The Heron
Every morning, a great blue heron stood still at the edge of the pond. It watched the water with sharp yellow eyes.
A frog hopped near the reeds. Quick as lightning, the heron struck.
3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 21
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 3R3; 3R5 · cause and effect, order and other ways informational texts are organized
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Cause is why something happens. Effect is what happens.
- If the narrator says I or we, they are in the story. If they say he, she or they, they are outside it.
- 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 New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 11 of 21 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.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Why does the heron stand so still?
- because it is cold
- because it is sleeping
- so it can catch a meal without scaring it away
so it can catch a meal without scaring it away
Hint: Think about what the heron does when the frog hops close.
Question 2
Which topic is on page 9?
Index Topic Page Ants 9 Beavers 12 Caribou 28 Eagles 31 Wolves 4 - Caribou
- Beavers
- Ants
Ants
Hint: Find the page number, then read the topic beside it.
Question 3
What point of view is this story told from?
The Heron
Every morning, a great blue heron stood still at the edge of the pond. It watched the water with sharp yellow eyes.
A frog hopped near the reeds. Quick as lightning, the heron struck.
- third person
- second person
- first person
third person
Hint: When the narrator is not a character, it is told in the third person.
Question 4
What point of view is this story told from?
Volcano Day
I carried my volcano to the gym with both arms. My heart was thumping.
When the judge stopped at my table, I forgot every word I had practiced. Then I took a deep breath and began, “This is how a volcano erupts.”
- first person
- second person
- third person
first person
Hint: A story that uses I is told in the first person.
Question 5
On which page can you read about otters?
Index Topic Page Caribou 23 Eagles 4 Frogs 17 Moose 28 Otters 12 - 4
- 12
- 23
12
Hint: Find the topic in the list, then read its page number.
Question 6
What is an index used for?
- to find the page where a topic is
- to show the story's ending
- to tell you who wrote the book
to find the page where a topic is
Hint: An index is at the back of a book. It lists topics and the pages they are on.