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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 19 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 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 salmon hatches, then swims to the sea, and later returns., Q is rare and long, whereas E is common and short., Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill., Raised letters were slow to read, so Braille wanted something better., The insects disappear in October, so the swallows leave., Braille was twelve when he saw the dots; three years later his code was finished.

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

Sort: The whey is drained off. After that, the curds are pressed., The salmon does not eat, so it grows thin on the climb., Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night., After the yeast wakes up, it begins to feed on the sugars., The heat sets the gluten, so the bubbles are locked in., Like the swallow, the salmon returns to where it was born.

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

Sort: Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above., In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return., Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose., The top millstone turns; the bottom one does not., A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks., The water comes down by gravity. That is why no pump is needed.

Cause and effectComparisonSequence

LessonPrint · RI.3.8 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Sentences Connect

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Braille was twelve when he saw the dots; three years later his code was finished. — Sequence 2. Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill. — Comparison 3. Q is rare and long, whereas E is common and short. — Comparison 4. Raised letters were slow to read, so Braille wanted something better. — Cause and effect 5. The insects disappear in October, so the swallows leave. — Cause and effect 6. The salmon hatches, then swims to the sea, and later returns. — Sequence
  2. 2.1. After the yeast wakes up, it begins to feed on the sugars. — Sequence 2. Like the swallow, the salmon returns to where it was born. — Comparison 3. Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night. — Comparison 4. The heat sets the gluten, so the bubbles are locked in. — Cause and effect 5. The salmon does not eat, so it grows thin on the climb. — Cause and effect 6. The whey is drained off. After that, the curds are pressed. — Sequence
  3. 3.1. A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks. — Comparison 2. Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above. — Sequence 3. In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return. — Sequence 4. Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose. — 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

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.