Free ESL Reading Activity Grade 9

Grade 9 Plastic-Free Schools Reading Activity

About This Resource

A three-page reading activity built around an original balanced-argument passage on whether schools should go plastic-free, giving Grade 9 ESL students practice with comprehension, identifying arguments, and forming their own opinion.

Overview

The centrepiece of this resource is an original five-paragraph passage, "Plastic-Free Schools: Good Idea or Too Difficult?", written to present both sides of a real classroom-relevant debate fairly, without naming any single country's policy so it stays usable anywhere in Southeast Asia. After reading, students complete a True or False comprehension check, then a Sort the Arguments activity in which they find and record their own examples of arguments for and against from the text — a more active task than a simple multiple-choice question. Two short-answer questions check inference and vocabulary-in-context, and a final Your Opinion task asks students to state and briefly justify their own view using an opinion phrase.

Resource Details

Subject: ESL
Topic: Plastic-Free Schools Reading Activity
Category: Reading
File Type: PDF
File Size: 46.2 KB
Published: 06 Sep 2026
Downloads: 0

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Students will be able to identify true and false statements based on a reading passage.
Students will be able to locate and categorise arguments for and against a position in a text.
Students will be able to answer inference and vocabulary-in-context questions about a passage.
Students will be able to state and justify their own opinion on the topic using an opinion phrase.

How to Use This Resource

Have students read the passage silently first, then aloud in pairs or as a class to support pronunciation and pacing. Complete the True or False section as a quick comprehension check before moving to the more demanding Sort the Arguments task, which asks students to locate and paraphrase specific arguments rather than just recognise them. The short-answer questions and Your Opinion task can be completed independently, in pairs, or as a written homework task.

Classroom Activity Ideas

After completing the worksheet, hold a short class vote: plastic-free schools, yes or no? Ask a few students on each side to share the argument from the passage (or their own reasoning) that most influenced their vote, using an opinion phrase from this topic's Language Worksheet.

Differentiation

SUPPORT: Read the passage aloud to the class first, or provide a simplified word list for key vocabulary (such as "biodegradable" or "landfill") before students read independently.
ON-LEVEL: Students complete all sections independently after a guided first reading.
CHALLENGE: Ask stronger students to find a second example for each side of the Sort the Arguments table, or to write a short paragraph (not just a sentence) for the Your Opinion task, including a counter-argument they disagree with

Assessment

Check the True or False section and short-answer questions against the answer key. Review the Sort the Arguments table for accurate, text-based examples rather than invented ones, and assess the Your Opinion response for a clearly stated opinion with at least one supporting reason.

Teacher Tips

Before students start the Sort the Arguments table, ask the class to find just one example of a "for" argument and one "against" argument together, out loud, so everyone understands what counts as an argument (rather than a fact or detail) before they continue independently.