What Each Text Adds is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on comparing two short texts on one topic to find what the second adds, aligned to Common Core standard RI.3.9. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students 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.
1.Text 1: Swallows fly to Africa every fall. Text 2: Swallows leave because the flying insects they eat disappear. What does Text 2 add?
A.Where swallows go
B.That swallows are birds
C.The reason swallows leave
2.Text 1 says swallows lose a third of their weight. Text 2 says many swallows die on the way. What do both texts show?
A.Swallows never come back
B.The journey is very hard
C.The journey is short
3.Text 1: Bread rises because yeast gives off gas. Text 2: The gas is trapped by a stretchy web of gluten. What does Text 2 add?
A.Why the gas stays in the dough
B.How long to bake the bread
C.That yeast gives off gas
4.Text 1: Cheese is made from milk. Text 2: Bacteria and rennet split milk into curds and whey. What does Text 2 add?
A.How milk is turned into cheese
B.Which cheese tastes best
C.That cheese comes from milk
5.Text 1: Beavers build dams of sticks and mud. Text 2: A beaver dam makes a pond where beavers are safe from wolves. What does Text 2 add?
A.What dams are made of
B.How big a beaver is
C.Why beavers build dams
6.Text 1: Honeybees make honey from nectar. Text 2: Bees store honey to eat in winter when there are no flowers. What does Text 2 add?
A.Why bees store honey
B.How bees sting
C.What honey is made from
7.Text 1: Braille is a code of raised dots. Text 2: Louis Braille finished his code at fifteen. What does Text 2 add?
A.That the code uses dots
B.How the dots are printed
C.When the code was finished
8.Text 1 and Text 2 both say salmon leap waterfalls. Only Text 2 says they stop eating on the way. Which point is in both texts?
A.Salmon stop eating on the way
B.Salmon leap waterfalls
C.Salmon live in lakes
LessonPrint · RI.3.9 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What Each Text Adds
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.The reason swallows leave
2.The journey is very hard
3.Why the gas stays in the dough
4.How milk is turned into cheese
5.Why beavers build dams
6.Why bees store honey
7.When the code was finished
8.Salmon leap waterfalls
Questions about What Each Text Adds
What does the What Each Text Adds worksheet cover?
It practices comparing two short texts on one topic to find what the second adds — 8 questions for Grade 3, all on Common Core RI.3.9: Compare the main points and details of two texts on one topic. The instruction to students is “Circle the right answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does What Each Text Adds practice?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9 — RI.3.9, under Reading: Informational Text for Grade 3. The published standard reads: “Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
What Each Text Adds is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on RI.3.9, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does What Each Text Adds come with an answer key?
Yes. All 8 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 What Each Text Adds can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is What Each Text Adds free to print and photocopy?
Yes. What Each Text Adds, 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.3.9
Compare the main points and details of two texts on one topic.