Say the Whole Thing Shorter is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on summarising an information text accurately, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 20 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
20 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.
Say the Whole Thing Shorter
RI.3.2
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
How a Canal Lock Works
A canal cannot run uphill. Where the land rises, engineers build a lock: a chamber with a gate at each end.
A boat going uphill enters the lock through the lower gate. The gate closes behind it.
Sluices in the upper gate are opened. Water flows in from the higher stretch of canal, and the boat rises with it. No pump is needed, because the water comes down by gravity.
When the water inside matches the level above, the upper gate can be opened and the boat moves on.
Going downhill, everything runs the other way: the water is let out, and the boat sinks with it.
1. Summarise this text in one sentence.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Salmon's Return
A salmon hatches in a river, swims to the sea, and comes back years later to the river it was born in.
It finds its way home by smell. Every river carries its own mixture of soil, rock and plants, and a young salmon learns that smell before it leaves.
The return journey is upstream. The fish leap waterfalls, sometimes several metres high, and they do not eat once they enter fresh water.
Because it is not feeding, a salmon uses up its own body on the climb. By the time it reaches the gravel where it hatched, it is thin and worn.
There it lays its eggs. Most Atlantic salmon die soon afterwards.
1. Summarise this text in one sentence.
LessonPrint · RI.3.2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Say the Whole Thing Shorter
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. A canal lock is a chamber with two gates; letting water in by gravity raises a boat to the higher level, and letting it out lowers one.
2.1. A salmon hatches in gravel, lives at sea, then smells its way back upstream without eating to lay eggs where it was born.
Questions about Say the Whole Thing Shorter
What does the Say the Whole Thing Shorter worksheet cover?
It practises summarising an information text accurately — 2 questions for Grade 3, all on Common Core RI.3.2: State the main idea and show which details hold it up. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Say the Whole Thing Shorter practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2 — RI.3.2, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 3. The published standard reads: “Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Say the Whole Thing Shorter is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on RI.3.2, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Say the Whole Thing Shorter come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Say the Whole Thing Shorter can I print?
25 versions, of which 20 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Say the Whole Thing Shorter free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Say the Whole Thing Shorter, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for RI.3.2
State the main idea and show which details hold it up.