A Speaker's Claims and Support is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on summarising claims and explaining what supports each, aligned to Common Core standard SL.5.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Between 1309 and 1814 the Thames froze hard enough to walk on at least twenty-four times. Since 1814 it has not once.
The usual explanation is that the climate has warmed. That is part of it, and not most of it.
Old London Bridge had nineteen arches on wide stone piers. The piers took up so much of the channel that the bridge acted as a weir, slowing the water upstream almost to a standstill. Still water freezes; moving water does not.
The river was also shallower and wider then, spreading over land that has since been embanked. Shallow water loses heat faster.
Old London Bridge was demolished in 1831. The embankments were built between 1862 and 1874. The river that flows through London now is narrower, deeper and faster than the one that froze — and it would not freeze in a colder winter than any of those.
1. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
2. Quote accurately the sentence that qualifies the usual explanation.
3. The text gives three reasons for the freezes. Identify them and say which is treated as least important.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Why the Rails Are That Far Apart
Standard gauge is 4 feet 8½ inches. It is a strange number, and the reason is historical rather than engineering.
Early railways were built by people who had built tramways for collieries, and those had used the wheel spacing of the carts already in use. Nobody chose it; it was inherited.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel did choose. He built the Great Western at 7 feet ¼ inch, and by most measures it was better: faster, steadier, and able to carry more.
He lost anyway. By the 1840s, more of the network was already standard gauge, and a train cannot run on a track it does not fit. Parliament settled it in 1846.
Between 1846 and 1892 the Great Western converted its entire route. The final conversion took a single weekend and about four thousand men.
The best design does not always win. The one that connects to everything else does.
1. The text makes two claims. Identify which evidence supports which.
2. Quote accurately the sentence that states why Brunel lost.
3. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
LessonPrint · SL.5.3 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — A Speaker's Claims and Support
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. To correct a common explanation — the second paragraph names it and downgrades it before giving the real causes. 2. "That is part of it, and not most of it." 3. The bridge as a weir, the shallow wide channel, and a colder climate — the climate is called "part of it, and not most of it".
2.1. That the gauge was inherited — the colliery carts. That compatibility wins — the 1846 Act and the conversion of the whole Great Western. 2. "By the 1840s, more of the network was already standard gauge, and a train cannot run on a track it does not fit." 3. To explain why a worse standard won — the final two lines state the general point.
Questions about A Speaker's Claims and Support
What does the A Speaker's Claims and Support worksheet cover?
It practises summarising claims and explaining what supports each — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core SL.5.3: Summarise a speaker's claims and say what supports each one. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does A Speaker's Claims and Support practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.3 — SL.5.3, in the Speaking & Listening domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
A Speaker's Claims and Support is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on SL.5.3, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does A Speaker's Claims and Support come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of A Speaker's Claims and Support can I print?
25 — one per pupil, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is A Speaker's Claims and Support free to print and photocopy?
Yes. A Speaker's Claims and Support, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach SL.5.3?
Yes — “Summarising a Speaker's Argument” is a 40-minute Grade 5 plan for SL.5.3, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. A Speaker's Claims and Support is the practice that follows it.
More practice for SL.5.3
Summarise a speaker's claims and say what supports each one.