Free printable STAAR practice test for Grade 6

Reading Language Arts

Circle the letter of the best answer, or two letters where a question asks for two. No time limit.

1. When the Sky Went Dark

   April 14, 1935, began as the kind of Sunday Opal Harper had almost forgotten was possible. The sky over the Oklahoma Panhandle was a clean, bright blue, and the wind, which had been flinging dirt against the farmhouse for weeks, had finally gone still.

   "Open every window," Ma announced after breakfast. "We are going to let this house breathe."

   For the next few hours, the Harpers cleaned as if company were coming. Opal dragged the rugs into the yard and beat them with a broom until brown clouds drifted off them, while her little brother, Wesley, chased the chickens around the coop. Pa walked the fence line, frowning at fields where the wheat should have been green by now. Instead, the ground lay bare and cracked, because the rains had failed for so many years that Opal could barely remember the smell of mud.

   In the middle of the afternoon, Opal noticed the birds.

   At first there were only a few, flying low and fast out of the north. Then there were dozens, then hundreds, sparrows and blackbirds, all racing south as if something were chasing them. The chickens stopped scratching and hurried into the coop on their own, and as the air turned suddenly cooler, the hair on Opal's arms prickled.

   "Pa," she called. "Look."

   Along the northern edge of the sky sat a dark line, like a range of mountains that had not been there that morning. But mountains do not move, and this was moving. It grew taller as she watched, a black wall that boiled at the top and swallowed the fields in front of it.

   Pa dropped his fence pliers. "Everybody in the house. Now!"

   Opal grabbed Wesley's hand and ran while Ma raced ahead of them, slamming windows one after another. They tumbled through the kitchen door just as the light changed, and in less than a minute, the bright afternoon was gone.

   It was darker than any night Opal had ever known, because even the darkest night had stars or the red glow of the stove. When she held her hand in front of her face, she could not see it. Wesley began to cry.

   "Nobody move," Pa said. His voice was calm, and Opal held on to that calm the way she held on to Wesley's hand. Ma found the lamp by feel and lit it, but the flame was only a weak yellow smudge in the brown air.

   Dust hissed against the walls. It sifted through the cracks around the doors and windows, no matter how tightly they were shut. Ma soaked dish towels in the water bucket for everyone to tie over their noses and mouths. The wet towel smelled of soap and dirt, but breathing through it helped.

   When Opal reached for the metal pump handle beside the sink, a spark snapped against her fingers, and she yelped. "The air's full of electricity," Pa explained. "All that blowing dust does it."

   They sat close together at the table for hours, listening to the wind, while Pa told stories about the summer he was Wesley's age, when the wheat grew so tall that he could hide in it.

   That night, the wind finally died down. In the morning, Opal stepped out into a strange new world. Fine dust, soft as flour, lay over everything, and it had drifted against the fence posts and the side of the barn in long, smooth piles, the way snow drifts in winter. The chickens were safe in the coop, fluffed up and offended.

   Ma stood on the porch with her broom for a long moment. Then she began to sweep.

   A few days later, Pa brought a newspaper home from town. A reporter had written about the storm and called the whole dry region by a name Opal had never heard before: the Dust Bowl.

   Opal turned the words over in her mind. A bowl could be emptied, she thought, but it could also be filled. She looked out at the bare fields and pictured them green again, heavy with rain.

   "It won't always be like this, will it?" she asked.

   Pa folded the paper and looked out the window beside her. "No," he said. "Dry years end. We just have to be here when they do."

   1.

   Why does the author begin the story with a bright, still morning of cleaning?

   1. ATo introduce the reporter who later names the Dust Bowl
   2. BTo make the sudden darkness of the storm feel more shocking
   3. CTo show that dust storms happened only on Sundays
   4. DTo suggest that the family had forgotten about the drought
2. 2.

   According to Pa, why does the pump handle give Opal a shock?

   1. AThe blowing dust has filled the air with electricity.
   2. BThe lamp has made the metal handle too hot.
   3. CLightning from the black storm has struck the farmhouse roof.
   4. DThe handle was left outside in the storm.
3. 3.

   How does Pa's behavior during the storm affect Opal?

   1. AHis stories make her want to become a farmer.
   2. BHis anger at the weather makes her cry.
   3. CHis silence makes her feel alone in the dark.
   4. DHis calm voice helps her stay steady.
4. 4.

   Which theme does the ending of the story develop?

   1. AIt is foolish to stay on land that keeps failing year after year.
   2. BHard work is always rewarded with good weather.
   3. CHope and patience can help people endure hard times.
   4. DChildren should never question their parents.
5. 5.

   The story is told in the third person but follows Opal closely. How does this affect what the reader learns?

   1. AThe reader notices the warning signs one at a time, as Opal does.
   2. BThe reader learns Pa's private worries about the farm.
   3. CThe reader hears the reporter interview the Harpers.
   4. DThe reader learns what every family in Oklahoma did that day.
6. 6.

   Which TWO details best show that animals sensed the storm before the people did? Choose two answers.

   1. AHundreds of birds raced south as if something were chasing them.
   2. BPa dropped his fence pliers and shouted.
   3. CWesley chased the chickens around the coop.
   4. DThe chickens hurried into the coop on their own.
   5. EThe chickens were fluffed up and offended in the morning.
7. 7.

   Which sentence is a simple sentence?

   1. AMy aunt lives in Texas, and my cousin lives in Utah.
   2. BWhile Mom made breakfast, I fed the cat.
   3. CPens and pencils fell out of my backpack.
   4. DThe rain stopped, and we went outside.
8. 8.

   ______ An adult's heart is about the size of a fist and sits in the chest between the lungs. A healthy heart beats about 100,000 times every day without ever taking a break. In addition, it pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through the body each day. Day and night, this hardworking muscle keeps the whole body supplied with the blood it needs.

   Which sentence would be the best topic sentence for this paragraph?

   1. AMy cousin and I built a snow fort in his backyard during the January blizzard.
   2. BThe Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of France.
   3. CThe human heart is a strong muscle that pumps blood to every part of the body.
   4. DThe heart has four chambers, with two on the top and two on the bottom.
9. 9.

   Ms. Okafor is our music teacher. Ms. Okafor plays the cello. Ms. Okafor will perform a solo at the spring concert.

   Which sentence best combines the three sentences without changing what they mean?

   1. AMs. Okafor, our music teacher, plays the cello and will perform a solo at the spring concert.
   2. BMs. Okafor, our music teacher, play the cello and will perform a solo at the spring concert.
   3. CMs. Okafor, our music teacher plays the cello and will perform a solo at the spring concert.
   4. DMs. Okafor, our music teacher, plays the cello, she will perform a solo at the spring concert.
10. 10.

    In which sentence should the words in bold be set off with commas?

    1. ALouis Armstrong a trumpet player from New Orleans helped make jazz popular around the world.
    2. BPlayers who miss practice on Thursday will not start in Saturday's game.
    3. CThe team that wins this game will play in the state finals.
    4. DPlants that get plenty of sunlight usually grow faster than plants kept in the dark.