentence were cut, or what would break if paragraphs changed places.

Words to know

sentence job: What one sentence does for the article, apart from what it says

paragraph job: What a paragraph adds to the whole article

set up: Give the reader something needed before the next part makes sense

turn: A sentence that moves the article from one idea to another

proof: A fact or example that shows an idea is true

bridge: A sentence that joins two parts of an article

Common mistakes

When working out what a sentence or paragraph does for the article, your child gave one part the job of a different part. Ask where in the article that job really happens.

When working out what a sentence or paragraph does for the article, your child chose a true detail that does not answer what the question asks. Ask what the part does for the article, not only what it says.

When working out what a sentence or paragraph does for the article, your child chose an idea the article does not say. Ask which sentence says it.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with how a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article?

When working out what a sentence or paragraph does for the article, your child gave one part the job of a different part. Ask where in the article that job really happens.

Are these 6th grade reading worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

More grade 6 reading

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