The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a standardized test that includes a variety of new technology-enhanced questions.
Some of them are Multiple choice-single correct responses, Multiple choice-multiple correct responses, Matching Tables, Drag and Drop, Hot text, Table Fill in, Graphing, Equation/numeric, Extended constructed response, Short answer, and many more.
This page contains several sample questions along with practice test links for Grade 6 ELA that gives you an idea of questions that your students are likely to see on the test. After each sample question, an answer explanation follows. The explanation includes essential aspects of the task that you may need to consider for the skills, processes, and information your students need to know.
Domain: Grade 6 >> Reading Standards for Literature
Sample Question: On the first day of school there are many supplies that a student needs. Every student needs a notebook, pencils, pens, highlighters, and the most important, a calendar.
What sentence below most closely agrees with these sentences?
- All of these items help a student stay organized throughout the year.
- These items are only helpful for students who enjoy math.
- These items are expensive, so only buy a few of them.
- You may not need all these items to stay organized.
Answer Explanation: The correct answer is A. The paragraph mentions nothing about students who enjoy math and it doesn’t mention how many to buy. It also does not say anything about not needing all of the items.
Standards: RL.6.2
Click here to practice: Reading Standards for Literature Questions on 6th Grade
Domain: Grade 6 >> Reading Standards for Informational Text
Sample Question: Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time. He scored more than 100 points in 1,108 games, won two Olympic gold medals, and was ranked #1 by ESPN Magazine. Chosen for the NBA All-Stars 14 times, Jordan was ten times the scoring champ, five times the Most Valuable Player, and six times the scoring champ of the NBA. No other player has come close to those achievements.
Identify the main idea – the claim – in the above persuasive paragraph.
- Jordan was six times the ‘scoring champ’ for NBA.
- Jordan was chosen for the NBA All-Stars 14 times.
- The claim is that Jordan was the greatest basketball player.
- Jordan was a basketball player.
Answer Explanation: All of the evidence in the passage points to the fact that Jordan was a truly great basketball player. That is why the main idea can be found in answer choice C.
Standards: RI.6.8
Click here to practice: Grade 6 Reading Standards for Informational Text Questions
Domain: Grade 6 >> Writing Standards
Sample Question: What part of a sentence or combined sentences is the transition word located?
- middle of the sentence or sentences
- beginning of the sentence or sentences
- both A and B
- neither A or B
Answer Explanation: Answer choice C is correct. Transition words can be at the beginning of a sentence or sentences, or they can be in the middle of two sentences that are being combined. Examples using the transition word “although” follow:
Although Alley likes broccoli, she doesn’t want to eat it every day.
Alley likes broccoli although she doesn’t want to eat it every day.
Standards: W.6.2c
Click here to practice: 6th Grade Writing Standards Questions
Domain: Grade 6 >> Language Standards
Sample Question: Correct the following sentence in bold italics to make the referent clear.
Lions are stronger than gazelles. They are not faster, though.
- Gazelles are not faster, though.
- Lions are not faster, though.
- It is not faster, though.
- Lions and gazelles are not faster.
Answer Explanation: They stands for Lions. Even though lions are stronger, they are not faster. The answer is B.
Standards: L.6.1.B
Click here to practice: Language Standards Questions for 6th Grade
