What's the Big Idea about Water? Text Set Guide and Questions
Topics Covered: water, ecosystems, climate, water conservation
Learning Goal for the Text Set: Explain what a section heading can tell readers about the information in that section.
Text 1: “What's the Big Idea about Water?: Living Things & Ecosystems Need Water”
Learning Goal for Text 1: Explain how a section heading is connected to the main idea of that section.
Questions for Text 1:
1. What do all living things need to survive?
2. This article is divided into two sections. What is the heading of the first section in this article?
3. What is the main idea of the first section in this article?
4. Think about the heading of the first section in this article and the main idea of that section. How is the section
heading connected to the main idea? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Key Vocabulary for Text 1: adapt, fresh, exist
Text 2: “What's the Big Idea about Water? : Water's Impact on the Earth”
Learning Goal for Text 2: Explain how a section heading is connected to the main idea of that section.
Questions for Text 2:
1. What does lots of water shape over time?
2. This article is divided into three sections. What is the heading of the third section in this article?
3. What is the main idea of the third section in this article?
4. Think about the heading of the third section in this article and the main idea of that section. How is the section
heading connected to the main idea? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Key Vocabulary for Text 2: shape, cycle, form
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Text 3: “What's the Big Idea about Water? : Protecting Our Water”
Learning Goal for Text 3: Explain how a section heading is connected to the main idea of that section.
Questions for Text 3:
1. Name three purposes people use water for.
2. This article is divided into two sections. What is the heading of the first section in this article?
3. What is the main idea of the first section in this article?
4. Think about the heading of the first section in this article and the main idea of that section. How is the section
heading connected to the main idea? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Key Vocabulary for Text 3: technology, damage (v.), species
Questions for the Entire Text Set
The following questions should be completed after all the texts have been read and the questions for all the texts have
been answered.
Questions for the Text Set:
1. Compare the heading of the first section in the first article with the heading of the third section in the second article.
Support your answer with evidence from the texts.
2. Explain what a section heading can tell readers about the information in that section. Support your answer with
evidence from the texts.
3. Of all the section headings in these articles, which one tells readers the most about the information in that section?
Support your answer with evidence from the text with the section heading you chose.
© 2015 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.