Text Evidence Practice

Name:

Date:

📖 Reading Passage

The Mysterious Footprints

Sarah woke up early on Saturday morning and looked out her bedroom window. Fresh snow had fallen during the night, covering everything in a thick white blanket. As she gazed across the backyard, something caught her eye. There were large, round footprints leading from the back fence to the old oak tree.

Sarah quickly got dressed and ran outside to investigate. The footprints were much bigger than her dad's boots and had a strange pattern. They didn't look like any shoe she had ever seen. Following the trail, Sarah noticed that the prints stopped right at the base of the oak tree, where several low branches had been broken.

When Sarah looked up into the tree, she gasped. There, sitting on a thick branch about three metres above the ground, was the biggest possum she had ever seen. It was grey and furry, with bright black eyes that seemed to sparkle in the morning sunlight. The possum looked down at Sarah for a moment, then scurried higher into the tree and disappeared among the leaves.

Sarah smiled to herself. The mystery was solved! She ran back inside to tell her family about her exciting discovery.

🔍 Finding Evidence Questions

Remember: Use evidence from the text to support your answers. Start each answer with "According to the text..." or "The text states that..."

1. What did Sarah see when she first looked out her window? Use evidence from the text in your answer.

2. How were the footprints different from normal shoe prints? Quote directly from the text to support your answer.

3. What evidence in the text shows that the possum had been climbing the tree?

4. How do you know the possum was large? Find two pieces of evidence from the text.

💭 Text Analysis

5. The author writes that Sarah "gasped" when she looked up into the tree. Using evidence from the text, explain why Sarah had this reaction.

6. At the end of the story, Sarah "smiled to herself" and said "The mystery was solved!" Use evidence from throughout the text to explain what mystery Sarah had been trying to solve.