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A Speaker's Reasons and Evidence is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on identifying what supports a speaker's point, aligned to Common Core standard SL.4.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 24 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 16 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 24 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.

A Speaker's Reasons and Evidence

SL.4.3

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What a Beaver Dam Does

A beaver does not build a dam for shelter. It builds one to make a pond, and it lives in a lodge in the pond. The dam raises the water so the lodge entrance stays underwater. A predator that cannot swim cannot get in. But the pond does far more than protect one family. Behind a dam, water slows, and slow water drops the silt it carries. Over years this builds rich wet ground. That ground holds water in a drought and holds it back in a flood. It supports plants, insects, amphibians and birds that were not there before. Where beavers have been reintroduced, the number of species in a valley typically rises within five years.

  1. 1. Quote the words that explain what slow water does.
  2. 2. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
  3. 3. The text says the pond does more than protect one family. What evidence supports that?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What a Coral Reef Is

A coral reef looks like rock and is built by animals. A coral polyp is a soft creature the size of a pinhead. It draws calcium from the sea water and builds a hard cup around itself. Millions of polyps, cup upon cup, become a reef. Inside each polyp live tiny algae. The algae make food from sunlight and pass most of it to the polyp. In exchange they get shelter and the polyp's waste. Neither could build a reef alone. When the water gets too warm, the polyps expel the algae. Without them the coral turns white and starves. That is what bleaching means. A reef takes centuries to build and can bleach in a single hot summer.

  1. 1. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
  2. 2. Quote the words that explain what the algae give the polyp.
  3. 3. The text says neither organism could build a reef alone. What evidence supports that?

LessonPrint · SL.4.3 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — A Speaker's Reasons and Evidence

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. "slow water drops the silt it carries". 2. To correct the idea that a dam is a beaver's house and explain what it does for a valley. 3. The wet ground it builds holds water in drought and flood and supports new plants, insects, amphibians and birds.
  2. 2.1. To explain what a reef is and why it is fragile — the last line makes the contrast explicit. 2. "The algae make food from sunlight and pass most of it to the polyp." 3. The algae make the food; the polyp makes the cup and gives them shelter.

More practice for SL.4.3

Pick out a speaker's reasons and evidence for each point.

Teaching this next? A Speaker's Reasons and Evidence is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to SL.4.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.