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Information Reports: Facts, Subheadings and Topic Sentences — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the 4th Grade informative writing worksheet.

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Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheet4th Grade · English · Informative Writing

Information Reports: Facts, Subheadings and Topic Sentences — Answers

Part A: Fact or opinion?

A fact can be checked and proved true. An opinion is what someone thinks or feels. Information reports use facts. Circle fact or opinion.

1.Octopuses have eight arms.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: fact

This can be checked and proved true.

2.Octopuses are the most amazing animals in the sea.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: opinion

Amazing is what someone thinks. Others may disagree.

3.An octopus has three hearts.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: fact

Scientists have checked this.

4.Octopuses look scary.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: opinion

Scary is a feeling, not something that can be proved.

5.An octopus can squirt ink to escape from predators.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: fact

This can be observed and checked.

6.Everyone should want an octopus as a pet.
  1. Afact
  2. Bopinion

Answer: opinion

Should tells you this is someone's view.

Part B: Sort the facts

An information report groups facts under subheadings. Circle the subheading each fact belongs under.

7.Octopuses eat crabs, clams and small fish.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Diet

This is about food.

8.An octopus has a soft body and no bones.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Appearance

This is about what an octopus looks like.

9.Octopuses live in oceans all around the world.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Habitat

This is about where octopuses live.

10.An octopus can hide by changing its skin to match the rocks around it.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Staying safe

This is about avoiding danger.

11.Many octopuses make dens in rocky cracks on the sea floor.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Habitat

This is about where octopuses live.

12.Each arm is covered in suckers.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Appearance

This is about what an octopus looks like.

13.An octopus squirts a cloud of ink to confuse an enemy.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Staying safe

This is about avoiding danger.

14.An octopus uses its sharp beak to crack open shells.
  1. AAppearance
  2. BHabitat
  3. CDiet
  4. DStaying safe

Answer: Diet

This is about how it eats its food.

Part C: Choose the topic sentence

A topic sentence starts a paragraph and tells the reader what the whole paragraph is about.

15.Facts for the Diet paragraph: Octopuses eat crabs, clams and small fish. Many hunt at night. They crack shells with a sharp beak. Which is the best topic sentence?
  1. AOctopuses are skilled hunters that eat many kinds of sea creatures.
  2. BI like octopuses.
  3. COctopuses have eight arms.
  4. DThis paragraph is about food.

Answer: Octopuses are skilled hunters that eat many kinds of sea creatures.

It gives the main idea that every fact in the paragraph supports.

16.Facts for the Habitat paragraph: Octopuses live in oceans all over the world. Many make dens in rocky cracks. Some live in very deep water. Which is the best topic sentence?
  1. AOctopuses squirt ink.
  2. BMy uncle saw an octopus once.
  3. COctopuses are found in oceans all over the world, from shallow rock pools to the deep sea.
  4. DCrabs live in the sea too.

Answer: Octopuses are found in oceans all over the world, from shallow rock pools to the deep sea.

It covers where octopuses live, which is what every fact is about.

Part D: Make it formal

Information reports are written in a formal, factual voice: no I think, no chatty words and no personal stories. Rewrite each sentence.

17.I think octopuses are super cool because they've got three hearts.

Answer: Octopuses have three hearts.

  1. Remove I think and opinion words such as super cool.
  2. Keep only the fact.
18.Last week I saw an octopus and it hid in a rock.

Answer: Octopuses often hide in cracks between rocks.

  1. Reports are about octopuses in general, not one octopus you saw.
  2. Use the present tense.
19.Octopuses are kind of good at escaping stuff.

Answer: Octopuses are skilled at escaping from predators.

  1. Replace chatty words (kind of, stuff) with precise words.

Part E: Your turn

20.Your turn: use the facts from Part B to write the Diet paragraph or the Staying safe paragraph of an information report about octopuses. Start with a topic sentence, include at least three facts and write in a formal voice.

Model answer: Staying safe Octopuses have several clever ways to escape from predators. An octopus can hide by changing its skin to match the rocks and sand around it. If it is spotted, it can squirt a cloud of dark ink to confuse its enemy while it swims away. Because it has no bones, an octopus can also squeeze through tiny gaps where larger animals cannot follow.

Success criteria:

  • Subheading
  • Topic sentence states the main idea
  • At least three relevant facts
  • Every sentence stays on the subheading's topic
  • Formal voice: no I think, no chatty words
  • Present tense throughout
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