Reading short original stories and non-fiction passages, then finding the main idea, details and order of events, making inferences and working out word meanings from context.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 4; Reading 5 · understanding stories and finding the main idea of true texts
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
Read the whole passage once, then go back to find answers.
The main idea is what most of the passage is about, not one small detail.
For a new word, read the words around it. They often explain it.
Example: A passage tells how Amir feeds the class pet, cleans its cage and gives it water. What is the main idea? Each sentence tells one way Amir looks after the pet. Together they tell one big idea. Answer: Amir takes good care of the class pet.
Read and Think in Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 1 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, before Story Elements.
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.
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which word from the passage means a clear, watery liquid inside a tree?
From Tree to Syrup
Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. Sap is a clear, watery liquid that moves through a tree.
In early spring, the nights are still freezing, but the days are warmer. This is when sap flows best. People drill a small hole in the tree's trunk and put in a spout called a tap. The sap drips out into a bucket or flows through a tube.
Fresh sap is only a little bit sweet. It must be boiled for a long time so that most of the water goes away. It takes about 40 liters of sap to make just 1 liter of maple syrup!
sap
spout
syrup
sap
Hint: The first paragraph tells what this word means.
Question 2
When does sap flow best?
From Tree to Syrup
Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. Sap is a clear, watery liquid that moves through a tree.
In early spring, the nights are still freezing, but the days are warmer. This is when sap flows best. People drill a small hole in the tree's trunk and put in a spout called a tap. The sap drips out into a bucket or flows through a tube.
Fresh sap is only a little bit sweet. It must be boiled for a long time so that most of the water goes away. It takes about 40 liters of sap to make just 1 liter of maple syrup!
In early spring
In the middle of summer
In late fall
In early spring
Hint: Read the start of the second paragraph.
Question 3
Is this passage fiction or non-fiction?
From Tree to Syrup
Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. Sap is a clear, watery liquid that moves through a tree.
In early spring, the nights are still freezing, but the days are warmer. This is when sap flows best. People drill a small hole in the tree's trunk and put in a spout called a tap. The sap drips out into a bucket or flows through a tube.
Fresh sap is only a little bit sweet. It must be boiled for a long time so that most of the water goes away. It takes about 40 liters of sap to make just 1 liter of maple syrup!
Fiction: it is a made-up story
A poem that rhymes
Non-fiction: it teaches real facts
Non-fiction: it teaches real facts
Hint: Does it tell a made-up story, or does it explain how something really happens?
Question 4
What is this passage mostly about?
From Tree to Syrup
Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. Sap is a clear, watery liquid that moves through a tree.
In early spring, the nights are still freezing, but the days are warmer. This is when sap flows best. People drill a small hole in the tree's trunk and put in a spout called a tap. The sap drips out into a bucket or flows through a tube.
Fresh sap is only a little bit sweet. It must be boiled for a long time so that most of the water goes away. It takes about 40 liters of sap to make just 1 liter of maple syrup!
How to plant a maple tree
Why maple leaves change color
How maple syrup is made
How maple syrup is made
Hint: The title is a clue. What does each paragraph explain?
Question 5
The rain was “drumming” on the window. What does that tell you?
The Indoor Picnic
Zoe and her grandpa had planned a picnic at the park for Saturday. But when Zoe woke up, rain was drumming on her window.
“Our picnic is ruined,” Zoe sighed, pressing her nose against the cold glass.
Grandpa smiled. “Who says a picnic has to be outside?” He spread a blanket on the living room floor. Zoe packed sandwiches, grapes and lemonade into the basket, just as they had planned.
They ate on the blanket and listened to the rain. After lunch, they built a blanket fort and read stories inside it. “This was even better than the park,” Zoe said with a grin.
The rain was tapping hard and loudly.
The rain had stopped.
Someone was playing a drum.
The rain was tapping hard and loudly.
Hint: Think about the sound a drum makes. How would rain sound if it was drumming?
Question 6
Where did Zoe and Grandpa have their picnic?
The Indoor Picnic
Zoe and her grandpa had planned a picnic at the park for Saturday. But when Zoe woke up, rain was drumming on her window.
“Our picnic is ruined,” Zoe sighed, pressing her nose against the cold glass.
Grandpa smiled. “Who says a picnic has to be outside?” He spread a blanket on the living room floor. Zoe packed sandwiches, grapes and lemonade into the basket, just as they had planned.
They ate on the blanket and listened to the rain. After lunch, they built a blanket fort and read stories inside it. “This was even better than the park,” Zoe said with a grin.
At the park
On the living room floor
On the front steps
On the living room floor
Hint: Read the third paragraph. Where did Grandpa spread the blanket?