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Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

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Circle the best answer.

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How Bats Find Food in the Dark
Finding Food With Sound
[1] Many bats catch flying insects at night, when it is too dark for most animals to see well. [2] To find them, a bat makes very high sounds that people cannot hear. [3] The sounds travel outward until they hit an object, and then they bounce back as **echoes**. [4] The bat listens to the echoes and learns where the object is, how big it is and whether it is moving.
Reading the Echoes
[5] A bat hears each echo within a fraction of a second, so it can judge distance almost instantly. [6] This skill, called **echolocation**, lets the bat steer around branches and wires while it chases a moth. [7] As the bat closes in, its calls come faster, and each echo returns sooner, which tells the bat the insect is near.
Picture: a bat
Caption: [8] A little brown bat opens its mouth wide in flight to send out its calls.
Did You Know?
[9] Bats are not blind, and most kinds can see quite well in dim light. [10] Some large fruit bats rely mostly on their eyes and noses to find ripe fruit.
1.
Ari wants to learn how bats judge distance. Under which part of the page should Ari look?
- The box "Did You Know?" at the end
- The heading "Reading the Echoes"
- The heading "Finding Food With Sound"
- The title "How Bats Find Food in the Dark"
2.
What does the bat caption add that the paragraphs do not say, Bo?
- That bats are not blind and most can see in dim light
- How a little brown bat sends out its calls while it flies
- That bats make sounds that are too high for people to hear
- That bats send their calls out through the mouth, not the nose
3.
How does the Did You Know box connect to the rest of the article, Esme?
- It repeats how bats use echoes to find insects flying in the dark
- It corrects the idea that bats are blind and adds new facts
- It defines the word echolocation for readers who skipped sentence 6
- It shows that echolocation is a much weaker sense than eyesight
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Why Volcanoes Erupt
Magma Rising
[1] Deep underground, rock melts into a hot liquid called **magma**. [2] Magma is lighter than the rock around it, so it slowly rises toward the surface. [3] Gases dissolved in the magma also push upward, much like bubbles in a shaken bottle of soda. [4] When the pressure becomes too great, the magma escapes through a crack, and the volcano **erupts**.
Three Kinds of Volcanoes
[5] Scientists sort volcanoes by shape, because the shape comes from the way the lava flows. [6] The table compares three common kinds.
Kind | Shape | Typical eruption
[7] Shield | Wide, gentle slopes | Slow, runny lava flows
[8] Cinder cone | Small, steep hill | Short bursts of rock fragments
[9] Composite | Tall, steep cone | Explosive eruptions with ash
[10] Many famous volcanoes, such as Mount Fuji in Japan, are composite cones.
Picture: a volcano
Caption: [11] Steam rises from the crater of a composite volcano after a small eruption.
4.
Jun wants to compare how the three kinds erupt. What does the table let a reader do?
- See that a cinder cone erupts in explosive bursts of ash
- Learn why magma rises toward the surface of the Earth
- Find out which kind of volcano has erupted most often in history
- Compare the shape and eruption style of the three kinds
5.
Which statement does the volcano caption support, Kira?
- Magma escapes through a crack when the pressure becomes too great
- A composite volcano can have a small eruption that releases steam
- The volcano will soon have a larger, more violent eruption
- Composite volcanoes have tall, steep cones and sit near the sea
6.
Under the heading Three Kinds of Volcanoes, which question would Luz expect the section to answer?
- Why is Mount Fuji such a famous mountain in Japan today?
- What makes rock deep underground melt into a hot liquid?
- How do volcanoes differ in shape and in the way they erupt?
- Which country has the most active volcanoes in the world today?
Use this
How Glaciers Shape Valleys
Rivers of Ice
[1] A **glacier** is a huge mass of ice that moves slowly downhill. [2] It forms where more snow falls each year than melts, so the snow piles up and turns into ice. [3] The weight of the ice makes it flow, but the movement is slow, often only a few inches each day.
Carving the Land
[4] As the ice moves, it drags rocks along its bottom and sides. [5] These rocks scrape the valley floor and walls, so the valley becomes wider and deeper. [6] A valley carved by a river is shaped like a V, but a valley carved by a glacier is shaped like a U. [7] When a glacier melts, it leaves behind piles of rock and soil called **moraines**.
Picture: a valley
Caption: [8] Yosemite Valley in California has the wide, U-shaped floor of a valley carved by ice.
Glossary
[9] glacier: a large body of ice that moves slowly over land. [10] moraine: rocks and soil left behind when a glacier melts.
7.
What does the glossary add for a reader who forgot a bold word, Milo?
- A step-by-step account of how a valley is carved
- Proof that glaciers shape the land more than rivers do
- A short meaning for each bold word, all in one place
- A picture that shows the U shape of a glacial valley
8.
Noah wants to learn what a glacier leaves behind when it melts. Which part of the page leads there?
- The title "How Glaciers Shape Valleys"
- The heading "Carving the Land"
- The heading "Rivers of Ice"
- The caption about Yosemite Valley
9.
How does the caption help Pia understand the paragraph about U-shaped valleys?
- It tells how many inches a glacier moves each day in the valley
- It shows that wide valleys are carved by ice and not by rivers
- It explains that rivers carve valleys that are shaped like the letter V
- It names a real valley with the U shape that the paragraph describes
Use this
Why Leaves Change Color
The Green Machine
[1] Leaves are green because they contain a pigment called **chlorophyll**. [2] Chlorophyll captures sunlight, and the leaf uses that energy to make food from air and water. [3] Because green is so strong in summer, it hides the other colors in the leaf.
Fall Colors Appear
[4] In fall, shorter days and cooler nights signal trees to stop making chlorophyll. [5] As the green fades, yellow and orange pigments that were there all along can finally be seen. [6] Some trees also make new red pigments in the fall.
Pigment | Color | When it shows
[7] Chlorophyll | Green | Spring and summer
[8] Carotenoids | Yellow and orange | Fall, when the green fades
[9] Anthocyanins | Red and purple | Fall, when the leaf makes them
Picture: a leaf
Caption: [10] A maple leaf turns red while the veins near the stem stay green.
10.
Which statement can Ren learn only from the table?
- Most trees make new red pigments during the fall season
- Red and purple colors come from pigments called anthocyanins
- Chlorophyll makes leaves green because it captures the sunlight
- Carotenoids make leaves green during the spring and summer

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Answer Key - Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

Read this first
Use this
How Bats Find Food in the Dark
Finding Food With Sound
[1] Many bats catch flying insects at night, when it is too dark for most animals to see well. [2] To find them, a bat makes very high sounds that people cannot hear. [3] The sounds travel outward until they hit an object, and then they bounce back as **echoes**. [4] The bat listens to the echoes and learns where the object is, how big it is and whether it is moving.
Reading the Echoes
[5] A bat hears each echo within a fraction of a second, so it can judge distance almost instantly. [6] This skill, called **echolocation**, lets the bat steer around branches and wires while it chases a moth. [7] As the bat closes in, its calls come faster, and each echo returns sooner, which tells the bat the insect is near.
Picture: a bat
Caption: [8] A little brown bat opens its mouth wide in flight to send out its calls.
Did You Know?
[9] Bats are not blind, and most kinds can see quite well in dim light. [10] Some large fruit bats rely mostly on their eyes and noses to find ripe fruit.
1.
Ari wants to learn how bats judge distance. Under which part of the page should Ari look?
- The box "Did You Know?" at the end
- The heading "Reading the Echoes"
- The heading "Finding Food With Sound"
- The title "How Bats Find Food in the Dark"
2.
What does the bat caption add that the paragraphs do not say, Bo?
- That bats are not blind and most can see in dim light
- How a little brown bat sends out its calls while it flies
- That bats make sounds that are too high for people to hear
- That bats send their calls out through the mouth, not the nose
3.
How does the Did You Know box connect to the rest of the article, Esme?
- It repeats how bats use echoes to find insects flying in the dark
- It corrects the idea that bats are blind and adds new facts
- It defines the word echolocation for readers who skipped sentence 6
- It shows that echolocation is a much weaker sense than eyesight
Use this
Why Volcanoes Erupt
Magma Rising
[1] Deep underground, rock melts into a hot liquid called **magma**. [2] Magma is lighter than the rock around it, so it slowly rises toward the surface. [3] Gases dissolved in the magma also push upward, much like bubbles in a shaken bottle of soda. [4] When the pressure becomes too great, the magma escapes through a crack, and the volcano **erupts**.
Three Kinds of Volcanoes
[5] Scientists sort volcanoes by shape, because the shape comes from the way the lava flows. [6] The table compares three common kinds.
Kind | Shape | Typical eruption
[7] Shield | Wide, gentle slopes | Slow, runny lava flows
[8] Cinder cone | Small, steep hill | Short bursts of rock fragments
[9] Composite | Tall, steep cone | Explosive eruptions with ash
[10] Many famous volcanoes, such as Mount Fuji in Japan, are composite cones.
Picture: a volcano
Caption: [11] Steam rises from the crater of a composite volcano after a small eruption.
4.
Jun wants to compare how the three kinds erupt. What does the table let a reader do?
- See that a cinder cone erupts in explosive bursts of ash
- Learn why magma rises toward the surface of the Earth
- Find out which kind of volcano has erupted most often in history
- Compare the shape and eruption style of the three kinds
5.
Which statement does the volcano caption support, Kira?
- Magma escapes through a crack when the pressure becomes too great
- A composite volcano can have a small eruption that releases steam
- The volcano will soon have a larger, more violent eruption
- Composite volcanoes have tall, steep cones and sit near the sea
6.
Under the heading Three Kinds of Volcanoes, which question would Luz expect the section to answer?
- Why is Mount Fuji such a famous mountain in Japan today?
- What makes rock deep underground melt into a hot liquid?
- How do volcanoes differ in shape and in the way they erupt?
- Which country has the most active volcanoes in the world today?
Use this
How Glaciers Shape Valleys
Rivers of Ice
[1] A **glacier** is a huge mass of ice that moves slowly downhill. [2] It forms where more snow falls each year than melts, so the snow piles up and turns into ice. [3] The weight of the ice makes it flow, but the movement is slow, often only a few inches each day.
Carving the Land
[4] As the ice moves, it drags rocks along its bottom and sides. [5] These rocks scrape the valley floor and walls, so the valley becomes wider and deeper. [6] A valley carved by a river is shaped like a V, but a valley carved by a glacier is shaped like a U. [7] When a glacier melts, it leaves behind piles of rock and soil called **moraines**.
Picture: a valley
Caption: [8] Yosemite Valley in California has the wide, U-shaped floor of a valley carved by ice.
Glossary
[9] glacier: a large body of ice that moves slowly over land. [10] moraine: rocks and soil left behind when a glacier melts.
7.
What does the glossary add for a reader who forgot a bold word, Milo?
- A step-by-step account of how a valley is carved
- Proof that glaciers shape the land more than rivers do
- A short meaning for each bold word, all in one place
- A picture that shows the U shape of a glacial valley
8.
Noah wants to learn what a glacier leaves behind when it melts. Which part of the page leads there?
- The title "How Glaciers Shape Valleys"
- The heading "Carving the Land"
- The heading "Rivers of Ice"
- The caption about Yosemite Valley
9.
How does the caption help Pia understand the paragraph about U-shaped valleys?
- It tells how many inches a glacier moves each day in the valley
- It shows that wide valleys are carved by ice and not by rivers
- It explains that rivers carve valleys that are shaped like the letter V
- It names a real valley with the U shape that the paragraph describes
Use this
Why Leaves Change Color
The Green Machine
[1] Leaves are green because they contain a pigment called **chlorophyll**. [2] Chlorophyll captures sunlight, and the leaf uses that energy to make food from air and water. [3] Because green is so strong in summer, it hides the other colors in the leaf.
Fall Colors Appear
[4] In fall, shorter days and cooler nights signal trees to stop making chlorophyll. [5] As the green fades, yellow and orange pigments that were there all along can finally be seen. [6] Some trees also make new red pigments in the fall.
Pigment | Color | When it shows
[7] Chlorophyll | Green | Spring and summer
[8] Carotenoids | Yellow and orange | Fall, when the green fades
[9] Anthocyanins | Red and purple | Fall, when the leaf makes them
Picture: a leaf
Caption: [10] A maple leaf turns red while the veins near the stem stay green.
10.
Which statement can Ren learn only from the table?
- Most trees make new red pigments during the fall season
- Red and purple colors come from pigments called anthocyanins
- Chlorophyll makes leaves green because it captures the sunlight
- Carotenoids make leaves green during the spring and summer

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