A recess walk across the playground carries this 4-page 3rd grade reading on friction. The passage covers a metal slide in shorts or long pants, rubber-soled sneakers on a basketball court, a soccer ball kicked across blacktop and across grass, and hands rubbed together on a chilly day. Nine questions in three parts run from finding facts to giving an opinion. It ties to Common Core RI.3.1 and RI.3.4, and the key includes a sample response.
RI.3.1
“Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.”
Questions 1 to 4 and 7 send students back to the passage, and questions 7 and 9 ask for evidence.
RI.3.4
“Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.”
Question 5 asks what grip means in paragraph 3.
Five paragraphs beside a picture of children on a slide and a basketball court. The word friction is in bold in the opening paragraph.
Question 1 is multiple choice on what friction is, and question 2 asks why you slide slower in shorts on a metal slide. Question 3 compares a soccer ball on grass and blacktop. Question 4 asks students to copy a phrase from the last paragraph.
Question 5 asks what grip means in paragraph 3, and question 6 asks why fuzzy socks would be a problem on a basketball court. Question 7 is True or False with a reason from the passage, and question 8 asks about a slide covered in rough sand.
Question 9 asks whether friction is helpful or harmful during recess, with two examples from the passage.
All nine answers, the quoted phrase for question 4 and a sample response to question 9.
Underline as you read
Read the passage aloud and have students underline each example of friction. After the opening paragraph there are four to find: the slide, the sneakers, the soccer ball and the hands.
Question 8 as a transfer check
Question 8 asks about a slide covered in rough sand, which the passage never mentions. Students who write slower and say rough surfaces create more friction have the idea.
Evidence for question 7
Accept either the grass and blacktop example or the sneaker grip example. Students who only write False with no reason need one more prompt.
Get started today
