Reading/Writing Connection 6th Grade Reading
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Characteristics of Effective Writing
The organizing structure of the essay is clearly appropriate to the purpose and
responsive to the specific demands of the prompt. The essay is skillfully crafted
because the writer uses organizational strategies that are particularly well suited to
the expository task
The form or structure of the narrative is appropriate to the purpose and responsive
to the specific demands of the prompt. The writer uses organizational strategies or
literary devices that are particularly well suited to the narrative task. The writer is
able to skillfully convey the experience and communicate its importance or
meaning.
The writer establishes a clear controlling idea. All ideas are strongly related to the
controlling idea and are focused on the topic specified in the prompt. By sustaining
this focus, the writer is able to create an essay that is unified and coherent.
All details contribute to the effectiveness of the narrative. The writer focuses on a
specific personal experience and sustains that focus, strengthening the unity and
coherence of the narrative.
Reading Question Stems
(2) The organization of paragraphs 2 through 4 contributes to the author’s main idea by
(16) What is the best summary of the story?
(18) The author organize paragraphs 2 through 7 by -(20) What is the best summary of this selection?
(28) The poet organizes the poem by --- (47) What is the best summary of the selection?
(42) The author structures paragraphs 9 and 10 so that they --
The writer’s progression of ideas is logical and well-controlled. Meaningful
transitions and strong sentence-to-sentence connections enhance the flow of the
essay by clearly showing the relationships among ideas, making the writer’s train of
thought easy to follow.
The writer’s narrative presentation is well controlled. Meaningful transitions and
strong sentence-to-sentence connections enhance the logical movement of the
narrative and reinforce the link between the experience and its meaning.
(11) Paragraphs 6 and 7 contribute to the rising action of the story by showing that
Chloe –
(15) Which sentence expresses the turning point in the story?
(22) Why did Dr. Hunter have hope that the yellow-spotted bell frog might someday be
rediscovered?
(24) Pearce was able to identify the yellow-spotted bell frog because he –
(32) Why did the author include paragraphs 1 and 2 in the selection?
(41) What is the most likely reason the author included paragraph 5 in the section
“Rocks from Space”? (6.9)
(43) Antarctica is a good place to search for meteorites because –
(45) The reader can conclude that conditions in Antarctica make it important for both
Nomad and the researchers to -(3) Read these sentences from paragraph 7. [“it was difficult for my parents to send me
to school, but now all the facilities are in the village. I have started planning form my
daughter’s future education. I want to see her become a doctor or engineer.”]
This quotation shows that –
(5) Which sentence from the article best supports the claim that Rezwan’s boats have
successfully addressed a problem in Bangladesh? (8) From Chloe’s description of the
fourth-grade students in paragraph 8, the reader can tell that Chloe –
The development of ideas is effective because the writer uses details and examples
that are specific and well chosen, adding substance to the essay.
Specific, well-chosen details add substance to the narrative. These details
contribute significantly to the writer’s portrayal of the experience and provide the
reader with a clear understanding of why this experience was meaningful.
(1) Which statement about education does this article best support?
(6) The reader can conclude that Rezwan believes that –
(7) The message conveyed by the photographs is that -(9) What is one message the author conveys in the story?
(13) What can the reader conclude about Chloe’s and Maneya’s mentoring
experiences?
(26) Stanza 4 is important to the poem because it shows –
(35) What is the central message the author presents in this selection?
Reading/Writing Connection 6th Grade Reading
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The essay is thoughtful and engaging. The writer develops the essay in a manner
that demonstrates a thorough understanding of the expository writing task. The
writer may choose to use his/her unique experiences or view of the world as a
basis for writing or to connect ideas in interesting ways.
The narrative is thoughtful and engaging. The writer demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the writing task by establishing a realistic situation, providing
plausible motivations for behavior or actions, and revealing changes or insights that
developed as a result of the experience.
The writer’s word choice is purposeful and precise. It reflects a keen awareness of
the expository purpose and maintains a tone appropriate to the task. The word
choice strongly contributes to the quality and clarity of the essay.
The writer’s word choice is vivid and expressive. It reflects a keen awareness of the
narrative purpose. Effective word choice enables the writer to recreate the
experience in a way that conveys its importance or meaning.
Sentences are purposeful, varied, and well-controlled, enhancing the effectiveness
of the essay
Sentences are purposeful, varied, and well-controlled, enhancing the effectiveness
of the narrative.
(21) Read this sentence from the selection. [On its own, a colony of 100 frogs has little
chance of long-term survival.] The author included this sentence most likely to –
(25) In line 24, why does the speaker say that he found “sweetness and pride” in the
first tomato?
(29) Which line from the poem presents a problem that the speaker cannot control?
(36) Read the following sentence from the selection. [The stinging memory of Becky’s
smirks made me determined to beat her.] From this sentence, the reader can conclude
that –
(46) Which evidence does Tyree give to support the claim that Nomad is a unique
robot?
(48) The photograph after paragraph 17 helps readers -(12) The author’s choice of first-person narrator helps the reader –
(14) In paragraphs 4 and 5, what does Chloe’s conversation with Maneya reveal about
Chloe?
(17) Read the following sentence from paragraph 7. [“I’m trying my best to help teach
this stuff, but the kids look at me like I’ve just arrived from another planet.”] This
sentence helps illustrate Chloe’s –
(27) Read these lines from the poem. [I felt beaten splashing out to see / How little
garden was left to me.]
The poet uses these lines to show that the speaker feels –
(30) What can the reader tell about the narrator’s feelings for Cowboy?
(34) When Cowboy and the narrator won the race, people were -(4) As used in paragraph 2, what does the word periodic mean?
(10) In paragraph 13, the word relented means -(19) In paragraph 8, the word resistant means -(23) Look at the dictionary entry below. Which definition of the word measures is used
in paragraph 10?
(31) In paragraph 5, the author uses the phrase “shown the gate” to illustrate that the
narrator was –
(33) Read the following dictionary entry. Which definition matches the word run as it is
used in paragraph 10?
(44) Look at the dictionary entry below. Which definition best fits the way the word
remote is used in paragraph 9?
(3) Read these sentences from paragraph 7. [“it was difficult for my parents to send me
to school, but now all the facilities are in the village. I have started planning form my
daughter’s future education. I want to see her become a doctor or engineer.”]
This quotation shows that –
(17) Read the following sentence from paragraph 7. [“I’m trying my best to help teach
Reading/Writing Connection 6th Grade Reading
this stuff, but the kids look at me like I’ve just arrived from another planet.”] This
sentence helps illustrate Chloe’s –
(21) Read this sentence from the selection. [On its own, a colony of 100 frogs has little
chance of long-term survival.] The author included this sentence most likely to –
(27) Read these lines from the poem. [I felt beaten splashing out to see / How little
garden was left to me.]
The poet uses these lines to show that the speaker feels –
(36) Read the following sentence from the selection. [The stinging memory of Becky’s
smirks made me determined to beat her.] From this sentence, the reader can conclude
that –