All Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #5 : Determine Main Idea
Adley Joins the Soccer Team
The day started off like any other day. Adley woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and began running to school. Her mother joked that it was like “pulling teeth” to get Adley out of bed in the morning, but today was different. Her dad had pulled strings to get her on the soccer team- a year earlier than most girls were allowed to start playing at her school. Today was the first day of practice, and she couldn’t wait! Today was not going to be like any other day.
All-day she was distracted. She couldn’t focus on what the teachers were teaching in class. She just kept thinking about soccer practice after school, and her nerves were growing bigger and bigger. By the time practice was about to start, Adley was so nervous she kept dropping her cleats. She began to wonder if she really should join the team.
Suddenly, Adley heard a whisper, “Put the cleats on, that’s all you need to do”. She looked around but saw no one close to her that could have spoken to her. All of the other girls were already on the soccer field stretching before practice began. She did as she heard, and put the cleats on. Before she ran onto the field to join the other girls, she noticed a golden glow around her soccer cleats. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she was too embarrassed to ask anyone else if they saw the glow too.
During practice, Adley ran faster than she’s ever run before, and she scored 4 goals during the 1-hour practice. Her teammates huddled around her after each goal and praised her talents. After each goal that she scored, she looked down and saw the golden glow around her cleats- she figured they must be magic! As long as Adley was wearing her cleats, her confidence grew and her nerves disappeared.
What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
Adley had a great practice.
Adley was distracted during school because she was nervous about her first soccer practice.
Adley saw a glow from her soccer cleats when she put them on before practice.
The day was a special day because it was Adley’s first day of soccer practice.
Adley was distracted during school because she was nervous about her first soccer practice.
The main idea of a text is an idea you learn from all the parts of the passage together, not just one part or paragraph. It is the key point that the author is trying to make overall. This question is asking for just the main idea of one specific paragraph. So you want to focus on the overall idea that you learn from just the one paragraph, nothing else covered in the passage. The second paragraph talks about how nervous Adley is about her first soccer practice. Because she is so nervous, she can’t concentrate during school. She begins to doubt whether she should be on the team or not. The correct answer is, “Adley was distracted during school because she was nervous about her first soccer practice."
Example Question #281 : Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts
Adley Joins the Soccer Team
The day started off like any other day. Adley woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and began running to school. Her mother joked that it was like “pulling teeth” to get Adley out of bed in the morning, but today was different. Her dad had pulled strings to get her on the soccer team- a year earlier than most girls were allowed to start playing at her school. Today was the first day of practice, and she couldn’t wait! Today was not going to be like any other day.
All-day she was distracted. She couldn’t focus on what the teachers were teaching in class. She just kept thinking about soccer practice after school, and her nerves were growing bigger and bigger. By the time practice was about to start, Adley was so nervous she kept dropping her cleats. She began to wonder if she really should join the team.
Suddenly, Adley heard a whisper, “Put the cleats on, that’s all you need to do”. She looked around but saw no one close to her that could have spoken to her. All of the other girls were already on the soccer field stretching before practice began. She did as she heard, and put the cleats on. Before she ran onto the field to join the other girls, she noticed a golden glow around her soccer cleats. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she was too embarrassed to ask anyone else if they saw the glow too.
During practice, Adley ran faster than she’s ever run before, and she scored 4 goals during the 1-hour practice. Her teammates huddled around her after each goal and praised her talents. After each goal that she scored, she looked down and saw the golden glow around her cleats- she figured they must be magic! As long as Adley was wearing her cleats, her confidence grew and her nerves disappeared.
What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
Adley was distracted during school because she was nervous about her first soccer practice.
The day was a special day because it was Adley’s first day of soccer practice.
Adley saw a glow from her soccer cleats when she put them on before practice.
Adley had a great practice.
Adley saw a glow from her soccer cleats when she put them on before practice.
The main idea of a text is an idea you learn from all the parts of the passage together, not just one part or paragraph. It is the key point that the author is trying to make overall. This question is asking for just the main idea of one specific paragraph. So you want to focus on the overall idea that you learn from just the one paragraph, nothing else covered in the passage. The third paragraph introduces the idea of magical cleats. Adley hears a voice from nowhere to put them on. When she does, she sees a glow coming from them. The correct answer is, “Adley saw a glow from her soccer cleats when she put them on before practice.”
Example Question #282 : Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts
The Dog and the Princess
Once upon a time Princess Ali and her mother, The Queen, ruled all of the lands. Princess Ali’s father had died when Ali was very young, so she had no memory of him and she always felt like something was missing from her life. But, many people told her tales of the great King Archie. Every story that she heard made her father sound like a jovial and fun king. Everyone always laughed when they spoke of King Archie. She thought about him often and wondered how different her life may have been if she had grown up with both a mother and a father.
On a beautiful spring day, Princess Ali was walking in the grand gardens when she spotted a goofy-looking dog. His legs were way too long for his body, one ear stood straight up, while the other folded down, and his big tongue hung out of the left side of his mouth. He had a great big grin on his face as he ran towards Princess Ali. The dog was running too quickly and wasn’t able to stop his long legs from crashing into Princess Ali, so they both tumbled to the ground.
Princess Ali giggled as the dog covered her in kisses. When she was able to break free, she stood up and the dog began to dance in circles around her, barking happily. She saw that he wore a red collar with the name “Archie” stitched in white writing. She decided this dog must belong to someone so she spent all day walking the dog around the kingdom trying to find his rightful owners.
Throughout the day Princess Ali laughed more than she ever had. The dog spent the whole day trying to please her and make her laugh. He chased butterflies, played in puddles, licked her hand, snuggled his head into her belly, and pulled flowers out of the ground for her. Her life felt more complete for the first time. As the day drew to a close, they hadn’t come across anyone that claimed to be his owner.
Princess Ali decided to keep the dog Archie, and they all lived happily ever after.
What is the main idea of the passage?
Princess Ali finds a dog with similar traits to her father, and the dog helps her life feel more complete.
Princess Ali is a sad princess.
How to best care for a missing dog.
A fun-loving dog rules over a kingdom.
Princess Ali finds a dog with similar traits to her father, and the dog helps her life feel more complete.
The main idea of a text is an idea you learn from all the parts of the passage together, not just one part or paragraph. It is the key point that the author is trying to make overall. At the beginning of the passage, we learn that Princess Ali’s life doesn’t feel complete because her father died when she was very young. During the passage, Adley comes across a dog that is happy, fun and brings her great joy. The dog made her life feel complete after spending just one day with him. The correct answer is, “Princess Ali finds a dog with similar traits to her father, and the dog helps her life feel more complete.”
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