The Audition — Passage

This passage titled "The Audition" supports 5th grade students in developing their ability to quote accurately from text when explaining both explicit content and inferences as required by CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1. The narrative follows Zoe as she prepares to perform a clarinet piece in front of an audience, experiencing significant performance anxiety. Students must identify explicit information about what instrument Zoe plays while also finding specific textual evidence that reveals her nervous state. The question specifically directs students to select the most relevant quotation—"Her clarinet felt slippery in her sweaty hands"—that supports the inference about her emotional state. This passage effectively teaches students to distinguish between what the text states directly and what can be reasonably inferred by analyzing descriptive details and character actions. By requiring students to support their understanding with accurate quotations, the passage reinforces the standard's emphasis on text-based evidence. The universally relatable theme of performance anxiety creates an emotionally engaging context that naturally encourages close reading and empathetic inferential thinking about character emotions.