Response Skills: Using Text Evidence To Support Appropriate Responses (TEKS.ELA.6.6.C) Practice Test

On the first day of spring, Maya unfolded a crinkled map of the school courtyard and traced spots for beds. At first, only a few students stopped to look. Then Coach Reyes offered compost from the track cleanup, and the art club painted wooden signs. When Mr. Lopez tilled the soil, the science club lined up to plant seeds, and the chess team carried watering cans. By the end of the week, the courtyard hummed like a beehive. Some mornings were cold, and more than once a squirrel nibbled the sprouts, but the volunteers adjusted, adding netting and sharing early shifts. In May, the first tomatoes blushed red, and the cafeteria served a salad with a handwritten note: grown on campus. No one person claimed credit. As Maya rinsed dirt from her hands, she looked around at the muddy shoes and tired smiles and said, "We did this together." The garden belonged to everyone.

The drainage ditch behind the apartments overflowed whenever it rained, sending snack wrappers into the park. Jamal was tired of stepping over soggy cups on his walk to school. He wrote a note to the apartment manager, who agreed to provide bags and gloves if someone organized a cleanup. Jamal posted a sign-up sheet near the mailboxes, expecting five names; by Friday, three pages were filled. On Saturday morning, he arrived with a borrowed rake and found parents, kids, and even the bus driver from Route 7 waiting. As they worked, passing buckets down a line, drivers slowed to honk and wave. By noon, the ditch was clear, and the park path looked almost new. A younger student asked Jamal when they would do it again. Jamal shrugged, surprised and pleased. He had planned to pick up a few pieces of trash. Instead, he watched his neighborhood prove that a small start could lead to big help.