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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 5 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 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. Describe Priya from what she says.
  3. 3. How does Jon respond to Priya's second idea?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Fox and the Well

A fox leaned too far over a well and fell in. The water was shallow, but the walls were smooth and far too high to climb. He was still sitting there when a goat came by and looked down. "Is the water good?" asked the goat. "The best I have ever tasted," said the fox. "Come down and see." The goat jumped in. The fox climbed onto the goat's back, sprang out, and trotted off. "Wait!" called the goat. "How do I get out?" "You should have thought about that," said the fox, "before you jumped."

  1. 1. What does the goat's question at the start tell you about him?
  2. 2. What happened between the goat jumping in and the fox trotting off?
  3. 3. Describe the fox's motivation. What does he want?

LessonPrint · RL.3.3 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Actions Drive the Story

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Jon pauses, puts the lid down slowly, and says that is worse. 2. Careful and honest — Priya is sure she dusted it, then admits she may have dusted an empty shelf. 3. He puts the lid down slowly and says it is worse — he sees what it would mean.
  2. 2.1. He is trusting — he asks about the water rather than about how the fox got there. 2. The fox climbed onto the goat's back and sprang out of the well. 3. He wants out of the well, and he is willing to trap the goat to manage it.

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