What Each Text Contributes is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on identifying what one text supplies that another does not, aligned to Common Core standard RI.5.9. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 23 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
23 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.
What Each Text Contributes
RI.5.9
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.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. How is this text's argument like the one about canals?
2. How does this text's ending differ from the canal text's?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Can You Do Two Things at Once?
People say they multitask. Mostly they do not.
The brain can run two tasks together only if at least one is automatic. Walking and talking works because walking is automatic for an adult. Reading and listening to speech does not, because both need the same language system.
What feels like multitasking is usually rapid switching. Each switch costs time — a fraction of a second to disengage and re-engage — and the costs add up. In experiments, people doing two tasks alternately take substantially longer in total than doing them one after the other, and make more errors.
They also do not notice. Switching feels efficient because you are busy the whole time.
The practical conclusion is unpopular but consistent: for anything demanding, doing one thing at a time is faster.
1. How does its conclusion differ from the sleep text's?
2. How is this text's structure like the sleep text's?
LessonPrint · RI.5.9 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Each Text Contributes
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Both show that reach and compatibility beat a technically better option. 2. This states its general conclusion outright; the canal text ends on an observation about holidaymakers.
2.1. This one ends with practical advice; the sleep text ends by naming a group the evidence is ignored for. 2. Both weigh claims against evidence and reject one that is widely believed.
Questions about What Each Text Contributes
What does the What Each Text Contributes worksheet cover?
It practises identifying what one text supplies that another does not — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core RI.5.9: Combine several texts on one topic into knowledgeable writing. 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 What Each Text Contributes practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9 — RI.5.9, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
What Each Text Contributes is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on RI.5.9, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does What Each Text Contributes 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 What Each Text Contributes can I print?
25 versions, of which 23 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is What Each Text Contributes free to print and photocopy?
Yes. What Each Text Contributes, 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.
More practice for RI.5.9
Combine several texts on one topic into knowledgeable writing.