Week: 28 - Day 4
Date:________ Start Time:______
INDEX:
Grade - 6
End Time:______
Comprehension Score: ____/14
Writing Score: ____/ 4
Vocabulary Score: ____/ 8
A. Comprehension – Read the following passage.
Your classmate Jack is giving a speech about what he is planning to do this summer. He is planning a trip
to Australia with his sister Zoey to visit their cousin, Maria, and he and his sister have been doing some
additional research at the library to plan for their trip:
Zoey and I are planning on visiting our cousin, Maria, in Sydney, Australia, this summer. So,
we went to the library to research the place often called “The Land Down Under.” We were very
excited to start researching the language, things to do, the animal life, and Australia’s greatest
invention. Zoey and I feel that after researching these topics, we will be well prepared to visit
Australia.
Zoey and I decided that if we are going to visit another country, we should become familiar
with the language. To our surprise, Australians speak English, but some words mean different
things. First, we learned that instead of “hello,” Australians say g’day. Also, instead of “friend,” they
say mate. So, if they wanted to say hello to someone, they would say “G’day, mate!” As we
researched, we learned that our cousin lives on a station, where she can raise her horses and
shepherd her jumbucks. Lastly, we learned that Australians call
cookies biscuits. The new words intimidated us a little bit, but we
realized that we would have our cousin there to help us.
Next, we decided we wanted to learn about what there was
to do in Sydney and the areas around it. We first discovered that we
could go to the Sydney Opera House to see a show. We also found
out that we could go to the Australian Zoo and see lots of exotic
animals. We learned that we could go see the Great Barrier Reef,
which is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.
The next thing we wanted to learn about was the type of animals that live in Australia. We
already knew that kangaroos were from Australia, but we had no idea what else we might encounter.
We learned that koalas, wallabies, and platypuses are native to Australia. There are also animals
that we had never heard of before. The first was a dingo, which is actually a medium-sized dog. The
next was a bilby, which is a marsupial that is like a small rabbit. Another animal from Australia is the
sugar glider, which is like a flying squirrel. There are also other animals in Australia, like the great
white shark, the cockatoo, and the Tasmanian devil.
Finally, Zoey and I wanted to learn about the boomerang, which was invented in Australia.
The boomerang is a bent or curved piece of tough wood that is flat on one side and curved on the
other. When the thrower throws the boomerang, the air flows over the two sides differently, which
causes the boomerang to spin, and the spinning causes the boomerang to come back to the
thrower. We also learned that there are boomerang tournaments all around the world, and that it has
grown to be a very popular sport.
After researching at the library that day, Zoey and I felt better prepared to visit Maria in
Sydney, and we couldn’t wait to explore “Down Under.” That evening, we emailed Maria and told her
how excited we are excited to visit her station and see her jumbucks. We also told her that we want
to visit the Australian Zoo and look for native animals. We even concluded the email with “G’day
mate.” I know Maria will be impressed.
E6_sample2.docx
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Week: 28 - Day 4
Grade - 6
INDEX:
Answer the following questions about the speech.
1. What was the purpose of Jack’s speech to the class?
a) to inform
c) to motivate
b) to entertain
d) to persuade
2-3. How did the audience benefit from Jack’s speech? Give an example of something the audience
learned.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Put Jack and Zoey’s research process in order from A-H.
4. ________
Jack and Zoey went to the library.
5. ________
Jack and Zoey researched Australia’s animals.
6. ________
They emailed their cousin Maria about what they learned.
7. ________
They learned that Australians speak English too.
8. ________
Jack and Zoey looked up things to do in Australia.
9. ________
Jack and Zoey discovered dingoes and sugar gliders.
10. ________
Jack and Zoey researched the boomerang.
11. ________
They researched the language in Australia.
12-13. What was the main idea in Paragraph 2? Underline the sentence which tells you the main idea.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
14. If station is like the American word for “farm,” what can the audience safely assume a jumbuck is?
a) a building
c) a food
b) an animal
d) a vehicle
E6_sample2.docx
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Week: 28 - Day 4
Grade - 6
INDEX:
B. Writing – Topic Sentences – Write a possible topic sentence for the following paragraphs based on
the details given. Make sure it states the main idea.
1-2. When I was in kindergarten, I initially wanted to be an astronaut. When I was in junior high school, I
wanted to be a doctor. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in college, I really
wanted to play guitar in a band. Today, I'm 35, and I'm a firefighter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3-4. Trash and paper were scattered everywhere. The school, which could have been very attractive despite
its age, was dingy and dirty beyond belief. A window-pane was broken out of the main door, and the door itself
led into a dark, forboding hall. As I walked down the hall, I noticed the messy bulletin board and graffiti
everywhere.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
C. Vocabulary – Identify which of your vocabulary words best acts as an antonym to each of the
underlined words or phrases in the following sentences.
budge
anomaly
gargantuan
nuisance
flourishing
initially
Kailee keeps (1) confusing the fish food for
flower fertilizer and now all of my roses are
(2) decaying!
distinguishing
comprised
1. ___________________
2. ___________________
writing
on the
flourishing.
Nowith,
one but
greeted me when I entered the outer office,
although a receptionist
My
nephew
is awall
(3)was
joy to
spend time
3. ___________________
was
sitting
there
noisily
chewing
a
huge
wad
of
gum
and
putting
on
fingernail
polish,
quite
the anomaly!
now my pie is (4) missing its top crust, and I think
he took it!
4. ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
(5) Lastly, after all that moving we’ve done today,
5. ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I think we should (6) rest a while.
6. ___________________
Walt tends to leave his action figures’
accessories everywhere, so stepping all over
7. ___________________
(7) tiny toy shoes is a (8) normal occurrence in
this house.
8. ___________________
E6_sample2.docx
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