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

Why Anansi Has Thin Legs

Long ago Anansi the spider had eight fat legs, and a nose for other people's cooking. One morning he smelled beans at Rabbit's house. "Tie a web to my leg," he told Rabbit, "and tug it when the beans are ready." Rabbit agreed. Then Anansi smelled fish at Monkey's, and yams at Guinea Fowl's, and soup at Warthog's. To each he said the same thing. By noon he had eight webs tied to eight legs. At noon every pot was ready at once. Eight tugs came together. The webs pulled so hard that Anansi's legs stretched thin as thread — and he got no dinner at all. They have been thin ever since.

  1. 1. How do Anansi's actions cause the ending?
  2. 2. Describe Anansi's motivation. What does he want, and what does he do about it?
  3. 3. What happened between Rabbit agreeing and the eight tugs?

LessonPrint · RL.3.3 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Actions Drive the Story

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. She held the violin under her chin for about ten seconds. 2. The story does not say; the broken strings, or the memory of her brother, or both. 3. Private and reserved — she shows feeling by going quiet and holding the violin, then changes the subject.
  2. 2.1. Because he made eight arrangements, all eight tugs came at once and stretched his legs. 2. He wants as much free food as possible, so he arranges a web with every neighbour at once. 3. Anansi made the same arrangement with Monkey, Guinea Fowl and Warthog.

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