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Take Brief Notes is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on recording facts from a source without copying it out, aligned to Common Core standard W.3.8. 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 3 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.

Take Brief Notes

W.3.8

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. The author says Morse survived a long time. What reason is given?
  2. 2. What is the Morse pattern for SOS?
  3. 3. How is this text organised?
  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. Which gate does a boat going uphill enter through?
  2. 2. What are opened to let the water in?
  3. 3. What is a lock?
  4. 4. How is this text organised?

LessonPrint · W.3.8 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Take Brief Notes

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It needs almost no equipment — it can be sent as sound, light or taps. 2. Three dots, three dashes, three dots. 3. By topic — what the code is, why it is efficient, how it is sent, and how timing works. 4. Three times as long.
  2. 2.1. The lower gate. 2. Sluices in the upper gate. 3. A chamber with a gate at each end, built where the land rises. 4. As a sequence — the steps of going uphill in order, then the reverse for downhill.

More practice for W.3.8

Take brief notes from sources and sort them into given categories.

Teaching this next? Taking Notes and Sorting Evidence is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to W.3.8 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.