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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.

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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 Night the Lamp Went Out

Grace's father kept the lighthouse. On the worst night of the winter, the lamp went out. He was ill in bed. Grace was eleven. She carried the oil up ninety-seven steps in the dark, twice, because the can was too heavy to lift full. Her arms shook so much on the second trip that she had to sit down halfway. She trimmed the wick the way she had watched a hundred times. She struck the match on the fourth try. By the time the light swung out across the water, three ships had already turned back. Grace never knew whether she had been in time. She decided not to think about it.

  1. 1. Describe Grace's character. What traits do her actions show?
  2. 2. How do Grace's actions contribute to the sequence of events?
  3. 3. What did Grace do between carrying the oil and striking the match?
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. What happened between Rabbit agreeing and the eight tugs?
  2. 2. How do Anansi's actions cause the ending?
  3. 3. Describe Anansi's motivation. What does he want, and what does he do about it?

LessonPrint · RL.3.3 · Set 9 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Actions Drive the Story

Set 9. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Determined and capable — she climbed ninety-seven steps twice while shaking, and finished the job. 2. Because she carried the oil and lit the lamp, the light swung out across the water again. 3. She trimmed the wick.
  2. 2.1. Anansi made the same arrangement with Monkey, Guinea Fowl and Warthog. 2. Because he made eight arrangements, all eight tugs came at once and stretched his legs. 3. He wants as much free food as possible, so he arranges a web with every neighbour at once.

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