A story about two classmates, Leo and Maya, fills page 1 of this 3rd grade reading sheet. At recess they find a seesaw, a straight slide, a merry-go-round, a flagpole and a twisty tube slide, and name the simple machine in each. Page 2 has four multiple-choice questions and two short answers. Page 3 adds a true or false evidence table and an opinion question. Page 4 is the answer key.
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 3 and the evidence column in question 7 send students back to the story.
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 4 asks what fulcrum means, and question 2 asks which part of the merry-go-round is the axle.
“Support an opinion with examples from a text.”
Question 8 asks students to agree or disagree with Leo and use examples from the story.
A passage with a picture of the playground. The key words lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, pulley and screw are in bold as the children find them.
Four multiple-choice questions on the straight slide, the axle, the tube slide as a screw and the word fulcrum. Then two short answers, one on why the seesaw is a lever and one on the machine that raises the flag.
A table of two statements to circle as true or false, with a line to copy evidence from the text. Question 8 asks whether a playground is like a science lab.
Letter answers for questions 1 to 4, model answers for 5 and 6, the two true or false rows with quotes, and a sample opinion for question 8.
Underline as you read
Ask students to underline each machine as the children name it. There are five finds, and two of them are inclined planes.
Model the evidence table
Do row 1 together on the board. Copying the sentence about pulling down on the rope shows students what a good line of evidence looks like.
Two sides on question 8
Split the room into agree and disagree before anyone writes. Students who disagree have to argue from the story, which is harder than it sounds.
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