Note-Taking and Paraphrasing for Information Writing — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 6 informative writing worksheet.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 6 · English · Informative WritingNote-Taking and Paraphrasing for Information Writing — Answers
Part A: Read 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.)
Answer: To lay eggs.
Answer: Any three of: clean the hive, feed the young, build wax comb, collect nectar and pollen.
- Awhich flowers smell best
- Bhow far away the flowers are
- Cwhich way to fly
- Dhow many bees to send
Answer: how far away the flowers are
Paragraph 3: the length of the waggle tells them how far away the flowers are.
- ADrones collect most of the colony's food.
- BA colony has many queens.
- CMost bees in a colony are female workers.
- DThe queen lays eggs only in winter.
Answer: Most bees in a colony are female workers.
Paragraph 2 says most of the other bees are female worker bees.
Part B: Take good notes
Good notes are short. They use key words, numbers and symbols, not whole sentences copied from the source.
- AHoneybees live in large groups called colonies. A single colony can contain tens of thousands of bees, but only one of them is the queen.
- Bcolonies: tens of thousands of bees; 1 queen; queen lays eggs (1000+ a day in spring and summer)
- Cbees are interesting
- Dqueen
Answer: colonies: tens of thousands of bees; 1 queen; queen lays eggs (1000+ a day in spring and summer)
Good notes use key words and numbers, not whole copied sentences, and still hold all the important facts.
- Awaggle dance = worker shows where flowers are; direction = which way; length = how far
- BWhen a worker finds a good patch of flowers, she returns to the hive and performs a waggle dance.
- Cdancing bees!!
- Dflowers far away
Answer: waggle dance = worker shows where flowers are; direction = which way; length = how far
It records what the dance does and both pieces of information it gives.
Part C: Paraphrase or copy?
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.
- AWorkers clean the hive, feed the young, build wax comb and collect nectar and pollen from flowers.
- BWorkers clean the hive, feed the young, build wax comb and gather nectar and pollen from flowers.
- CWorker bees have many jobs, from caring for young bees and keeping the hive clean to gathering food from flowers.
- DWorkers are the most important bees.
Answer: Worker bees have many jobs, from caring for young bees and keeping the hive clean to gathering food from flowers.
It keeps the meaning but uses new words and a new sentence structure. Choice B changes only one word, which is still copying. Choice D adds an opinion that is not in the source.
- ADrones, the male bees, do not gather any food for the colony.
- BMale bees, known as drones, do not collect food.
- CDrones collect a little food.
- DMale bees, called drones, do not collect food.
Answer: Drones, the male bees, do not gather any food for the colony.
It keeps the meaning and changes the words and order. B swaps only one word; C changes the meaning; D is copied.
Part D: From notes to sentences
Write full sentences using only the notes. Do not look back at the source.
Answer: For example: Drones are the male bees in a colony. Instead of gathering food, their main purpose is to mate with a queen from a different colony.
Answer: For example: Although a colony may hold tens of thousands of bees, it has just one queen.
Part E: Paraphrase a sentence
Rewrite each sentence in your own words and sentence structure. Keep every fact accurate.
Answer: For example: Laying eggs is the queen's most important task. In the warmer months, she may produce over a thousand eggs every day.
Answer: For example: Other bees learn which way to go from the direction of the dance, and they work out the distance from how long the waggle lasts.
Part F: Your turn
Model answer: A honeybee colony is a busy, well-ordered community in which every bee has a role. At its heart is a single queen, whose main task is to lay eggs, sometimes over a thousand in one day. The great majority of the colony are female workers, which keep the hive clean, care for the young, make wax comb and gather nectar and pollen. Male bees, known as drones, do not gather food. When a worker discovers a good source of flowers, she uses a waggle dance to show the others which direction to fly and how far to travel.
Success criteria:
- Topic sentence states the main idea
- At least four accurate facts from the source
- Written in own words and sentence structures (no copied sentences)
- Present tense and formal, factual voice
- Four to six well-punctuated sentences
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.