Students learn how to research without copying. They read an original source text about honeybee colonies, answer questions to check understanding, pick out useful notes (key words, not whole sentences), tell a true paraphrase from copying or swapping a word or two, turn notes back into their own sentences and paraphrase whole sentences. They finish by writing a report paragraph from their notes alone.
Instant download · No sign-up · Free for personal, classroom and homeschool use
Curriculum: Australian Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.
Completed: Note-Taking and Paraphrasing for Information Writing
Ready for more? Move on to Year 7 English.
Year 6 students (typically ages 11–12) working on informative writing. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.
Yes. The PDF includes a full answer sheet with model answers and success criteria where there is more than one good answer. You can also view the answers online.
About 35 minutes for 13 questions. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.
No. Click Download Free PDF and it opens immediately. It is free for personal, classroom and homeschool use.
Explore more Year 6 english resources.
Success TutoringWorksheetsYear 6 · English · Informative WritingName
Date
Score /
Read, close the source, write from your notes, then check your facts against the source.
Read the source text carefully, then answer the questions.
Life in a Honeybee Colony
(1) Honeybees live in large groups called colonies. A single colony can contain tens of thousands of bees, but only one of them is the queen. The queen's main job is to lay eggs, and during spring and summer she can lay more than a thousand in a single day.
(2) Most of the other bees in the colony are female worker bees. Workers clean the hive, feed the young, build wax comb and collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Male bees, called drones, do not collect food. Their main role is to mate with a queen from another colony.
(3) Honeybees share information in a surprising way. When a worker finds a good patch of flowers, she returns to the hive and performs a "waggle dance". The direction of the dance tells the other bees which way to fly, and the length of the waggle tells them how far away the flowers are.
(Source text written for this worksheet.)
Good notes are short. They use key words, numbers and symbols, not whole sentences copied from the source.
To paraphrase is to write the same information in your own words and your own sentence structure. Swapping one or two words is still copying.
Preview — the PDF contains the full resource and answer sheet.
Students write an explanation text that describes how a natural process or system works, such as the water cycle, how bees make honey or…
Explains how Year 6 students structure and write an information report: the classification statement, description paragraphs with…
Worksheet · Year 7 · Informative Writing · Level 2 · Standard
Worksheet · Year 7 · Informative Writing · Level 2 · Standard
Worksheet · Year 4 · Informative Writing · Level 2 · Standard
Worksheet · Year 4 · Informative Writing · Level 2 · Standard
Free to print and share for personal, classroom and homeschool use. Please don't resell. Spotted an error? Let us know.