3rd grade reading comprehension

Five questions, one passage

By third grade the sheet changes shape. The passages are about 136 to 143 words, in three paragraphs, and the questions go from three to five. The type is smaller than in grades 1 and 2, though still easy on the eyes. Vocabulary grows too, with words that a child may have to work out from the sentence. None of this is a formal reading level, so use it as a guide only.

What prints

The title reads "3rd Grade Reading Comprehension". After the instructions comes the passage, then:

• three multiple-choice questions, each with four lettered choices set out in two columns, so a question takes less vertical space;
• two short-answer prompts, each followed by two writing lines.

The key rings each right choice and prints a model written reply on the top line of each written question. Third graders often write one sentence where the model gives a phrase, which is fine.

The five passages

• The Lighthouse Cat, a story about a keeper, his cat and a lamp that goes dark.
• How Rainbows Form, an article about light and water drops.
• Leo's Bean Plants, a story about a boy growing beans.
• Tricks of the Octopus, an article on how the octopus hides and defends itself.
• The Water Cycle, an article on how water moves around the Earth.

Three are nonfiction and two are fiction, so the instructions say "article" most of the time.

The settings

• Grade opens on 3rd grade. The menu also holds 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th. New problems brings up another third grade passage and may repeat one.

Worked example: Leo's Bean Plants

Set the grade to 3rd and press new problems until "Leo's Bean Plants" shows. Leo plants two bean seeds, puts one cup on a sunny windowsill and one in a dark closet, and measures the sprouts every day for a science fair. His windowsill plant is tall and green, the closet plant is pale and weak.

Question 1 asks "What did Leo do every day?" The four choices sit in two columns, and the right one is "He measured the sprouts and wrote the numbers." Question 3 asks what "pale" means in the story: very tall, light in color, full of water, or broken in half. The sentence about the closet plant settles it, and the answer is "light in color".

The written questions are "Why did the judge say Leo did real science?" and "What did Leo's project show about plants?" The key models them as "He tested the idea himself" and "Plants need light to grow strong." Judge a student's version by meaning. The third grade standards name asking and answering questions about a text, and pointing to it for support, which is what the lines are for.

Tips

Mix fiction and nonfiction in a week so a child practices both. Try a cold read on Monday, then reread the same sheet on Friday and see how much faster it goes. When the writing lines are the sticking point, rewrite the sentence worksheets give practice in turning words into clean sentences, and the next level is 4th grade reading comprehension.

Sources

1. Common Core State Standards: Reading Literature, Grade 3 (RL.3.1) thecorestandards.org
2. Common Core State Standards: Reading Informational Text, Grade 3 (RI.3.1) thecorestandards.org
3. Institute of Education Sciences: Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (WWC practice guide) ies.ed.gov