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How Actions Drive the Story is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on explaining how what a character does shapes the events, aligned to Common Core standard RL.3.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 10 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

How Actions Drive the Story

RL.3.3

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Violin in the Loft

Nobody in our family plays anything. So the violin in the loft was a mystery for eleven years. Then Great-Aunt Sylvie came for Christmas and saw the case on the table. She went very quiet. "That was my brother's," she said. "He played in a café in Marseille before the war." She opened it. Three strings had gone, and the bridge lay loose in the bottom of the case. She did not play it. She held it under her chin for about ten seconds, put it back, and closed the lid. Then she asked for more potatoes and did not mention it again.

  1. 1. Why might Sylvie have put the violin back without playing it?
  2. 2. What did Sylvie do between opening the case and closing the lid?
  3. 3. Describe Great-Aunt Sylvie from what she does rather than what she says.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Museum Key (a scene from a play)

SCENE TWO. The museum store room. Night. Boxes everywhere. A single desk lamp. PRIYA: (whispering) It was here on Tuesday. On this shelf. JON: You are sure it was this shelf? PRIYA: I dusted it. I am sure. JON: (lifting a lid) Then somebody moved it after Tuesday. PRIYA: Or before Tuesday, and I dusted the empty space. (Pause. JON puts the lid down slowly.) JON: That is worse. PRIYA: I know.

  1. 1. What happens after Priya suggests it went missing before Tuesday?
  2. 2. How does Jon respond to Priya's second idea?
  3. 3. Describe Priya from what she says.

LessonPrint · RL.3.3 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Actions Drive the Story

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The story does not say; the broken strings, or the memory of her brother, or both. 2. She held the violin under her chin for about ten seconds. 3. Private and reserved — she shows feeling by going quiet and holding the violin, then changes the subject.
  2. 2.1. Jon pauses, puts the lid down slowly, and says that is worse. 2. He puts the lid down slowly and says it is worse — he sees what it would mean. 3. Careful and honest — Priya is sure she dusted it, then admits she may have dusted an empty shelf.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.