Explain It Step by Step is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on constructing an explanation with reasoning and order, aligned to Common Core standard D4.2.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 14 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 19 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per pupil

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 14 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.

Explain It Step by Step

D4.2.3-5

NameDate

Write your answer. Use the checklist.

1.Explain why a trade directory is useful to a historian.

Say what it records
Give an example
Say what it leaves out

2.Explain why the canal company cut its charges. Give your reasoning.

Name what forced it
Show the reasoning
Say what it hoped for

LessonPrint · D4.2.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Explain It Step by Step

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

1.An explanation of why a trade directory is useful to a historian, with an example of what it records and what it leaves out.
2.An explanation of why the canal company cut its charges, reasoning from the railway's competition to what the company hoped to keep.

More practice for D4.2.3-5

Explain something with reasoning, the right order, examples and detail.

Teaching this next? Explaining It in the Right Order is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D4.2.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.