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How Sentences Connect is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on sorting linked sentences by cause and effect, comparison or sequence, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.8. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students 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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One paper per student

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

How Sentences Connect

RI.3.8

NameDate

Sort each one into the right box.

1.Sort each one: Cause and effect or Comparison or Sequence?

Sort: The top millstone turns; the bottom one does not., Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night., The gluten traps the gas, and as a result the dough swells., Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above., In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return., The water comes down by gravity. That is why no pump is needed.

Cause and effectComparisonSequence
2.Sort each one: Cause and effect or Comparison or Sequence?

Sort: The heat sets the gluten, so the bubbles are locked in., A dash is three times as long as a dot., Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose., The salmon hatches, then swims to the sea, and later returns., Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill., Braille was twelve when he saw the dots; three years later his code was finished.

Cause and effectComparisonSequence
3.Sort each one: Cause and effect or Comparison or Sequence?

Sort: Raised letters were slow, while braille dots fit under one fingertip., First the boat enters the lock. Next the lower gate closes., The whey is drained off. After that, the curds are pressed., Raised letters were slow to read, so Braille wanted something better., Because E is so common, it was given a single dot., A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks.

Cause and effectComparisonSequence

LessonPrint · RI.3.8 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Sentences Connect

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above. — Sequence 2. In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return. — Sequence 3. Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night. — Comparison 4. The gluten traps the gas, and as a result the dough swells. — Cause and effect 5. The top millstone turns; the bottom one does not. — Comparison 6. The water comes down by gravity. That is why no pump is needed. — Cause and effect
  2. 2.1. A dash is three times as long as a dot. — Comparison 2. Braille was twelve when he saw the dots; three years later his code was finished. — Sequence 3. Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill. — Comparison 4. Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose. — Cause and effect 5. The heat sets the gluten, so the bubbles are locked in. — Cause and effect 6. The salmon hatches, then swims to the sea, and later returns. — Sequence
  3. 3.1. A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks. — Comparison 2. Because E is so common, it was given a single dot. — Cause and effect 3. First the boat enters the lock. Next the lower gate closes. — Sequence 4. Raised letters were slow to read, so Braille wanted something better. — Cause and effect 5. Raised letters were slow, while braille dots fit under one fingertip. — Comparison 6. The whey is drained off. After that, the curds are pressed. — Sequence

More practice for RI.3.8

Name how one sentence or paragraph connects to the next.

Teaching this next? How Sentences and Paragraphs Connect is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.3.8 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.