Build a paragraph: point, evidence, explanation
Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Compost Beds at Willow Park School (notes)
[1] The Willow Park School garden has two groups of vegetable beds. [2] Four beds are filled with ordinary soil, and four beds are mixed with compost made from leaves and plant scraps. [3] Each of the eight beds was planted with the same tomato seedlings on the same spring day.
[4] By late summer, the compost beds held an average of 18 tomatoes per plant, while the ordinary beds held an average of 11. [5] The compost beds also needed watering less often, since the dark soil stayed damp for longer after each rain. [6] The garden club keeps a notebook in the shed where members write down what they pick each week.
[7] Club members think the tomatoes from the compost beds taste sweeter, though no one has measured it. [8] The biggest tomato of the season, picked from a compost bed, weighed almost a pound. [9] Next spring, the club plans to add a third kind of bed to see whether other mixes work as well.
Plan card
Point: Compost beds grew more tomatoes than ordinary beds.
Evidence: ____
Explanation: (still to write)Bo's point is on the card. Which note is the best evidence for it?
- [5] The compost beds also needed watering less often, since the dark soil stayed damp for longer after each rain.
- [3] Each of the eight beds was planted with the same tomato seedlings on the same spring day.
- [7] Club members think the tomatoes from the compost beds taste sweeter, though no one has measured it.
- [4] By late summer, the compost beds held an average of 18 tomatoes per plant, while the ordinary beds held an average of 11.
The Compost Beds at Willow Park School (notes)
[1] The Willow Park School garden has two groups of vegetable beds. [2] Four beds are filled with ordinary soil, and four beds are mixed with compost made from leaves and plant scraps. [3] Each of the eight beds was planted with the same tomato seedlings on the same spring day.
[4] By late summer, the compost beds held an average of 18 tomatoes per plant, while the ordinary beds held an average of 11. [5] The compost beds also needed watering less often, since the dark soil stayed damp for longer after each rain. [6] The garden club keeps a notebook in the shed where members write down what they pick each week.
[7] Club members think the tomatoes from the compost beds taste sweeter, though no one has measured it. [8] The biggest tomato of the season, picked from a compost bed, weighed almost a pound. [9] Next spring, the club plans to add a third kind of bed to see whether other mixes work as well.
Draft paragraph
(A) Compost helped the school garden's tomatoes.
(B) The compost beds held an average of 18 tomatoes per plant, while the ordinary beds held 11.
(C) The beds shared the same seedlings and planting day, so the 7-tomato gap points to the compost, not to luck.Esme labels each sentence of a draft paragraph about the garden. What job does sentence (C) do?
- It explains why the counts point to the compost.
- It gives the tomato counts from the notes as evidence.
- It states the point that the paragraph will back up.
- It closes the paragraph by repeating the point.
Bike Lanes on Maple Street (notes)
[1] Last year the town of Alder Bay painted a bike lane on each side of Maple Street, which runs past the elementary school and the public library. [2] Before the lanes, a crew counted riders at the school corner for one week in May. [3] The crew counted again for one week in May after the lanes were open, using the same corner and the same hours of the morning.
[4] In the first week, 42 students rode bikes to school along Maple Street, while most of their classmates arrived by bus or in cars. [5] In the second week, 97 students rode, which is more than double the 42 from the first week. [6] The crew also noticed that cars slowed down on the street once the lanes were painted.
[7] Some neighbors say the green paint makes the street look cheerful. [8] The town paid for the lanes with money that had been set aside for road repairs, so the project did not raise anyone's taxes. [9] The mayor says she hopes that more families will try riding next spring, once the weather warms up and the lanes are repainted.
Plan card
Point: ____
Evidence: sentences [4] and [5]
Explanation: (still to write)Jun is planning a paragraph about Maple Street. The evidence is sentences [4] and [5]. Which point do they support?
- The town should spend less money on road repairs.
- The new bike lanes helped more students ride to school.
- In the second week, 97 students rode bikes along Maple Street.
- Bike lanes make a town a better place to live.
Bike Lanes on Maple Street (notes)
[1] Last year the town of Alder Bay painted a bike lane on each side of Maple Street, which runs past the elementary school and the public library. [2] Before the lanes, a crew counted riders at the school corner for one week in May. [3] The crew counted again for one week in May after the lanes were open, using the same corner and the same hours of the morning.
[4] In the first week, 42 students rode bikes to school along Maple Street, while most of their classmates arrived by bus or in cars. [5] In the second week, 97 students rode, which is more than double the 42 from the first week. [6] The crew also noticed that cars slowed down on the street once the lanes were painted.
[7] Some neighbors say the green paint makes the street look cheerful. [8] The town paid for the lanes with money that had been set aside for road repairs, so the project did not raise anyone's taxes. [9] The mayor says she hopes that more families will try riding next spring, once the weather warms up and the lanes are repainted.
Plan card
Point: The bike lanes got more students riding to school.
Evidence: ____
Explanation: (still to write)Kira's point is on the card. Which note is the best evidence for it?
- [6] The crew also noticed that cars slowed down on the street once the lanes were painted.
- [7] Some neighbors say the green paint makes the street look cheerful.
- [5] In the second week, 97 students rode, which is more than double the 42 from the first week.
- [2] Before the lanes, a crew counted riders at the school corner for one week in May.
Bike Lanes on Maple Street (notes)
[1] Last year the town of Alder Bay painted a bike lane on each side of Maple Street, which runs past the elementary school and the public library. [2] Before the lanes, a crew counted riders at the school corner for one week in May. [3] The crew counted again for one week in May after the lanes were open, using the same corner and the same hours of the morning.
[4] In the first week, 42 students rode bikes to school along Maple Street, while most of their classmates arrived by bus or in cars. [5] In the second week, 97 students rode, which is more than double the 42 from the first week. [6] The crew also noticed that cars slowed down on the street once the lanes were painted.
[7] Some neighbors say the green paint makes the street look cheerful. [8] The town paid for the lanes with money that had been set aside for road repairs, so the project did not raise anyone's taxes. [9] The mayor says she hopes that more families will try riding next spring, once the weather warms up and the lanes are repainted.
Draft paragraph
(A) More students rode to school once Maple Street had bike lanes.
(B) A crew counted 42 riders in one May week before the lanes and 97 in a May week after.
(C) That is more than double, so the lanes are a likely reason families felt ready to try riding.Luz labels each sentence of a draft paragraph about Maple Street. What job does sentence (A) do?
- It closes the paragraph by repeating the point.
- It states the point that the paragraph will back up.
- It gives the rider counts from the notes as evidence.
- It explains why the counts matter.
Why the Ocean Has Tides (notes)
[1] If you stand on a beach for several hours, you may see the water creep up the sand and then slide slowly back down again. [2] These daily rises and falls of the ocean's surface are called tides. [3] Tides come from the pull of gravity, the invisible force that draws objects toward one another.
[4] The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but it is far closer to Earth, so it pulls harder on our oceans. [5] The water facing the Moon is pulled toward it, and a bulge of high tide forms there. [6] A second bulge forms on the opposite side of Earth, so most coasts have two high tides each day.
[7] The Sun also pulls on the oceans, but it is so far away that its effect on the tides is weaker than the Moon's. [8] In the Bay of Fundy in Canada, the water can rise more than twelve meters between low tide and high tide. [9] Many people enjoy watching the tides come in at sunset.
Plan card
Point: ____
Evidence: sentences [5] and [6]
Explanation: (still to write)Milo is planning a paragraph about tides. The evidence is sentences [5] and [6]. Which point do they support?
- The Moon's pull raises the ocean into high tides.
- A second bulge forms on the opposite side of Earth.
- Tides are bigger in the Bay of Fundy than in most places.
- The ocean is one of the most important parts of our planet.
Why the Ocean Has Tides (notes)
[1] If you stand on a beach for several hours, you may see the water creep up the sand and then slide slowly back down again. [2] These daily rises and falls of the ocean's surface are called tides. [3] Tides come from the pull of gravity, the invisible force that draws objects toward one another.
[4] The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but it is far closer to Earth, so it pulls harder on our oceans. [5] The water facing the Moon is pulled toward it, and a bulge of high tide forms there. [6] A second bulge forms on the opposite side of Earth, so most coasts have two high tides each day.
[7] The Sun also pulls on the oceans, but it is so far away that its effect on the tides is weaker than the Moon's. [8] In the Bay of Fundy in Canada, the water can rise more than twelve meters between low tide and high tide. [9] Many people enjoy watching the tides come in at sunset.
Plan card
Point: The Moon has more effect on the tides than the Sun does.
Evidence: ____
Explanation: (still to write)Noah's point is on the card. Which note is the best evidence for it?
- [8] In the Bay of Fundy in Canada, the water can rise more than twelve meters between low tide and high tide.
- [9] Many people enjoy watching the tides come in at sunset.
- [4] The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but it is far closer to Earth, so it pulls harder on our oceans.
- [6] A second bulge forms on the opposite side of Earth, so most coasts have two high tides each day.
What Is Inside a Pencil? (notes)
[1] The black part inside a pencil is called the lead, but a modern pencil contains no lead at all. [2] The mark comes from graphite, a soft, dark form of carbon that rubs off on paper as the pencil moves across it. [3] Long ago, people mistook graphite for a kind of lead, and the name stuck even after the mistake was discovered.
[4] To make a pencil core, workers mix graphite powder with clay and water. [5] The mixture is pressed into thin rods and baked in a very hot oven until the rods turn hard enough to hold a point. [6] A pencil with more clay in the mix makes a harder core and a lighter line.
[7] A pencil with less clay makes a softer core and a darker line, which is why artists often carry several kinds. [8] The cores are fitted between two slats of wood, which are glued together and cut into single pencils. [9] Many artists think a soft pencil is the nicest one to draw with.
Plan card
Point: ____
Evidence: sentences [2] and [3]
Explanation: (still to write)Ren is planning a paragraph about pencils. The evidence is sentences [2] and [3]. Which point do they support?
- Pencils with more clay in the core make lighter lines.
- Graphite is a soft, dark form of carbon that rubs off on paper.
- Pencils are one of the most useful tools ever invented.
- A pencil's lead is really graphite, and the name is a leftover from long ago.
What Is Inside a Pencil? (notes)
[1] The black part inside a pencil is called the lead, but a modern pencil contains no lead at all. [2] The mark comes from graphite, a soft, dark form of carbon that rubs off on paper as the pencil moves across it. [3] Long ago, people mistook graphite for a kind of lead, and the name stuck even after the mistake was discovered.
[4] To make a pencil core, workers mix graphite powder with clay and water. [5] The mixture is pressed into thin rods and baked in a very hot oven until the rods turn hard enough to hold a point. [6] A pencil with more clay in the mix makes a harder core and a lighter line.
[7] A pencil with less clay makes a softer core and a darker line, which is why artists often carry several kinds. [8] The cores are fitted between two slats of wood, which are glued together and cut into single pencils. [9] Many artists think a soft pencil is the nicest one to draw with.
Plan card
Point: The amount of clay changes how dark a pencil writes.
Evidence: ____
Explanation: (still to write)Tala's point is on the card. Which note is the best evidence for it?
- [9] Many artists think a soft pencil is the nicest one to draw with.
- [4] To make a pencil core, workers mix graphite powder with clay and water.
- [6] A pencil with more clay in the mix makes a harder core and a lighter line.
- [8] The cores are fitted between two slats of wood, which are glued together and cut into single pencils.
What Is Inside a Pencil? (notes)
[1] The black part inside a pencil is called the lead, but a modern pencil contains no lead at all. [2] The mark comes from graphite, a soft, dark form of carbon that rubs off on paper as the pencil moves across it. [3] Long ago, people mistook graphite for a kind of lead, and the name stuck even after the mistake was discovered.
[4] To make a pencil core, workers mix graphite powder with clay and water. [5] The mixture is pressed into thin rods and baked in a very hot oven until the rods turn hard enough to hold a point. [6] A pencil with more clay in the mix makes a harder core and a lighter line.
[7] A pencil with less clay makes a softer core and a darker line, which is why artists often carry several kinds. [8] The cores are fitted between two slats of wood, which are glued together and cut into single pencils. [9] Many artists think a soft pencil is the nicest one to draw with.
Draft paragraph
(A) A pencil core has to be baked before it can be used.
(B) After graphite and clay are pressed into thin rods, the rods are baked in a hot oven until they turn hard.
(C) Hard rods can hold a sharp point, so baking turns a soft mix into a core a person can write with.Zee labels each sentence of a draft paragraph about pencils. What job does sentence (C) do?
- It states the point that the paragraph will back up.
- It explains why baking matters.
- It gives a fact from the notes as evidence.
- It closes the paragraph by repeating the point.