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Octopus Tricks: Evidence from an Article

Grade 4 writing: read an original article about octopuses and use facts from it as evidence to support claims and plan a short written response.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toW.4.9.b

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
11 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students find facts in an informational article that support a claim.
Students match claims to the details from the text that prove them.
Students use evidence from an article to plan a written claim and explanation.

How to use

Have students read the article, then answer the evidence questions while looking back at the text. Use the last three questions as a plan for a short paragraph with a claim and evidence.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

W.4.9.b

Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research, applying grade 4 reading standards to them.

Preview

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Name Date

Octopus Tricks: Evidence from an Article

Use facts from an article to support what you say.

Read the article

Read the article. You will use facts from it as evidence.

How an Octopus Stays Safe

1An octopus is a sea animal with a soft body and eight long arms. Each arm is covered with round suckers that grip and can even taste. An octopus lives in oceans around the world, often near rocky shores and coral reefs. It has no bones, so its body can bend and stretch in many ways. Its only hard part is a small beak, which it uses to bite its food. An octopus eats animals such as crabs, clams, and shrimp. It even has three hearts.

2Many animals, such as sharks and eels, hunt octopuses, so an octopus needs good ways to stay safe. Its soft body is one of them. An octopus can squeeze through any opening that is larger than its beak. This lets it slip into a narrow crack between rocks. There it rests in a hiding place called a den.

3An octopus also hides by changing how it looks. Special cells in its skin let it change color very quickly. It can turn brown to match a rock, or it can turn pale to match the sand. It can even raise bumps on its skin to look rough like coral. When an octopus blends in, a hungry hunter may swim right past it.

4Sometimes hiding does not work, and an octopus needs another trick. It can squirt a cloud of dark ink into the water. While the enemy is confused by the cloud, the octopus shoots a stream of water out of its body and jets away.

5Scientists also call the octopus a clever animal. In science labs, some octopuses have learned to unscrew the lid of a jar to reach the food inside. This shows that an octopus can learn new things. Octopuses also use their arms to touch and explore the things around them.

6With a soft body, skin that changes, and a cloud of ink, the octopus has many ways to stay out of danger.

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