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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 13

Reading Patterns

Cause, order, point of view and the index

What your child practices

Spotting cause and effect and order of importance, deciding who is telling a story, making inferences from clues, and using an index.

Alaska content standards learning standard: RI.3.5 · cause and effect, order and other text structures

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Cause is why something happens. Effect is what happens.
  2. If the narrator says I or we, they are in the story. If they say he, she or they, they are outside it.
  3. An index at the back lists topics in ABC order with page numbers.

Example: A story says, “She opened the door and gasped.” Who is telling it? The narrator says “she,” not “I.” So the teller is not a character. Answer: someone outside the story

Reading Patterns in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 11 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Grammar Gears and before Wonder & Find Out.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What word shows that a tip is coming last?

    Staying Safe on Your Bike

    Most important of all, always wear a helmet. It protects your head if you fall.

    Also, ride on the right-hand side of the road and stop at stop signs.

    Finally, a bell or bright clothes help other people see and hear you.

    • Finally
    • Also
    • Most

  2. Question 2

    What is an index used for?

    • to show the story's ending
    • to tell you who wrote the book
    • to find the page where a topic is

  3. Question 3

    Which topic is on page 12?

    Index
    TopicPage
    Ants17
    Caribou28
    Lynx23
    Moose4
    Wolves12
    • Wolves
    • Ants
    • Caribou

  4. Question 4

    Which tip does the writer say is most important?

    Staying Safe on Your Bike

    Most important of all, always wear a helmet. It protects your head if you fall.

    Also, ride on the right-hand side of the road and stop at stop signs.

    Finally, a bell or bright clothes help other people see and hear you.

    • wearing a helmet
    • wearing bright clothes
    • ringing a bell

  5. Question 5

    An index lists topics in alphabetical order. Which of these would come first?

    • Caribou
    • Lynx
    • Frogs

  6. Question 6

    Which tip helps people see you?

    Staying Safe on Your Bike

    Most important of all, always wear a helmet. It protects your head if you fall.

    Also, ride on the right-hand side of the road and stop at stop signs.

    Finally, a bell or bright clothes help other people see and hear you.

    • stopping at stop signs
    • wearing bright clothes
    • riding on the right-hand side

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