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 practised. Then I took a deep breath and began, “This is how a volcano erupts.”
Grade 3 English Language Arts practice sheet
Nova Scotia Curriculum · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
You are sharing news with the whole class. How can your body language help?
🧑🏫- stay behind the desk and look down
- wave your arms wildly
- stand facing the class and use calm gestures
- turn to the wall
stand facing the class and use calm gestures
Hint: Calm, open movements help people listen.
Question 2
Add “-ed” to “cook”. Which spelling is correct?
cook + ed
- cookked
- cooked
- cookt
cooked
Hint: “cook” has no silent e to drop, and it doesn't end in one short vowel plus one consonant. So just add -ed: cooked.
Question 3
Which suffix can mean “a person who”?
- -less
- -ful
- -er
-er
Hint: Think of “teacher”: a person who teaches.
Question 4
Which word is a synonym for “easy”?
- difficult
- noisy
- simple
simple
Hint: Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing. You could swap “easy” for “simple” in a sentence.
Question 5
Which of these can a dictionary tell you about a word?
- Who said it first
- What it means and how to spell it
- What colour it is
What it means and how to spell it
Hint: Dictionaries give each word's spelling and meaning, and often how to say it.
Question 6
Which word in this sentence is a verb?
Two noisy crows sat on the fence.
- noisy
- crows
- sat
sat
Hint: A verb is an action word. Ask: what is someone or something doing?
Question 7
What kind of sentence is this?
The library has new computers.
- Statement (tells something)
- Exclamation (shows strong feeling)
- Command (tells someone to do something)
- Question (asks something)
Statement (tells something)
Hint: It calmly tells a fact or an idea and ends with a period. That makes it a statement.
Question 8
Which date is written correctly?
- March 12 2026
- March 12, 2026
- march 12, 2026
March 12, 2026
Hint: Start the month with a capital letter, and put a comma between the day and the year.
Question 9
Who is telling this story?
- the judge
- the person who made the volcano
- a teacher
the person who made the volcano
Hint: The word I shows who is telling it.
Question 10
What did Zoe and Grandpa do after lunch?
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.
- Baked cookies
- Built a blanket fort and read stories
- Walked to the park
Built a blanket fort and read stories
Hint: Find the words “After lunch” in the last paragraph.
Answer key
- 1. stand facing the class and use calm gestures (Speaking & Listening)
- 2. cooked (Spelling Patterns)
- 3. -er (Prefixes & Suffixes)
- 4. simple (Word Pairs)
- 5. What it means and how to spell it (ABC Order & Dictionary)
- 6. sat (Word Jobs)
- 7. Statement (tells something) (Sentence Smarts)
- 8. March 12, 2026 (Punctuation Power)
- 9. the person who made the volcano (Reading Patterns)
- 10. Built a blanket fort and read stories (Read and Think)
Want more than 10 questions?
In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all english language arts units.