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The Step That Was Skipped is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on critiquing an explanation, aligned to Common Core standard D4.5.3-5. It prints 8 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 20 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.

The Step That Was Skipped

D4.5.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.An explanation of the death rates never mentions water. What is missing?
  • A.The number of deaths
  • B.The link the officer's own table points at
  • C.The year
2.An explanation puts the strike before the wage notice. What is wrong?
  • A.It uses figures
  • B.The order makes the reasoning impossible to follow
  • C.It is too short
3.What is the difference between explaining the strike and arguing about it?
  • A.One is longer
  • B.One says how it happened; the other says what you should think
  • C.One is louder
4.An explanation names its sources at each step. Why does that help?
  • A.It looks formal
  • B.Each step can be checked separately
  • C.It fills space
5.What makes an explanation of the region's growth strong?
  • A.Strong feeling
  • B.Right order, reasoning between steps, and figures drawn from sources
  • C.Many adjectives
6.An explanation gives no figure at all. Why is that weak?
  • A.A reader cannot check any step against the record
  • B.It looks shorter
  • C.Figures are decorative
7.An explanation says the uplands emptied 'because times were hard'. What is missing?
  • A.A date
  • B.A longer sentence
  • C.The steps: which market failed, and why that emptied the farms
8.An explanation lists every tonnage in the harbour return. Is that best?
  • A.Yes, more is better
  • B.No: detail that serves no step buries the reasoning
  • C.Yes, tonnage is evidence

LessonPrint · D4.5.3-5 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The Step That Was Skipped

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The link the officer's own table points at
  2. 2.The order makes the reasoning impossible to follow
  3. 3.One says how it happened; the other says what you should think
  4. 4.Each step can be checked separately
  5. 5.Right order, reasoning between steps, and figures drawn from sources
  6. 6.A reader cannot check any step against the record
  7. 7.The steps: which market failed, and why that emptied the farms
  8. 8.No: detail that serves no step buries the reasoning

More practice for D4.5.3-5

Judge how good an explanation is.

Teaching this next? The Step That Was Skipped is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D4.5.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.