MINI SET

TEKS ALIGNED MIDDLE SCHOOL FREEBIE

 STAAR Question Answer Key & Breakdown
(New 2017 Adopted TEKS)
Task Cards Mini Set
Card Reading Topic TEKS Answer

Level
Inference 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) C
1 Lexile: NA
6th-8th Grade Inference 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) D
Text Evidence 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) Answers will vary.

Lexile: 950L Inference 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) A

2 5th-6th Grade Inference 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) B
Generate Questions 6.5(B), 7.5(B), 8.5(B) Answers will vary.

Lexile: 910L Key Ideas 6.5(G), 7.5(G), 8.5(G) C

3 5th Grade Character 6.7(B), 7.7(B), 8.7(B) B
Prediction 6.5(C), 7.5(C), 8.5(C) Answers will vary.

Key Ideas 6.5(G), 7.5(G), 8.5(G) D

4 Evidence 6.8(E)(ii), 7.8(E),(ii), 8.8(E),(ii) D
Author’s Purpose 6.9(A), 7.9(A), 8.9(A) Answers will vary.

Lexile: 1060L Summary 6.6(D), 7.6(D), 8.6(D) C

5 6th-8th Grade Key Ideas 6.5(G), 7.5(G), 8.5(G) C
Personal Connection 6.6(A), 7.6(A), 8.6(A) Answers will vary.

Summary 6.6(D), 7.6(D), 8.6(D) A

6 Key Ideas 6.5(G), 7.5(G), 8.5(G) C
Personal Connection 6.6(A), 7.6(A), 8.6(A) Answers will vary.

Lexile: 950L Claim 6.8(E)(i), 7.8(E)(i), 8.8(E)(i) C

7 5th-6th Grade Author’s Purpose 6.9(A), 7.9(A), 8.9(A) C
Text Evidence 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) Answers will vary.

Lexile: NA Inference 6.5(F), 7.5(F), 8.5(F) A

8 6th-8th Grade Compare 6.6(B), 7.6(B), 8.6(B) C
Personal Connection 6.6(A), 7.6(A), 8.6(A) Answers will vary.

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 Inference
Excerpt from Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Evidently, there was a disturbing quality

in the sound that Sabor heard,
something that inspired a certain
Based on details in the excerpt,
the reader can conclude that
Sabor is -

A a pet bear
1
restlessness, if not actual apprehension, B the pack leader
though she could not be sure as yet that C a mother lion
it boded ill. It might be her great lord D the lion cub
returning, but it did not sound like the
movement of a lion, certainly not like a The reader can infer that -
lion dragging a heavy kill. She glanced
at her cub, breathing as she did so a A the cub will be taken
plaintive whine. There was always the B someone is hunting Sabor
fear that some danger menaced him, C there is nothing to fear
this last of her little family, but she, Sabor, D there is danger coming
was there to defend him.
Short Answer: What text evidence
supports this inference?

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Inference
Excerpt from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

"I hate to think I've got to grow

up, and be Miss March, and
wear long gowns, and look as
Based on details in the excerpt, the
reader can conclude that the –

A characters are living in a war

2
B narrator is usually unhappy
prim as a China Doll! It's bad C characters are a close family
enough to be a girl, anyway,
D narrator hates all girls
when I like boy's games and
work and manners! I can't get The reader can infer that the narrator -
over my disappointment in not
being a boy. And it's worse than A would like to look like a boy
ever now, for I'm dying to go B wants the freedom boys have
and fight with Papa. And I can C thinks she is different
only stay home and knit, like a D does not want to grow up
poky old woman!"
Short Answer: What questions could you ask
to learn more about the narrator?

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Main Idea
Excerpt from Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Doctor Dolittle was very fond of animals and kept

many kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond
at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the
pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen
What is the main idea?

A Doctor Dolittle loves animals.

B Doctor Dolittle’s sister was worried
about his business.
3
closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow C Doctor Dolittle’s many pets drove
with a calf too, and an old lame horse—twenty-five away his patients.
years of age—and chickens, and pigeons, and two
D Doctor Dolittle had too many
lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets
animals at his house.
were Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the
baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.
Which of the following is true about
His sister used to grumble about all these animals and
Doctor Dolittle?
said they made the house untidy. And one day when
an old lady with rheumatism came to see the Doctor, A He is not a very good Doctor.
she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the
sofa and never came to see him anymore, but drove B He likes animals more than people.
every Saturday all the way to Oxenthorpe, another C He does not agree with his sister.
town ten miles off, to see a different doctor. Then his D He enjoys caring for people.
sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, “John,
how can you expect sick people to come and see Short Answer: What do you think will
you when you keep all these animals in the house?” happen next?

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Main Idea
Youth Voices by Ricardo

Plastic Pollution is a serious problem. Many times, the

plastic is polluting the Ocean. There are ways to
help like recycling, reusing plastic, and not using
single-use plastic. However, I believe people should
The main idea is that -
A the main pollution
problem is single-use plastic
B the overuse of plastic is a huge
problem
4
reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use.
The first thing we can do is “refuse any single-use C the earth needs us to use less
plastics that we don’t need” (Hutchinson 2). There plastic
are a lot of single-use plastics that we don’t need. D there are ways for people to use
For example, water bottles, plastic bags, food less plastic
wrappings like sandwich bags, bubble wrap for
packaging, and utensils like forks, spoons, knives, The details support the idea that -
and cups. All these have alternatives or “alternative
versions of those products” (Hutchinson 2). You can A plastic is bad for the Ocean
easily use a reusable water bottle like a hydroflask. B people do not need plastic
You can use reusable grocery bags, paper bags,
old newspaper, foam, metal utensils, and reusable C there is not enough plastic
cups. In 2015 alone, 448 million tons of plastic was D there is too much plastic
produced around the world (Anastasia 1). By using
alternatives, we’re already reducing the amount of Short Answer: What is the author’s
single-use plastic being thrown out. main purpose?
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 5
Summarizing
Excerpt from Dracula by Bram Stocker
What is the best summary of the
Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel excerpt?
Land rose mighty slopes of forest up to the lofty
A The narrator and his companions were
steeps of the mountain themselves. Right and
speechless by the beauty of the
left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun
falling full upon them and bringing out all the mountains.
glorious colors of this beautiful range, deep B The hills and mountains were stunning
blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, and full of color.
green and brown where grass and rock C The mountains were an amazing sight
mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged to see as they came into view on the
rock and pointed crags, till these were narrator’s journey.
themselves lost in the distance, where the
D The mountains were tall, colorful jagged
snowy peaks rose grandly. Here and there
and full of snow.
seemed mighty rifts in the mountains, through
which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now The excerpt is mainly about the -
and again the white gleam of falling water.
One of my companions touched my arm as we A hills C mountains
swept round the base of a hill and opened up B view D water
the lofty, snow-covered peak of a mountain,
which seemed, as we wound on our serpentine Short Answer: Describe a view of nature
way, to be right before us. you have experienced.
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Summarizing
Youth Voices by Phill

Are you far away from your grandchildren and

often want to connect with them on social
networking sites? Do you feel less confident in
understanding the ways to protect yourself from
Which of the following is the best
summary?
A Social media may be a great
way to connect with people,
but this might put you at risk since
online companies, like Facebook, are
6
online scams? Or have you ever been victimized selling user information.
due to demographics? Then you are not alone. B People need to be more cautious
Although social media is a great way to stay in about using social media because their
touch with family and friends, all this comes at a identity might be stolen.
price. Online privacy is often debated to be
scarcer than ever as ads have new possibilities C Companies like Facebook are making
and have started to risk the online privacy of people uneasy about using social
many, including seniors. Zuckerberg, the creator media because they are worried their
of Facebook, recently faced accusations information will be sold.
surrounding online privacy and data theft. The The excerpt is mainly about -
allegations sparked a lot of conversations,
especially after knowing that the gathered A social media C online scams
information was later sold to advertisers. Baby B Facebook D hackers
boomers are not familiar with the trends of social
media and the internet, making them the easiest Short Answer: Do you feel it is safe to use
target for hackers and snoopers. social media?

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 What idea is supported by

7
Informational Text the information throughout
Excerpt from How They Croaked By Georgia Bragg
the text?
In 1827, Beethoven got pneumonia, and he couldn't shake it. His
stomach was killing him. He couldn't go to the bathroom A The hospital did all it
(chamber pot); his skin was the color of a banana, and blood could to save Beethoven.
dripped out of his mouth. Then he got dropsy. That's when the
fluid inside your body that's supposed to get out, can't. Very B Beethoven was always in poor
quickly, Beethoven's body filled up with rotting fluid. He got huge. health.
His stomach bloated, and the skin stretched across it tight as a C The doctors had little medical
balloon. A doctor in 1827 didn't know much more than a doctor knowledge.
in the Middle Ages, so Beethoven's doctors figured all that
D Pneumonia ended up killing
Beethoven needed was a drain to get the liquid out. They took
Beethoven.
him to the hospital. But back then, half the people who went into
the hospital came out dead. At the hospital, a hole was drilled
The author most likely included the
into Beethoven's stomach, and then they stuck a hose in it.
gory details about Beethoven’s
Beethoven experienced the most painful day of his entire life.
hospital visits to -
Awake and without pain medicine, Beethoven watched forty
cups of white pus-filled gunk flow out of his belly—enough to fill
A persuade
ten-quart bottles. This was before stitches, so his doctor plugged
the hole with some rags and sent Beethoven home. The gunk B inform
continued to leak out of the hole in Beethoven's stomach. But his C entertain
belly got even bigger than before they had taken him to the D describe
hospital. He went back to the hospital three more times. His
doctor reinserted the hose into the same hole each time. And, Short Answer: How did you decide
no surprise, the hole got infected. the author’s purpose?

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Informational Text

8
Excerpt from American Heroines By Kay Bailey Hutchison
Mary Austin didn't grow up dreaming of a life in Texas. As a child in New Haven, The reader can
Connecticut, during the closing years of the eighteenth century, this daughter of a conclude that -
prominent mercantile family may have imagined faraway places but probably
expected to spend a comfortable life close to home. Mary was born in 1784, the A many decisions were
fourth of Elijah and Esther Phelps Austin's eight children. Her father helped develop made out of Mary’s control
the lucrative shipping trade between the young Republic and China, but when
Mary was ten years old, Elijah Austin died of yellow fever. Although the Austins B Mary has a strong will and
weren't plunged into poverty, Esther Austin couldn't afford to keep her family character
together, so Mary was sent to live with her uncle, Timothy Phelps, another C Horace only looked out for
prosperous New Haven merchant, and his family. In 1805, Mary Austin married himself
Horace Holley, a Yale graduate from Salisbury, Connecticut, who turned his back
on a promising legal career in New York to return to Yale and study divinity. His first D Mary had a hard upbringing
posting, at a Congregational church in the small Connecticut town of Greenfield
Hill, left Mary feeling isolated from the cultural life she craved. In 1808, Rev. Holley What do both Mary and Horace
was invited to serve as minister of Boston's Hollis Street Congregational Church, and have in common?
Mary and Horace jumped at the chance to become part of Boston's vibrant social
and intellectual world. Mary, whose first child, Harriette, was born that same year, A Their adventures in travels.
found the cultural atmosphere bracing, while Horace, whose religious ideas were
B Their love for their family.
growing increasingly liberal, quickly found himself quite at home among Boston's
philosophers and politicians. A serious thinker and impassioned speaker, Horace C The need for a social life.
rapidly gained a place for Mary and himself among New England's intellectual D A connection to the church.
elite. He was invited to join the Harvard University Board of Overseers, quite an
accomplishment for a "mere" Yale graduate, and when the Hollis Street church
closed down during the construction of a larger building, William Emerson, father of Short Answer: How would you feel
the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and minister of First Church, arranged for if you had to move from your
Horace to alternate as preacher there until Hollis Street reopened. At one dinner home?
party that included, among other guests, John Quincy Adams, Horace engaged
the former president in an argument about religion.

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Name: Date: Class:
Read the text on each task card and record your
answer to each question on the recording sheet below.
Card Multiple
Number
Choice Short Answer Responses
Answers

1
2

3
4
5
6
7
8

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