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Two Tales, One Pattern is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on comparing themes, settings and plots of related stories, aligned to Common Core standard RL.3.9. 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 23 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.

Two Tales, One Pattern

RL.3.9

NameDate

Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

1.Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

Text 1: 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. What did Anansi ask each neighbour to do?
2.Now read Text 2 and answer these questions about BOTH texts.

Text 2: The Fox and the Well

A fox leaned too far over a well and fell in. The water was shallow, but the walls were smooth and far too high to climb. He was still sitting there when a goat came by and looked down. "Is the water good?" asked the goat. "The best I have ever tasted," said the fox. "Come down and see." The goat jumped in. The fox climbed onto the goat's back, sprang out, and trotted off. "Wait!" called the goat. "How do I get out?" "You should have thought about that," said the fox, "before you jumped."

  1. 1. How is Anansi like the fox in "The Fox and the Well"?
  2. 2. How is the goat's fate different from Anansi's?
  3. 3. How does Anansi's ending differ from the fox's?

LessonPrint · RL.3.9 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Two Tales, One Pattern

Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Tie a web to his leg and tug it when the food was ready.
  2. 2.1. Both are clever — Anansi with his webs, the fox with his flattery — and both schemes cost somebody dearly. 2. The goat is trapped by trusting somebody else; Anansi is trapped by his own greed. 3. Anansi is left with nothing by his own scheme; the fox talks somebody else into taking his place.

More practice for RL.3.9

Compare two books from a series on theme, setting and plot.

Teaching this next? Comparing Stories by One Author is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.3.9 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.