Reading Informational Text — Problem set, Grade 6
Read nonfiction like a detective: find the central idea and the details that build it, notice how a text is organized, figure out why the author wrote it, and back up what you say with evidence from the page.
Review the key ideas
Central Idea & Supporting Details
The central idea is the main point a nonfiction text builds with supporting details — and a good summary reports that idea in your own words, without adding your opinions.
Text Structures
Authors organize nonfiction using patterns like sequence, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, and description — signal words are the fastest clue to which one is being used, and the structure itself helps develop the ideas.
Author's Purpose & Point of View
Figure out an author's purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, or explain) and their point of view — the stance they reveal through word choice, tone, and which details they include or leave out.
Citing Textual Evidence
Support both stated facts and your own inferences with specific textual evidence — quote or paraphrase the exact words, then explain how they back up your point.
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
Central idea: Bats are surprisingly helpful to people — they control insects and help plants grow. Supporting details: one little brown bat can eat up to a thousand insects in an hour, protecting crops; fruit and nectar bats spread seeds and pollinate plants like bananas and mangoes.
Central idea: Bats are surprisingly helpful to people — they control insects and help plants grow. Supporting details: one little brown bat can eat up to a thousand insects in an hour, protecting crops; fruit and nectar bats spread seeds and pollinate plants like bananas and mangoes.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
In the first case, Central idea: Bats are surprisingly helpful to people — they control insects and help plants grow. Supporting details: one little brown bat can eat up to a thousand insects in an hour, protecting crops; fruit and nectar bats spread seeds and pollinate plants like bananas and mangoes. In the changed case, The article explains several pathways after rainfall. The balanced 100-unit model illustrates accounting across pathways; it is not an actual school measurement or proof every storm has those proportions. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
In the first case, Central idea: Bats are surprisingly helpful to people — they control insects and help plants grow. Supporting details: one little brown bat can eat up to a thousand insects in an hour, protecting crops; fruit and nectar bats spread seeds and pollinate plants like bananas and mangoes. In the changed case, The article explains several pathways after rainfall. The balanced 100-unit model illustrates accounting across pathways; it is not an actual school measurement or proof every storm has those proportions. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 3
Answer and explanation
Cause and effect structure — signaled by 'Because,' 'As a result,' and 'then,' which link each event to the result it causes.
Cause and effect structure — signaled by 'Because,' 'As a result,' and 'then,' which link each event to the result it causes.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 4
Answer and explanation
In the first case, Cause and effect structure — signaled by 'Because,' 'As a result,' and 'then,' which link each event to the result it causes. In the changed case, A follows a process through pathways; B uses a comparison to inspect differences between surfaces. Both can explain water movement, but the same category must be used on both sides of B’s comparison. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
In the first case, Cause and effect structure — signaled by 'Because,' 'As a result,' and 'then,' which link each event to the result it causes. In the changed case, A follows a process through pathways; B uses a comparison to inspect differences between surfaces. Both can explain water movement, but the same category must be used on both sides of B’s comparison. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 5
Answer and explanation
Purpose: to persuade readers to oppose cutting school buses. Point of view: strongly against the plan, conveyed through loaded language like 'a huge mistake' and 'plain carelessness,' and by playing down the town's money-saving reason while playing up the harm to students.
Purpose: to persuade readers to oppose cutting school buses. Point of view: strongly against the plan, conveyed through loaded language like 'a huge mistake' and 'plain carelessness,' and by playing down the town's money-saving reason while playing up the harm to students.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 6
Answer and explanation
In the first case, Purpose: to persuade readers to oppose cutting school buses. Point of view: strongly against the plan, conveyed through loaded language like 'a huge mistake' and 'plain carelessness,' and by playing down the town's money-saving reason while playing up the harm to students. In the changed case, The organizer advocates and reports a small group’s preference. The supervisor raises a staffing constraint. The record reports use on two trial days; it does not directly establish learning gains or whole-school preference. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
In the first case, Purpose: to persuade readers to oppose cutting school buses. Point of view: strongly against the plan, conveyed through loaded language like 'a huge mistake' and 'plain carelessness,' and by playing down the town's money-saving reason while playing up the harm to students. In the changed case, The organizer advocates and reports a small group’s preference. The supervisor raises a staffing constraint. The record reports use on two trial days; it does not directly establish learning gains or whole-school preference. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 7
Answer and explanation
Rowan’s storm-drain role supports the focus on short-interval routes and doorways. Dev’s dry-period garden work supports the emphasis on storage and later availability. Neither excerpt proves that all people in the same region think alike or that either writer never considers the other concern.
Rowan’s storm-drain role supports the focus on short-interval routes and doorways. Dev’s dry-period garden work supports the emphasis on storage and later availability. Neither excerpt proves that all people in the same region think alike or that either writer never considers the other concern.
Response criteria
- Answer the specified question accurately.
- Use a relevant detail or demonstrate the requested language choice.
- Explain the reasoning and keep an appropriate scope.
Problem 8
Answer and explanation
Explicit: Priya 'lined up her sharpened pencils in a neat row,' which the text states directly. Inference: she seems nervous or eager about the day, supported by the detail that she 'checked her backpack three times.'
Explicit: Priya 'lined up her sharpened pencils in a neat row,' which the text states directly. Inference: she seems nervous or eager about the day, supported by the detail that she 'checked her backpack three times.'
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.
Problem 9
Answer and explanation
In the first case, Explicit: Priya 'lined up her sharpened pencils in a neat row,' which the text states directly. Inference: she seems nervous or eager about the day, supported by the detail that she 'checked her backpack three times.' In the changed case, Source A supports a preference among responding club members. Source B rules out claiming a measured achievement result from this trial. Revise to a limited proposal for a trial, citing the local reading-corner packet and its specific source labels. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
In the first case, Explicit: Priya 'lined up her sharpened pencils in a neat row,' which the text states directly. Inference: she seems nervous or eager about the day, supported by the detail that she 'checked her backpack three times.' In the changed case, Source A supports a preference among responding club members. Source B rules out claiming a measured achievement result from this trial. Revise to a limited proposal for a trial, citing the local reading-corner packet and its specific source labels. The method of defining the relationship and testing relevant evidence transfers; the particular source detail and scope must be checked anew.
Response criteria
- Answer the actual question with accurate details.
- Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
- State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.