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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.

Set 6 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.

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.

Why Swallows Leave

Swallows do not leave Britain because of the cold. They leave because of the insects. A swallow eats flying insects, and it catches them in the air. In October the insects disappear, and a bird that eats nothing else has to follow the food. So swallows fly to southern Africa: about six thousand miles, taking roughly six weeks. They travel by day and feed as they go. They lose about a third of their body weight on the way. Many do not arrive. The following spring they return, and a swallow will often nest in the very barn it hatched in.

  1. 1. How far do swallows fly?
  2. 2. What is the main idea of this text, and which details support it?
  3. 3. The author opens by saying it is not the cold. What reason is given instead?
  4. 4. What is the author's purpose, and how do you know?
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. The author says no pump is needed. What reason is given?
  3. 3. Which gate does a boat going uphill enter through?
  4. 4. What are opened to let the water in?

LessonPrint · RI.3.10 · Set 6 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Reading a Grade 3 Fact Text

Set 6. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. About six thousand miles. 2. Swallows migrate to follow their food — supported by their diet, the October insect drop and the journey south. 3. The insects the swallow eats disappear in October. 4. To correct the idea that swallows leave because of the cold, and explain that the insects are the real cause.
  2. 2.1. A chamber with a gate at each end, built where the land rises. 2. The water comes down from the higher stretch by gravity. 3. The lower gate. 4. Sluices in the upper gate.

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.