Skip to content
LessonPrint

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 3 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next setLesson plan

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

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: First the boat enters the lock. Next the lower gate closes., Raised letters were slow, while braille dots fit under one fingertip., The smaller gear spins faster than the larger one., Because the sails are angled, the wind pushes them round., Raised letters were slow to read, so Braille wanted something better., After the yeast wakes up, it begins to feed on the sugars.

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

Sort: The insects disappear in October, so the swallows leave., The water comes down by gravity. That is why no pump is needed., Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night., Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above., In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return., Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill.

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

Sort: The top millstone turns; the bottom one does not., The gluten traps the gas, and as a result the dough swells., The whey is drained off. After that, the curds are pressed., First the grain falls between the stones. Finally flour comes out at the edge., Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose., A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks.

Cause and effectComparisonSequence

LessonPrint · RI.3.8 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How Sentences Connect

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. After the yeast wakes up, it begins to feed on the sugars. — Sequence 2. Because the sails are angled, the wind pushes them round. — 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 smaller gear spins faster than the larger one. — Comparison
  2. 2.1. Before the upper gate opens, the water must reach the level above. — Sequence 2. Going downhill, a lock works the other way round from going uphill. — Comparison 3. In the fall the swallows fly south. The following spring they return. — Sequence 4. Swallows travel by day, but many other birds travel at night. — Comparison 5. The insects disappear in October, so the swallows leave. — Cause and effect 6. The water comes down by gravity. That is why no pump is needed. — Cause and effect
  3. 3.1. A cheese aged for two years tastes nothing like one aged for two weeks. — Comparison 2. First the grain falls between the stones. Finally flour comes out at the edge. — Sequence 3. Nobody had looked after the violin, so the bridge came loose. — Cause and effect 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 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.