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Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on reading a whole information text and answering across it, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.10. 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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All 25 sets ask different questions.

Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text

RI.3.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Morse Code

Morse code turns every letter into a pattern of short and long signals: dots and dashes. The commonest letters were given the shortest patterns. E is one dot. T is one dash. Q, which is rare, is dash-dash-dot-dash. Because of that choice, an average message is much shorter than it would be otherwise. A message can be sent as sound, as light, or as taps on a pipe. That is why it survived so long: it needs almost no equipment. Timing carries the meaning. A dash is three times as long as a dot. The gap between letters is three dots long, and between words, seven. SOS was chosen because it is easy to recognise: three dots, three dashes, three dots.

  1. 1. What is the Morse pattern for SOS?
  2. 2. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
  3. 3. What is the main idea of this text, and which details support it?
  4. 4. How long is a dash compared with a dot?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How a Canal Lock Works

A canal cannot run uphill. Where the land rises, engineers build a lock: a chamber with a gate at each end. A boat going uphill enters the lock through the lower gate. The gate closes behind it. Sluices in the upper gate are opened. Water flows in from the higher stretch of canal, and the boat rises with it. No pump is needed, because the water comes down by gravity. When the water inside matches the level above, the upper gate can be opened and the boat moves on. Going downhill, everything runs the other way: the water is let out, and the boat sinks with it.

  1. 1. What is a lock?
  2. 2. Which gate does a boat going uphill enter through?
  3. 3. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
  4. 4. The author says no pump is needed. What reason is given?

LessonPrint · RI.3.10 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Three dots, three dashes, three dots. 2. To explain how Morse works and why it was so useful — the whole text gives reasons. 3. Morse turns letters into timed dots and dashes — supported by the letter lengths, the timing rules and SOS. 4. Three times as long.
  2. 2.1. A chamber with a gate at each end, built where the land rises. 2. The lower gate. 3. To explain how a lock works — the whole text is a sequence of causes, not a story or an opinion. 4. The water comes down from the higher stretch by gravity.

Questions about Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text

What does the Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text worksheet cover?

It practises reading a whole information text and answering across it — 2 questions for Grade 3, all on Common Core RI.3.10: Read and understand harder Grade 2-3 information texts on your own. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which Common Core standard does Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10 — RI.3.10, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 3. The published standard reads: “By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on RI.3.10, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text come with an answer key?

Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.

How many different versions of Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text can I print?

25 — one per pupil, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.

Is Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.

Is there a lesson plan to teach RI.3.10?

Yes — “Reading Grade 3 Informational Texts” is a 40-minute Grade 3 plan for RI.3.10, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text is the practice that follows it.

More practice for RI.3.10

Read and understand harder Grade 2-3 information texts on your own.

Teaching this next? Reading Grade 3 Informational Texts is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.3.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.