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Weighing the Evidence is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on judging how well a claim is supported, aligned to Common Core standard RI.5.8. 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.

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Weighing the Evidence

RI.5.8

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Mill: The Local Paper, June 1980

Whately's Mill closed on Friday with the loss of 214 jobs, the largest single closure in the town since the war. The mill had run since 1868. At its height it employed more than 600. Mr Whately declined to say when he had known the closure was certain. The Chamber of Commerce has called for a public inquiry; the union has called the closure "predictable for two years". The council says a retraining fund will open in September. Four other textile mills within twenty miles have closed since 1975. Nobody the paper spoke to expected the site to be used for textiles again.

  1. 1. Two organisations react. Identify which reason belongs to which.
  2. 2. What is this report's purpose, and how does it differ from the accounts?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What Sleep Is For

Sleep is not switching off. Parts of the brain are busier asleep than awake. Two claims are well supported. The first is that sleep consolidates memory: during deep sleep, the day's experiences are replayed and moved from short-term storage into long-term. Interrupt deep sleep and recall of the previous day drops measurably. The second is that sleep clears waste. The spaces between brain cells widen during sleep, and fluid washes through, removing proteins that build up while awake. A third claim — that a particular number of hours suits everybody — is not supported. Need varies with age and between individuals, and self-reported sleep is unreliable. Teenagers are a special case. Their body clocks genuinely shift later at puberty, which is a biological fact rather than a preference, and school start times mostly ignore it.

  1. 1. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
  2. 2. Three claims are made. Identify which evidence supports which, and which has none.

LessonPrint · RI.5.8 · Set 25 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Weighing the Evidence

Set 25. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The Chamber of Commerce wants an inquiry; the union claims the closure was predictable for two years. 2. To record what happened and who said what — it reports the dispute rather than taking a side.
  2. 2.1. To separate what is well supported from what is not — each claim is labelled before its evidence. 2. Memory: the replay and the recall drop. Waste: the widening spaces and fluid. The fixed number of hours has no support and is rejected.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.5.8 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.