Explain a topic in writing
Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Journey of a Raindrop (informative draft)
[1] The water on Earth is always moving through a cycle, which has no beginning and no end. [2] First, the heat of the Sun causes evaporation, which is the change of liquid water into a gas called water vapor. [3] The vapor rises into the cooler air above the ground. [4] Next, the vapor cools and condenses, forming tiny droplets that gather into clouds. [5] Water is very important to everyone. [6] Then, when the droplets join and grow heavy, they fall as precipitation, such as rain, snow or hail. [7] Finally, the water collects in rivers, lakes and underground, and the Sun begins to heat it again. [8] Because the cycle repeats, the same water can fall as rain in one season and rise as vapor in the next. [9] Scientists describe the cycle in four stages to explain how fresh water returns to the land.
Bo wants to replace the opinion in [5]. Which sentence is the strongest, most specific detail for this draft?
- A raindrop that falls on a mountain may run into a river, reach the ocean and be heated back into vapor.
- Water moves around the planet in many different ways, and it is found in many different places.
- Water is a wonderful gift, and people should be thankful for it each day of their lives, wherever they live.
- The ocean covers most of Earth's surface, and many people enjoy visiting beaches during the summer.
Esme thinks [4] uses condenses without explaining it. Which sentence should follow [4] to define the word?
- Condensation is any change that happens to water when the weather becomes cooler.
- Condensation is what happens when vapor condenses into droplets in the air near the ground.
- Condensation is the change of a gas into tiny drops of liquid as it cools.
- A cold glass of lemonade gets wet on the outside on a hot summer day at the park.
Plants of the Desert (informative draft)
[1] A desert gets very little rain, and the Sun heats the ground for most of the day. [2] Plants that live there face a problem: they must find water and keep the water they find. [3] Many desert plants have solved the problem in clever ways. [4] A saguaro cactus has a thick, ribbed stem that swells when it rains and stores water for months. [5] Cacti are cool plants. [6] The spines on a cactus shade the stem and reduce the loss of water, and they also protect the plant from animals that would eat it. [7] Its roots are shallow but spread wide, so they can soak up rain quickly before it evaporates. [8] Other desert plants, called annuals, survive as seeds for years and sprout only after a rare heavy rain. [9] These adaptations let plants live in places where most other plants could not. [10] Because these plants conserve water so effectively, scientists study them to learn how crops might survive in dry regions with limited irrigation.
Jun wants to name how the draft is organized. Which choice describes the way its ideas are arranged?
- Compare and contrast: the draft shows how desert plants are alike and different from other plants in many ways.
- Cause and effect: the draft explains how one event in the desert causes the next event.
- Sequence: the draft follows one desert plant from a seed to a full-grown plant in time order.
- Problem and solution: the draft names a problem for desert plants and then shows how they solve it.
Kira wants to replace the opinion in [5]. Which sentence is the strongest, most specific detail for this draft?
- Cacti are the most beautiful plants in the world, and people should grow one at home or at school.
- Cacti are sold in garden stores, and many people place them on windowsills in small pots.
- A large saguaro can store many gallons of water in its stem and use it during long dry spells.
- Cacti have many interesting features, and these features help them in many different ways.
Where Food Scraps Go (informative draft)
[1] When a banana peel is thrown into a landfill, it may stay there for a long time. [2] When the same peel is placed in a compost pile, it breaks down into rich, dark soil in a few months. [3] The difference is caused by decomposers, living things such as bacteria, fungi and worms that feed on fallen leaves and plant waste. [4] Compost is a great idea for everyone. [5] A compost pile gives decomposers what they need: moisture, air and warmth. [6] Because decomposers work faster in warm, damp conditions, a pile that is turned often breaks down sooner. [7] As they feed, the decomposers release nutrients such as nitrogen, which plants use to grow. [8] Gardeners who add compost to their soil often find that it holds water better and needs less fertilizer. [9] Therefore, composting turns waste into a resource that helps plants grow.
Milo wants to name how the draft is organized. Which choice describes the way its ideas are arranged?
- Sequence: the draft lists the steps for building a compost pile in the order a gardener does them.
- Cause and effect: the draft explains how decomposers cause food scraps to become soil.
- Problem and solution: the draft names a trash problem and then lists laws that solve it.
- Compare and contrast: the draft lists how compost soil and garden soil differ in color and smell.
Pia wants to replace the opinion in [4]. Which sentence is the strongest, most specific detail for this draft?
- Food scraps and yard waste make up a large share of household trash, and composting keeps them out of landfills.
- Compost is a wonderful idea that thoughtful people should be glad to try at home this spring and summer.
- Compost can be useful in many ways, and gardeners find different uses for it in different seasons throughout the year.
- Banana peels are yellow when they are ripe, and they turn brown after a few days on the kitchen counter by the window.
Noah thinks [7] uses nutrients without explaining it. Which sentence should follow [7] to define the word?
- Nutrients are substances that living things need in order to grow and stay healthy.
- Nitrogen helps leaves grow green, and gardeners often add it to the soil in spring.
- Nutrients are the nutrient materials that plants take in from the soil each season, year after year.
- Nutrients are the things found in soil, such as stones, water and air.
Bats and Birds (informative draft)
[1] Bats and birds both fly through the night sky, but they belong to different groups of animals. [2] Birds are covered in feathers, and their wings are made of feathers attached to arm bones. [3] Bats have fur, and their wings are thin skin stretched over long finger bones. [4] Bats are interesting animals. [5] A bat is a mammal, which means it feeds milk to its young. [6] A bird is not a mammal, and it lays eggs that hatch outside its body. [7] Most birds find their way mainly by sight, while many bats use echolocation. [8] Echolocation lets a bat locate insects in complete darkness. [9] Because their bodies differ, bats and birds fly in different ways, and each group fits its habitat. [10] Scientists classify bats and birds separately. [11] Understanding these differences helps scientists protect each group, because bats and birds face different dangers in their habitats and respond to different kinds of conservation efforts.
Ren wants to name how the draft is organized. Which choice describes the way its ideas are arranged?
- Sequence: the draft follows a bat and a bird through one night in time order.
- Cause and effect: the draft shows how one animal's flying causes the other animal to fly.
- Compare and contrast: the draft shows how bats and birds are alike and how they differ.
- Problem and solution: the draft names a danger to bats and birds and explains how people solve it.
Tala wants to replace the opinion in [4]. Which sentence is the strongest, most specific detail for this draft?
- Some bats weigh less than a penny, while an ostrich can weigh more than two hundred pounds.
- Bats are different from many animals, and they do many things in many different ways.
- Bats appear in many cartoons and storybooks, and children enjoy drawing them in art class each week.
- Bats are the most fascinating animals that anyone could ever study at school this year.
Zee thinks [7] uses echolocation without explaining it. Which sentence should follow [7] to define the word?
- Echolocation is a way of finding objects by sending out sounds and listening for the echoes.
- Echolocation is the location that bats find by using echoes in their calls at night.
- A bat can find a moth in a dark room by listening for the sound that bounces back.
- Echolocation is any use of sound that an animal makes to talk to other animals nearby or far away.