Reading · Grades 5–6 and 7–8
Prove it
Your child checks a claim against what a passage really says, and finds the sentence that proves it.
Your child reads four short passages, each with a conclusion the Pet jumped to, decides whether it is right, wrong or not in the passage, and taps the sentence that proves it. If a sentence is not the proof, the Pet says why.
- Grades 5–6 and 7–8
- 15 min
- Nothing to prepare
- On the screen
Free to sign up.
Is it a good fit?
- Ready if Your child reads a short paragraph on their own.
- Too much today? Start with Story order: a story put in order, before a story read for its proof.
- Too easy? The Grade 7–8 level: a claim with two parts, why something happened, a harder word, and the one opinion in a letter of facts.
What your child practises
- Finding evidence in a text
- Inference
- A word from its clues
- The main idea
- Fact and opinion (Grade 7–8)
“Where does it say that? It says she was smiling.”
If your child says something like this, in their own words, the idea has landed. Finishing the rounds means they took part; this is the learning.
Your part
- Nothing for the game itself
- Each question has a Read it to me button
Take it off the screen (optional)
Read an advert or a letter together and sort its sentences: could you check it, or is it what someone thinks?
More like this
The full design
What it is
A claim is only as good as the sentence that proves it. The Pet reads a short passage and jumps to a conclusion; your child checks it against the text and taps the sentence that proves it or breaks it.
How it goes
The Pet's claim sits over the passage. Your child answers a question (right, not right, or the passage doesn't say; a meaning; a title) and taps the sentence that proves it. A sentence that is not the proof is marked "not this one", and the Pet says why from the passage's own words. Four passages make a game.
The Pet
It jumps to conclusions, never your child: "Maya slammed the door, so she must be angry." It asks your child to read every sentence, and when a claim is checked it says what the passage really showed. Its dare is the next step up: at 5–6, the one opinion in a letter of facts; at the top, an opinion dressed up as a fact on a cereal box or an advert.
By band
One play is four passages, easiest first: a kite lost in the wind (prove or break a claim about what happened), a door slammed after a football match (an idea one sentence seems to give away), and a word worked out from the sentences around it. 5–6: the claim has one part, the word is drowsy, and the fourth passage is a class garden report (the best title, and the sentence that sums it up). 7–8: the claim has two parts, the door's question is why it slammed, the word is frugal with a trick clue, and the fourth passage is a letter to a school newsletter (the one opinion among facts, and what the writer wants).
What it grows
The reading standards of Grades 5 to 8 ask a child to cite the text for what it says and what it implies (Common Core RL and RI 5.1 to 8.1), to work out a word from its context (x.4), to find the main idea (RI x.2), to tell a claim backed by evidence from one that is not (RI 6.8 to 8.8), and to name a writer's purpose (RI 6.6). The game asks for the sentence, not a feeling about it.
Done, and what counts as evidence
Done means the four passages checked. "Proved it with the passage's own words" is an observation you may keep. The best record is off the screen: "where does it say that?" asked of an advert, a letter or a news story.
What's personal
Nothing: the passages are written for the game, about no real person. No family facts are used.