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Say the Whole Thing Shorter is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on summarising an information text accurately, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 20 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 18 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 20 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.

Say the Whole Thing Shorter

RI.3.2

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Salmon's Return

A salmon hatches in a river, swims to the sea, and comes back years later to the river it was born in. It finds its way home by smell. Every river carries its own mixture of soil, rock and plants, and a young salmon learns that smell before it leaves. The return journey is upstream. The fish leap waterfalls, sometimes several metres high, and they do not eat once they enter fresh water. Because it is not feeding, a salmon uses up its own body on the climb. By the time it reaches the gravel where it hatched, it is thin and worn. There it lays its eggs. Most Atlantic salmon die soon afterwards.

  1. 1. Summarise this text in one sentence.
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. Summarise this text in one sentence.

LessonPrint · RI.3.2 · Set 18 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Say the Whole Thing Shorter

Set 18. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A salmon hatches in gravel, lives at sea, then smells its way back upstream without eating to lay eggs where it was born.
  2. 2.1. A canal lock is a chamber with two gates; letting water in by gravity raises a boat to the higher level, and letting it out lowers one.

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