Grade 5

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Viewing for Assessment

Some tests ask you to watch a video and respond to it in a paragraph or essay. Often, you'll need to refer to details from the video and any readings you have done. The following activities will help you practice viewing for assessment.

Carefully watch this video.

Pay close attention as you watch this video about monarchs and milkweed, produced by the federal government.

Watch the video "Monarchs and Milkweed"

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Respond to the video.

Answer the questions to test your understanding of the video “Monarchs and Milkweed.” Circle the letter of the best answer.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing an Essay for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write an essay response to articles you have closely read. The following activity will help you practice.

Analyze an essay prompt.

Read the following prompt, answer the PAST questions, write a focus statement, and list details.

  1. Read the writing prompt.
  2. Imagine that your teacher has assigned you to write an explanatory essay about the lives of monarch butterflies. You will be using the sources in this unit. Focus your thinking about monarch butterflies and create an essay. Include details from the sources to support your ideas.

  3. Answer the PAST questions.
  4. Purpose?

    Audience?

    Subject?

    Type?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing a Paragraph for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write a paragraph in response to sources you have read or viewed. The following activity will help you practice responding.

Analyze the writing prompt.

Read the following prompt, answer the PAST questions, write a topic sentence, and list details.

  1. Read the writing prompt.
  2. You have just read three articles and watched a video about monarch butterflies. Write a paragraph that explains how the additional sources expand your understanding from Source 1. Include at least two examples, naming the title and author of each source that you use.

  3. Answer the PAST questions.
  4. Purpose?

    Audience?

    Subject?

    Type?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Practicing for Assessment

Reading and writing tests measure important learning skills. You can do your best on such tests by reading and writing every day. You can also get a better score if you practice for assessment.

How Can I Practice for Assessment?

Writing a Process Essay
© Thoughtful Learning 2016

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The best way to practice for a reading and writing assessment is to take a practice test. This unit asks you to closely read information and write about it, just as you will do on actual assessments.

You’ll find interesting articles to read and respond to. You’ll also get to watch a video. In the end, you’ll need to take the information you discover and use it to write an informational essay of your own.

If you would like more help with close reading and informational writing, see the unit “Reading and Writing for Assessment.”

Reading a Practice Assessment

Some tests ask you to closely read and respond to explanatory articles and then use them to write an essay. One technique for reading closely is SQ3R:

  • Survey the headings, illustrations, beginning, and ending of the text.
  • Question what the text is about and what you expect to learn from it.
  • Read the text carefully.
  • Recite the main points covered in the text.
  • Review the material, thinking about how it relates to other things you have learned.

Closely read source 1.

Use SQ3R to closely read the following text.

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Source 1

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing On-Demand Essays

A writing assessment gives you a short time to write a response to a prompt.

You’ve read about the origin of pizza. What is your favorite food? How is it made? Why do you like it? Write an essay that names your favorite food, describes the ingredients, explains how it is made, and gives sensory details about it. Make your readers’ mouths water!

To do so, you should use a shortened form of the writing process:

Prewriting (5 Minutes)

Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose? Explain how it’s made

Audience? New person

Subject? A favorite food

Type? Essay

Write a focus statement.

Most Americans like tacos, but they haven’t had Mexican tacos.

List supporting details.

—Using cilantro, goat cheese, homemade white corn tortilla

—Making tortillas

—Cooking meat, cutting cilantro

—Putting taco together

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Analyzing Writing Prompts

Often tests contain writing prompts that you must respond to. Your first step is to understand the writing prompt. You can use the PAST questions:

  • Purpose? Why am I writing? (To explain? To demonstrate?)
  • Audience? Who will read my writing? (Tester? Classmates?)
  • Subject? What subject should I write about? (Games? Pizza?)
  • Type? What type of writing should I create? (Essay? Letter?)

Sample Writing Prompt

What animal sayings do you use? Think of three different sayings and what they mean. Think of how you might use them. Write an essay that explains what a saying is and names the three animal sayings you like most. Define each. Imagine you are explaining the sayings to someone who is learning English.

Answers to PAST Questions

  • Purpose?

    To explain the meaning of the sayings and give examples

  • Audience?

    A person who is learning English

  • Subject?

    Animal sayings

  • Type?

    Essay

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Understanding Vocabulary

When you read an unfamiliar word, you need to figure out its meaning based on how it is used. You can use the following context clues to guess a meaning.

Word parts

can reveal meaning.

A stop sign is an octagon.

(The prefix octa means “eight” and gon means “side,” so octagon must mean “eight sided.”)

Cause-and-effect

clues hint at meanings.

A good cardio workout gets your blood pumping.

(“Blood pumping” means cardio must have something to do with the heart.)

Definitions

in the text can help you understand.

Deer are herbivorous, eating just plants.

(Herbivorous means “eating just plants.”)

A series

groups an unknown word with known words.

The shelter had a tabby, a Siamese, and a calico.

(Since tabby and Siamese are cat breeds, calico must be a cat breed as well.)

Examples

give a specific version of a general idea.

The jacket was embellished with sequins and fringe.

(Sequins and fringe are decorations for a jacket, so embellished must mean “decorated.”)

Synonyms

have the same meaning as the unfamiliar word.

A suspension bridge hangs from cables.

(The word hangs is a synonym of the word suspension.)

Antonyms

have the opposite meaning as an unfamiliar word.

Herbivores eat plants, unlike carnivores.

(If the antonym herbivores refers to plant eaters, then carnivores must refer to meat eaters.)

Tone

reveals the writer’s thoughts about a word.

The pastoral landscape featured picnic blankets and children chasing kites.

(The presence of picnic blankets and children with kites means that pastoral must refer to a wide-open and pleasant landscape.)

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Finding Supporting Details

Each controlling sentence in a text is supported with different types of details. Note how the following focus statement is supported by different details.

Focus statement: Most people don’t give much thought to umbrellas, but these marvels of engineering have an interesting history.

Supporting Details

Example

Facts are ideas that can be proven true or false.

The first collapsible umbrella belonged to Wang Mang in China in 21 C.E.

Statistics are ideas expressed in numbers.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest umbrella is 56 feet wide and weighs 4,850 pounds.

Definitions tell what a word means.

The word umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning “shadow.” The word parasol comes from the Italian word para for “protecting against” and the word sole for “sun.”

Examples show how an idea works in specific situations.

Life guards, picnickers, and even the Pope use parasols to block the sun.

Descriptions tell what something looks, feels, smells, tastes, or sounds like.

Ancient Egyptians made umbrellas from palm fronds or giant feathers attached to central posts.

Anecdotes tell little stories to make a big point.

Umbrellas fell out of fashion when the umbrella-toting Neville Chamberlain became infamous for giving in to Hitler.

Quotations give the exact words of someone.

The politician Al Smith once noted, “The American people never carry an umbrella. They prepare to walk in eternal sunshine.”

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Understanding Controlling Sentences

As you read, watch for two types of controlling sentences:

A focus statement tells what an essay or article is about. It usually appears at the end of the first paragraph.

Many features of games make them powerful tools for learning.

A topic sentence tells what a paragraph is about. It usually appears at the start of a middle paragraph.

To start with, games are fun, and fun actually promotes learning.

Find controlling sentences.

In the following brief article, underline each controlling sentence.

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By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Closely Reading Nonfiction

To read closely, remember SQ3R—Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.

Survey, question, and read.

Use these instructions to closely read the following essay.

  1. Survey the text: Highlight the title, author, and headings.
  2. Question the topic and purpose: Write comments on the document.
  3. Read the text: Underline the focus statement and topic sentences.

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