Join short sentences and add detail
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Canal That Moved a Nation (student draft: informative)
[1] Before 1825, moving freight from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes meant hauling it over rough roads by wagon, a journey that took weeks and cost more than most farmers could possibly afford. [2] New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal. [3] The canal would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie. [4] Critics mocked the project as "Clinton's Ditch," and many legislators doubted that so long a channel could be finished with the tools and skills then available in America.
[5] Workers began digging in 1817, using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen, and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier. [6] The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. [7] It was forty feet wide. [8] It was four feet deep. [9] Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet. [10] Wide towpaths ran along the banks, so that mules could pull the barges at a steady pace.
[11] When the canal opened in 1825, the cost of shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City fell from about one hundred dollars to roughly ten, and the savings changed where Americans chose to live and work. [12] Towns along the route, such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, grew rapidly as merchants and manufacturers settled beside the water. [13] New York City, at the canal's eastern end, became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center. Sentence [13] with a bracket: New York City, [at the canal's eastern end], became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center.
Ari brackets part of sentence [13] and draws an arrow. Which word does the bracketed part tell about?
- port
- end
- City
- became
The Canal That Moved a Nation (student draft: informative)
[1] Before 1825, moving freight from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes meant hauling it over rough roads by wagon, a journey that took weeks and cost more than most farmers could possibly afford. [2] New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal. [3] The canal would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie. [4] Critics mocked the project as "Clinton's Ditch," and many legislators doubted that so long a channel could be finished with the tools and skills then available in America.
[5] Workers began digging in 1817, using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen, and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier. [6] The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. [7] It was forty feet wide. [8] It was four feet deep. [9] Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet. [10] Wide towpaths ran along the banks, so that mules could pull the barges at a steady pace.
[11] When the canal opened in 1825, the cost of shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City fell from about one hundred dollars to roughly ten, and the savings changed where Americans chose to live and work. [12] Towns along the route, such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, grew rapidly as merchants and manufacturers settled beside the water. [13] New York City, at the canal's eastern end, became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center. Sentence [9] with a bracket: Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, [water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet].
Bo brackets part of sentence [9] and draws an arrow. Which word does the bracketed part tell about?
- Engineers
- locks
- built
- slopes
The Canal That Moved a Nation (student draft: informative)
[1] Before 1825, moving freight from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes meant hauling it over rough roads by wagon, a journey that took weeks and cost more than most farmers could possibly afford. [2] New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal. [3] The canal would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie. [4] Critics mocked the project as "Clinton's Ditch," and many legislators doubted that so long a channel could be finished with the tools and skills then available in America.
[5] Workers began digging in 1817, using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen, and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier. [6] The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. [7] It was forty feet wide. [8] It was four feet deep. [9] Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet. [10] Wide towpaths ran along the banks, so that mules could pull the barges at a steady pace.
[11] When the canal opened in 1825, the cost of shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City fell from about one hundred dollars to roughly ten, and the savings changed where Americans chose to live and work. [12] Towns along the route, such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, grew rapidly as merchants and manufacturers settled beside the water. [13] New York City, at the canal's eastern end, became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center. Sentence [10] with a bracket: Wide towpaths ran along the banks, [so that mules could pull the barges] at a steady pace.
Esme brackets an added phrase in sentence [10]. Which question does the bracketed phrase answer?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- How?
The Canal That Moved a Nation (student draft: informative)
[1] Before 1825, moving freight from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes meant hauling it over rough roads by wagon, a journey that took weeks and cost more than most farmers could possibly afford. [2] New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal. [3] The canal would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie. [4] Critics mocked the project as "Clinton's Ditch," and many legislators doubted that so long a channel could be finished with the tools and skills then available in America.
[5] Workers began digging in 1817, using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen, and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier. [6] The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. [7] It was forty feet wide. [8] It was four feet deep. [9] Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet. [10] Wide towpaths ran along the banks, so that mules could pull the barges at a steady pace.
[11] When the canal opened in 1825, the cost of shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City fell from about one hundred dollars to roughly ten, and the savings changed where Americans chose to live and work. [12] Towns along the route, such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, grew rapidly as merchants and manufacturers settled beside the water. [13] New York City, at the canal's eastern end, became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center. Sentence [5] with a bracket: Workers began digging in 1817, [using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen], and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier.
Jun brackets an added phrase in sentence [5]. Which question does the bracketed phrase answer?
- Why?
- Where?
- When?
- How?
The Canal That Moved a Nation (student draft: informative)
[1] Before 1825, moving freight from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes meant hauling it over rough roads by wagon, a journey that took weeks and cost more than most farmers could possibly afford. [2] New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal. [3] The canal would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie. [4] Critics mocked the project as "Clinton's Ditch," and many legislators doubted that so long a channel could be finished with the tools and skills then available in America.
[5] Workers began digging in 1817, using shovels, wheelbarrows, and teams of oxen, and many of them were immigrants who had arrived from Ireland only a few years earlier. [6] The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. [7] It was forty feet wide. [8] It was four feet deep. [9] Engineers built eighty-three locks beside the steepest slopes, water-filled chambers that raised and lowered boats over a total rise of more than five hundred feet. [10] Wide towpaths ran along the banks, so that mules could pull the barges at a steady pace.
[11] When the canal opened in 1825, the cost of shipping a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City fell from about one hundred dollars to roughly ten, and the savings changed where Americans chose to live and work. [12] Towns along the route, such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, grew rapidly as merchants and manufacturers settled beside the water. [13] New York City, at the canal's eastern end, became the busiest port in the nation, which strengthened the state's claim to be the country's commercial center.
Kira embeds sentence [3] in sentence [2] as a clause. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and puts the clause beside the right noun?
- New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal that would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
- New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal to link the Hudson River.
- New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, proposed a canal that would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie within ten years.
- New York's governor, DeWitt Clinton, who would link the Hudson River to Lake Erie, proposed a canal.
Luz joins sentences [6] and [7] into one. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and keeps the description on the right noun?
- The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo.
- The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, it was forty feet wide.
- The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo and was forty feet wide.
- The channel they cut stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, which was forty feet wide.
How Bees Share a Map (student draft: informative)
[1] For centuries, beekeepers noticed that a colony could find a newly blooming meadow within hours, yet no one could explain how foragers shared such exact news inside the dark, crowded hive. [2] Karl von Frisch, an Austrian zoologist, suspected that the bees talked to each other through a language of movement. [3] He spent years watching marked bees in glass-walled hives. [4] He recorded their motions with notebooks and stopwatches.
[5] A forager that had found good flowers returned to the hive and traced a figure-eight on the honeycomb, pausing in the middle of each loop to shake its body from side to side. [6] Von Frisch called this movement the waggle dance. [7] The dancer's audience crowded closely around it in the dark. [8] They touched it with their antennae.
[9] The angle of the waggle run, measured against the vertical, matched the angle between the Sun and the flowers, and the length of the run showed the distance. [10] Von Frisch tested his theory by placing sugar water at set distances and in set directions, and the recruits arrived at the places that the dancers had shown. [11] Some scientists remained skeptical for decades, arguing that the bees were following scent rather than directions. [12] Later experiments with robot bees, which copied the dance without any scent, showed that the movements alone could guide a hive's foragers. [13] Von Frisch shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on how animals talk and see. Sentence [5] with a bracket: A forager that had found good flowers returned to the hive and traced a figure-eight on the honeycomb, [pausing in the middle of each loop to shake its body from side to side].
Milo brackets part of sentence [5] and draws an arrow. Which word does the bracketed part tell about?
- forager
- figure-eight
- traced
- honeycomb
How Bees Share a Map (student draft: informative)
[1] For centuries, beekeepers noticed that a colony could find a newly blooming meadow within hours, yet no one could explain how foragers shared such exact news inside the dark, crowded hive. [2] Karl von Frisch, an Austrian zoologist, suspected that the bees talked to each other through a language of movement. [3] He spent years watching marked bees in glass-walled hives. [4] He recorded their motions with notebooks and stopwatches.
[5] A forager that had found good flowers returned to the hive and traced a figure-eight on the honeycomb, pausing in the middle of each loop to shake its body from side to side. [6] Von Frisch called this movement the waggle dance. [7] The dancer's audience crowded closely around it in the dark. [8] They touched it with their antennae.
[9] The angle of the waggle run, measured against the vertical, matched the angle between the Sun and the flowers, and the length of the run showed the distance. [10] Von Frisch tested his theory by placing sugar water at set distances and in set directions, and the recruits arrived at the places that the dancers had shown. [11] Some scientists remained skeptical for decades, arguing that the bees were following scent rather than directions. [12] Later experiments with robot bees, which copied the dance without any scent, showed that the movements alone could guide a hive's foragers. [13] Von Frisch shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on how animals talk and see. Sentence [12] with a bracket: Later experiments with robot bees, [which copied the dance without any scent], showed that the movements alone could guide a hive's foragers.
Noah brackets part of sentence [12] and draws an arrow. Which word does the bracketed part tell about?
- bees
- experiments
- movements
- showed
How Bees Share a Map (student draft: informative)
[1] For centuries, beekeepers noticed that a colony could find a newly blooming meadow within hours, yet no one could explain how foragers shared such exact news inside the dark, crowded hive. [2] Karl von Frisch, an Austrian zoologist, suspected that the bees talked to each other through a language of movement. [3] He spent years watching marked bees in glass-walled hives. [4] He recorded their motions with notebooks and stopwatches.
[5] A forager that had found good flowers returned to the hive and traced a figure-eight on the honeycomb, pausing in the middle of each loop to shake its body from side to side. [6] Von Frisch called this movement the waggle dance. [7] The dancer's audience crowded closely around it in the dark. [8] They touched it with their antennae.
[9] The angle of the waggle run, measured against the vertical, matched the angle between the Sun and the flowers, and the length of the run showed the distance. [10] Von Frisch tested his theory by placing sugar water at set distances and in set directions, and the recruits arrived at the places that the dancers had shown. [11] Some scientists remained skeptical for decades, arguing that the bees were following scent rather than directions. [12] Later experiments with robot bees, which copied the dance without any scent, showed that the movements alone could guide a hive's foragers. [13] Von Frisch shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on how animals talk and see. Sentence [1] with a bracket: For centuries, beekeepers noticed that a colony could find a newly blooming meadow within hours, yet no one could explain how foragers shared such exact news [inside the dark, crowded hive].
Pia brackets an added phrase in sentence [1]. Which question does the bracketed phrase answer?
- Where?
- When?
- Why?
- How?
How Bees Share a Map (student draft: informative)
[1] For centuries, beekeepers noticed that a colony could find a newly blooming meadow within hours, yet no one could explain how foragers shared such exact news inside the dark, crowded hive. [2] Karl von Frisch, an Austrian zoologist, suspected that the bees talked to each other through a language of movement. [3] He spent years watching marked bees in glass-walled hives. [4] He recorded their motions with notebooks and stopwatches.
[5] A forager that had found good flowers returned to the hive and traced a figure-eight on the honeycomb, pausing in the middle of each loop to shake its body from side to side. [6] Von Frisch called this movement the waggle dance. [7] The dancer's audience crowded closely around it in the dark. [8] They touched it with their antennae.
[9] The angle of the waggle run, measured against the vertical, matched the angle between the Sun and the flowers, and the length of the run showed the distance. [10] Von Frisch tested his theory by placing sugar water at set distances and in set directions, and the recruits arrived at the places that the dancers had shown. [11] Some scientists remained skeptical for decades, arguing that the bees were following scent rather than directions. [12] Later experiments with robot bees, which copied the dance without any scent, showed that the movements alone could guide a hive's foragers. [13] Von Frisch shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on how animals talk and see. Sentence [11] with a bracket: Some scientists remained skeptical [for decades], arguing that the bees were following scent rather than directions.
Ren brackets an added phrase in sentence [11]. Which question does the bracketed phrase answer?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- How?
