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Two Texts, One Topic is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on comparing the key points of two texts on one subject, aligned to Common Core standard RI.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 24 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 Texts, One Topic

RI.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 Swallows Leave

Swallows do not leave Britain because of the cold. They leave because of the insects. A swallow eats flying insects, and it catches them in the air. In October the insects disappear, and a bird that eats nothing else has to follow the food. So swallows fly to southern Africa: about six thousand miles, taking roughly six weeks. They travel by day and feed as they go. They lose about a third of their body weight on the way. Many do not arrive. The following spring they return, and a swallow will often nest in the very barn it hatched in.

  1. 1. What is the main idea of this text, and which details support it?
2.Now read Text 2 and answer these questions about BOTH texts.

Text 2: 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. How is the salmon's journey like the swallow's?
  2. 2. How is the salmon's journey harder than the swallow's?
  3. 3. How is a swallow's migration like a salmon's journey?

LessonPrint · RI.3.9 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Two Texts, One Topic

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Swallows migrate to follow their food — supported by their diet, the October insect drop and the journey south.
  2. 2.1. Both are long journeys back to the exact place the animal was born. 2. The salmon climbs upstream without eating and usually dies afterwards; the swallow feeds as it goes and returns each year. 3. Both are long, regular journeys driven by what the animal needs to survive.

More practice for RI.3.9

Compare the main points and details of two texts on one topic.

Teaching this next? Comparing Two Texts on One Subject is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

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