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Using Several Sources Efficiently

A 40-minute Grade 5 lesson on drawing on information from several print or digital sources to answer a question efficiently.

Using Several Sources Efficiently is a free 40-minute Grade 5 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RI.5.7 — find an answer fast by drawing on several sources at once. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 5
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RI.5.7

Grade 5 · Reading: Informational Text

RI.5.7

Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

Objective

Students will be able to split a multi-part question, predict which of several sources answers each part, take only what is needed from each, and record where every answer came from.

Students are successful when they can

  • Splits the question into parts before opening any source.
  • Names the source for each part and the line it came from.
  • Names at least one source deliberately not read, and why.
  • Combines two facts from one source when a part needs it, e.g. price and free-adult rule.

What you need

  • The four Riverside Nature Center sources (hours table, price list, history article, activities leaflet), written out in the Teach section
  • A four-column record: Part / Source / Answer / Line
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — split the question

5 min
  1. Write the question: Can our class of 28 students and 3 adults visit Riverside Nature Center on a Tuesday in May, how much will it cost, and can we go pond dipping?
  2. Pairs split it into parts. Expected: (1) Is it open on a Tuesday in May? (2) What will it cost? (3) Can we go pond dipping in May?
  3. Show only the four source titles — Opening Hours; Group Prices; Fifty Years of Riverside; What You Can Do — and ask pairs to predict the source for each part before seeing any content.
“Before you open anything, decide what you are looking for and where it probably lives. That plan is what makes you fast.”

Teach — efficiency is choosing not to read

13 min
  1. Show Source A, Opening Hours: "March to October: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 to 4:30. November to February: weekends only. Closed Mondays." Part 1: yes, open on a Tuesday in May. Record: A, line 1.
  2. Show Source B, Group Prices: "Students $4 each. Adults $6 each. One adult free for every 10 students." Part 2 needs two lines combined: 28 × $4 = $112; 28 students earn 2 free adults, so 1 adult pays $6. Total $118. Record: B, all three lines.
  3. Show Source D, What You Can Do: "Pond dipping: April to September, groups of up to 30 students, book two weeks ahead. Bird hide: open all year." Part 3: yes, and we must book two weeks ahead. Record: D, line 1.
  4. Hold up Source C, Fifty Years of Riverside — a full page on the center's opening in 1975, the 1998 flood and the new visitor center. Ask: which part does this answer? None. Set it aside unread.
  5. Point out the trap: Source C mentions "the pond was dug in 1975." It is about the pond and answers nothing about pond dipping in May.
  6. Write on the board: On topic is not the same as useful.
“You do not have to read all four. You have to know which one to open, take what you need, write down where it came from, and close it.”

Guided practice — three parts, four sources

12 min
  1. Give pairs a new question: Our class of 20 students and 2 adults wants to visit on a Sunday in March. When can we arrive, what will it cost, and what can we do?
  2. Expected: A — open Sunday in March, 9:30 to 4:30. B — 20 × $4 = $80; 20 students earn 2 free adults, so adults cost nothing; total $80. D — pond dipping does not start until April, so the bird hide is the only activity listed. C is not needed.
  3. Pairs fill the four-column record as they find each answer and time themselves.
  4. Share times. Ask the fastest pair how they did it; the answer to fish for is that they never opened Source C.
  5. Ask: which part needed the most care? Part 3 — pond dipping is on the leaflet but not in March, so reading the title of the activity is not enough.

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the printable sources page alone. The source extracts are on the sheet.
  2. They must record the source for every answer and name any source they skipped.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask: which source did you skip today, and how did you know you could? Take two answers.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Reads all four sources start to finish before answering anything, including the full history article.

Why: Reading everything has always been praised as thorough, and the student has no plan for what each source is for.

Fix: Predict first: the student writes the likely source for each part before opening any. Reading everything is a missing plan, not thoroughness.

Answers from the first on-topic source: "Yes, pond dipping, because the pond was dug in 1975."

Why: The source mentions the right word, so it feels like the answer is in it.

Fix: Ask: does this line answer this part of the question? Underline the part, then the line, and check they match.

Gets the cost as $130, charging all 3 adults $6 each.

Why: The student found the price line and stopped reading the source once one answer appeared.

Fix: Before recording, reread the whole source you chose — it is short. Efficiency means skipping the wrong sources, not the end of the right one.

If they are not there yet

  • Use two sources (hours and prices) and a two-part question.
  • Give the source for each part and ask only for the answer and the line.
  • Work the cost with the student on a number line: 28 students, two full tens, two free adults.

If they finish early

  • Answer a part that needs two sources combined: "Can 31 students all go pond dipping in one group?" (D says up to 30, so no).
  • Write a question that only Source C can answer, and explain why no one planning a visit would need it.
  • Rank the four sources for a different purpose — writing a history of the center — and explain why the order changes.

Exit ticket

Using the four Riverside sources, can a class of 22 students and 2 adults go pond dipping on a Saturday in October? Name the source for each part, and the sources you skipped.

What to look for: Open Saturdays in October (A), but pond dipping runs April to September (D), so no; B and C skipped. Reading all four means predict-first needs enforcing; "yes" from A alone means the student stopped after one part.

Printable practice for RI.5.7

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Using Several Sources Efficiently

How long does the Using Several Sources Efficiently lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Using Several Sources Efficiently teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 — RI.5.7, Reading: Informational Text for Grade 5: “Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.” In plain terms, find an answer fast by drawing on several sources at once.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The four Riverside Nature Center sources (hours table, price list, history article, activities leaflet), written out in the Teach section, a four-column record: Part / Source / Answer / Line and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: reads all four sources start to finish before answering anything, including the full history article; answers from the first on-topic source: "Yes, pond dipping, because the pond was dug in 1975." and gets the cost as $130, charging all 3 adults $6 each. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Using the four Riverside sources, can a class of 22 students and 2 adults go pond dipping on a Saturday in October? Name the source for each part, and the sources you skipped.” Open Saturdays in October (A), but pond dipping runs April to September (D), so no; B and C skipped. Reading all four means predict-first needs enforcing; "yes" from A alone means the student stopped after one part. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Using Several Sources Efficiently?

Yes — 1 printable RI.5.7 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Using Several Sources Efficiently free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RI.5.7 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.