STAAR RLA Grade 6

Devon's usual bus was the 4:10 to the park. A paper taped to the stop said, "4:10 canceled. Next bus 4:40. This bus stops at the library only."

He started toward the park stop, then read the paper again. The park stop would not get the 4:40. He stayed where he was.

At 4:40 the bus came. The driver pointed at the same words. Devon got off at the library and walked the last three blocks.

Ice on a sidewalk stays frozen at 32°F. The crew's note said salt lets that ice melt when the air is a few degrees colder, down to about 28°F.

They spread salt on the walk in front of the school. They did not spread it on the garden beds. The note's last line said, "Salt harms roots. Keep it on pavement."

By afternoon the walk was wet, not icy. The beds were still crusted with ice, and the roots were left alone.

A brass sign by the town well said, "Water at 60 feet," and the date under it was 1998. Rowan was writing a report and almost copied that number alone.

Ms. Ibarra opened the 2024 water report. "The pump was raised. The water is now 40 feet down. The sign was true in 1998. It is not the current measure."

Rowan copied both numbers and labeled them. "1998 sign: 60 feet. 2024 report: 40 feet."

The program for the play had a small line under the cast list: "If the lead is absent, the understudy speaks the same lines."

Jules was absent. Maren stepped in. She did not invent a new ending. The scenes followed the script.

Afterward a guest said the story felt familiar. Maren tapped the program line. "Same lines. Different speaker."

The kite club's rule was printed on the score sheet: "Launch only when the ridge flag is straight out. If it hangs limp, wait."

Otto's kite was ready, but the flag hung against the pole. He waited. When the cloth snapped straight, the judge nodded.

His kite rose. A flyer who had launched while the flag was limp watched a kite drop into the grass. Otto said, "The flag was the test, not my hurry."

Quinn wanted a book on bridge design. It was not on the open shelves. A label on the catalog card said, "Closed stack. Fill out a request slip."

Mr. Adeyemi took the slip and returned with the book from a locked room. "Open shelves are for browsing. This one stays in the back until someone asks."

Quinn read it at a library table. The book did not go home. The card also said, "Library use only."

Hana painted her bike frame over a patch of rust. A week later the new paint flaked off in that same spot.

The shop card said, "Paint will not hold on rust. Sand to bare metal first." She sanded until the patch was gray metal, then painted again.

A month later that spot was still smooth. The first coat had failed because the rust was still underneath.

The student council asked for a school day that started thirty minutes later. Their letter said students would be more awake.

Principal Varga wrote back. "I am not refusing because the idea is foolish. A later start makes the last bus miss the 4:05 transfer downtown."

The council posted both letters. Under them they wrote, "The reason given is the bus transfer, not a joke about sleep."

A metal gate crossed the cave mouth. The bars were wide enough for bats and too narrow for a person. Bryn thought the gate hid a treasure.

Ranger Estevez said, "The gate keeps people out and lets bats through. There is no treasure list. The bats need the cave."

At dusk Bryn watched bats slip between the bars. People stayed on the trail side. The sign read, "For the bats. Not a locked prize."

Chef Duarte's soup card said, "2 cups of broth for 4 bowls." Paolo was cooking for 8 people and still used 2 cups.

The soup was thin, and the bowls tasted watery. Duarte pointed at the card. "Eight bowls is double. Double broth is 4 cups."

Paolo made it again with 4 cups. The flavor matched the 4-bowl pot. He wrote on the card, "8 bowls = 4 cups."

At noon Talia's stick cast a shadow shorter than her shoe. At 4:00 the same stick cast a shadow longer than the bench.

Her brother said the stick must have grown. Talia shook her head. "The stick is the same. The sun is lower at 4:00, so the shadow stretches."

She measured both shadows and labeled them. "Noon: short. 4:00: long. Stick: unchanged."

Cleo's paragraph said the bridge opened in 1980, then said it again, then said it a third time with the same year.

Editor Lang crossed out the second and third sentences. "Once is the fact. Twice is a repeat. The year does not get truer."

The published paragraph named 1980 one time. A reader still learned when the bridge opened. The paragraph was shorter.

The bird count had a rule on the clipboard: "Count at 7:00 a.m. A later count is a different sample."

Anil arrived at noon and counted 12 herons. The 7:00 crew had counted 30. He wanted to average 12 and 30.

Field lead Ruiz said no. "Noon is not the same sample. We record your 12 as a note. We do not mix it into the 7:00 total."

The flood line painted on the levee was marked 2019. Today's river touched that line. The top of the levee was still a meter above the water.

A warden closed the path along the top. Nadia asked if the river had come over. "No," the warden said. "The ground up here is soft from rain. The path is closed for footing, not because water crossed the top."

Nadia wrote, "Water at the 2019 line. Top still clear. Path closed: soft ground."

Malik set a metal spoon in a cup of hot tea. A minute later the handle was too hot to hold. The tea had not spilled onto it.

He tried a wooden spoon in the same cup. The handle stayed comfortable. A note in his science book said, "Metal carries heat easily. Wood does not."

He left the wooden spoon in the cup and set the metal one on a plate. "The heat traveled up the metal. It did not travel up the wood."

The song had two verses and a chorus. The verses told different parts of the story. The chorus was the same four lines each time.

Ari said the recording was stuck because those four lines returned. Director Pell shook her head. "A stuck track repeats by accident. A chorus repeats because the song is built that way."

She played the second verse. The words were new. Then the four lines returned again. Ari said, "New story, same chorus."

Farah's map was dated 1970. It showed a bridge over the creek on the north trail.

She reached the creek and found posts, no deck. A sign nailed to a post said, "Bridge removed in 2011. Use the south trail."

The 1970 map was not lying about its own year. It was old. Farah folded it and followed the south trail, which had a low footbridge still in place.