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Recount a Folktale is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on retelling a folktale or myth with its key details, aligned to Common Core standard RL.3.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 17 of them with 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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One paper per pupil

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17 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.

Recount a Folktale

RL.3.2

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.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. Recount this story with the key details.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Last Letter

Every Thursday for six years, Mr Ellis posted a letter to his sister in Canada. Then the letters started coming back. Address unknown. He kept writing them anyway. He put them in a shoebox instead of the postbox. When his neighbour Ada asked why, he said, "Because the day I stop writing is the day she is really gone." Ada went home and looked up the town on a map. It took her three weeks and eleven phone calls to find the new address. The shoebox held ninety-two letters. They posted them all on the same day.

  1. 1. Recount this story with the key details.

LessonPrint · RL.3.2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Recount a Folktale

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A violin sat unexplained in the loft for eleven years until Great-Aunt Sylvie recognised it as her brother's, held it briefly, and put it back.
  2. 2.1. Mr Ellis's letters to Canada came back marked address unknown, he kept writing into a shoebox, and Ada tracked down the address so all ninety-two could be posted.

Questions about Recount a Folktale

What does the Recount a Folktale worksheet cover?

It practises retelling a folktale or myth with its key details — 2 questions for Grade 3, all on Common Core RL.3.2: Retell a tale, state its message, and show which details carry it. 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 Recount a Folktale practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 — RL.3.2, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 3. The published standard reads: “Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Recount a Folktale is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on RL.3.2, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Recount a Folktale 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 Recount a Folktale can I print?

25 versions, of which 17 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.

Is Recount a Folktale free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Recount a Folktale, 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.3.2?

Yes — “The Central Message and How It Is Conveyed” is a 40-minute Grade 3 plan for RL.3.2, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Recount a Folktale is the practice that follows it.

More practice for RL.3.2

Retell a tale, state its message, and show which details carry it.

Teaching this next? The Central Message and How It Is Conveyed is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.