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Reading a Grade 3 Story is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on reading a whole Grade 3 text and answering across it, aligned to Common Core standard RL.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 Story

RL.3.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Why Anansi Has Thin Legs

Long ago Anansi the spider had eight fat legs, and a nose for other people's cooking. One morning he smelled beans at Rabbit's house. "Tie a web to my leg," he told Rabbit, "and tug it when the beans are ready." Rabbit agreed. Then Anansi smelled fish at Monkey's, and yams at Guinea Fowl's, and soup at Warthog's. To each he said the same thing. By noon he had eight webs tied to eight legs. At noon every pot was ready at once. Eight tugs came together. The webs pulled so hard that Anansi's legs stretched thin as thread — and he got no dinner at all. They have been thin ever since.

  1. 1. Describe Anansi's motivation. What does he want, and what does he do about it?
  2. 2. How many webs were tied to Anansi's legs by noon?
  3. 3. How do Anansi's actions cause the ending?
  4. 4. What did Anansi get to eat in the end?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Violin in the Loft

Nobody in our family plays anything. So the violin in the loft was a mystery for eleven years. Then Great-Aunt Sylvie came for Christmas and saw the case on the table. She went very quiet. "That was my brother's," she said. "He played in a café in Marseille before the war." She opened it. Three strings had gone, and the bridge lay loose in the bottom of the case. She did not play it. She held it under her chin for about ten seconds, put it back, and closed the lid. Then she asked for more potatoes and did not mention it again.

  1. 1. How long had the violin been a mystery?
  2. 2. Why might Sylvie have put the violin back without playing it?
  3. 3. What is the central message of this story?
  4. 4. The violin was "a mystery for eleven years". Is that literal?

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

Answer key — Reading a Grade 3 Story

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. He wants as much free food as possible, so he arranges a web with every neighbour at once. 2. Eight. 3. Because he made eight arrangements, all eight tugs came at once and stretched his legs. 4. Nothing — he got no dinner at all.
  2. 2.1. Eleven years. 2. The story does not say; the broken strings, or the memory of her brother, or both. 3. Some feelings are shown by what a person does not say — Sylvie held the violin and asked for potatoes. 4. Partly — nobody knew whose it was, so it was genuinely unexplained, described as a mystery.

Questions about Reading a Grade 3 Story

What does the Reading a Grade 3 Story worksheet cover?

It practises reading a whole Grade 3 text and answering across it — 2 questions for Grade 3, all on Common Core RL.3.10: Read and understand harder Grade 2-3 stories, plays and poems 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 Story practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.10 — RL.3.10, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 3. The published standard reads: “By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, 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 Story is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on RL.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 Story 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 Story 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 Story free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Reading a Grade 3 Story, 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 RL.3.10?

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

More practice for RL.3.10

Read and understand harder Grade 2-3 stories, plays and poems on your own.

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

All Grade 3 worksheets

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