Water for Schools
Menu

Quiz & test questions Grade 6 English Language Arts

Lorrick's Lead Service Lines: A Grade 6 Argument Assessment

A 30-point grade 6 assessment in which students read three short documents about who pays for a fictional town's lead pipe replacement and write an argument paragraph.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify the claim and the reason inside a speaker's short statement.
  2. Students will select evidence from a fact box that supports a specific position.
  3. Students will write an argument paragraph with a claim, two reasons, and evidence.

Vocabulary

Service line
A service line is the small pipe that connects the water main under the street to the plumbing inside one home or building. It is the last leg of the trip water makes to your tap.
Action level
A trigger number in lead and copper testing. If too many homes test above this level, the utility must take steps like improving treatment and telling the public.

Also: claim, reason, evidence, replacement

Teacher overview

This assessment is worth 30 points and runs about 45 minutes. Students read three short documents about a fictional town's decision on who pays to replace the homeowner's half of a lead service line, then answer three multiple-choice items worth 2 points each, four short-answer items worth 3 points each, and one argument paragraph worth 12 points. The misconception this set was built to surface is that a claim becomes an argument as soon as a speaker sounds certain; both speakers here sound certain, and only the items about reasons and evidence separate them. Teachers should note that grade 6 argument writing asks for a claim with reasons and evidence, so the paragraph item does not require students to answer the other side.

Lorrick's Lead Service Lines: A Grade 6 Argument Assessment — Grade 6 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Assessment

Read all three documents, then answer every item. Lorrick, its water department, and the two speakers are fictional, invented for this assessment.

Document 1: Notice mailed by the Lorrick Water Department

Our records show that the pipe connecting your home to the water main may be made of lead. That pipe is called a service line. The department owns the half of the line that runs under the street. You own the half that runs under your yard. Federal rules require water systems to replace nearly all lead service lines within ten years. Lorrick will pay for the town's half of every line. The council has not yet decided who pays for the half under your yard, which our contractor estimates at $2,900 per home.

Document 2: Two statements at the Lorrick town meeting

Ruben Ortiz, homeowner on Calder Street: "I did not choose this pipe. It was in the ground when I bought the house, and nobody told me. A bill of $2,900 is more than my property taxes for the year. And if the town replaces its half and leaves mine, the water still runs through lead on its way to my kitchen. Half a job is not a job."

Dana Kell, council member: "Every dollar the town spends comes out of water bills. If we pay for work on private property, then a family renting an apartment across town helps pay for a homeowner's yard. I am not against helping. I would rather offer every homeowner a loan with no interest, paid back a little each month on the water bill over ten years, than raise everyone's rate at once."

Document 3: Fact box

  • The lead action level is 15 ppb, and it drops to 10 ppb in 2027 under the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. That rule also requires water systems to replace nearly all lead service lines within ten years. Source: EPA.
  • About 4 million lead service lines remain in water systems across the United States, based on what utilities reported in 2025, and they are found more often in lower-income communities.
    Source: EPA.
  1. (2 points) What do Mr. Ortiz and Ms. Kell mainly disagree about?
    A. Whether lead pipes should be replaced at all.
    B. Who should pay for the half of the service line under a homeowner's yard.
    C. Whether the federal rule applies to Lorrick.
    D. How long the replacement work will take.
  2. (2 points) According to Document 1, who owns the half of the service line under a homeowner's yard?
    A. The water department.
    B. The contractor.
    C. The homeowner.
    D. The state.
  3. (2 points) Ms. Kell says, "Every dollar the town spends comes out of water bills." She uses this statement to support the idea that
    A. the town has no money at all.
    B. paying for work on private yards means other customers help pay for it.
    C. water bills in Lorrick are too low.
    D. the federal rule should be ignored.
  4. (3 points) Copy the sentence from Document 1 that a person on either side of this question could use, and explain in one sentence why both sides could use it.
  5. (3 points) State Mr. Ortiz's claim in your own words.
  6. (3 points) Choose one statement from Document 2 and explain whether it is a reason or evidence. Support your choice in one sentence.
  7. (3 points) Which fact from Document 3 would be most useful to someone arguing that Lorrick should pay for the whole line? Copy it and explain your choice in one sentence.
  8. (12 points) Write an argument paragraph of six to eight sentences. State a claim about who should pay for the half of the service line under a homeowner's yard. Give two reasons for your claim, and support each reason with evidence from Document 1, Document 2, or Document 3.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: B. Both speakers accept that the lead pipes are coming out, and the entire disagreement is about who pays for the homeowner's half. Nothing in either statement questions the rule or the schedule.
  2. Answer: C. Document 1 states plainly that the department owns the half under the street and the resident owns the half under the yard.
  3. Answer: B. Her next sentence explains the point directly, saying a renting family would help pay for a homeowner's yard. She does not claim the town is broke or that rates are too low.
  4. Answer: "Federal rules require water systems to replace nearly all lead service lines within ten years." Either side can use it, because it establishes that the work must happen without settling who pays for which half. Accept the sentence about the $2,900 estimate with a sound explanation, since one side reads it as a burden and the other as a cost to be shared.
  5. Answer: The town should pay for the homeowner's half of the line. Accept any accurate restatement, such as that homeowners should not be charged for a pipe they did not choose, or that replacing only the town's half leaves the problem in place.
  6. Answer: Accept either choice with sound support. "A bill of $2,900 is more than my property taxes for the year" is evidence, because it is a specific and checkable comparison. "Half a job is not a job" is a reason, because it is a general principle rather than a fact anyone could verify. Ms. Kell's renter example is a reason, while the ten-year loan is a proposal rather than either one.
  7. Answer: The line stating that about 4 million lead service lines remain and are found more often in lower-income communities. It supports town payment because it suggests the households facing this bill are often those least able to pay it. Accept the ten-year replacement requirement with the explanation that the work must be finished either way, so leaving half of each line to chance risks missing the deadline.
  8. Answer: Accept any paragraph of six to eight sentences with a clear claim, two reasons, and evidence attached to each reason. A full-credit response on the town-pays side might argue that the rule requires nearly all lines to go within ten years and that partial work leaves lead in the path of the water, citing Mr. Ortiz. A full-credit response on the homeowner-pays side might argue that the pipe is private property and that town payment shifts the cost onto renters, citing Ms. Kell, and may propose her no-interest loan. Deduct for a paragraph with no claim, for reasons with no evidence attached, or for evidence invented outside the three documents.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students the three documents with the claim in each speaker's statement already underlined, so items 5 and 6 begin from a found sentence. Provide a claim-reason-evidence organizer with the claim slot offering two options to circle. Reduce item 8 to four sentences with one reason and one piece of evidence, and score it against the same descriptors.

Extension

Ask these students to write the short paragraph Ms. Kell would add to the notice explaining her loan proposal to homeowners, using only the documents, and then to write two sentences on which part of Mr. Ortiz's statement that paragraph does not answer. A second option is to write the question they would ask each speaker before deciding.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "service line," "main," "council," "property," and "replace" with a simple street-level drawing showing the main under the street, the line under the yard, and the house. Provide the two statements in a two-column table headed "What the speaker wants" and "Why." Allow items 5 and 6 to be answered in bullet phrases rather than complete sentences, and offer the frame "My claim is that ___ should pay because ___" for item 8.

Extensions

Have students find whether their own state or water utility offers a program that helps homeowners pay for private-side service line replacement, then write one paragraph describing the program's terms and naming which of the two speakers would be satisfied by it.