Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts : Key Ideas and Details
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts
All Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Describe Characters
Adapted from “How the Camel Got His Hump” in Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (1902)
Now this is the next tale, and it tells how the Camel got his big hump.
Presently the Horse came to him on Monday morning, with a saddle on his back and a bit in his mouth, and said, “Camel, O Camel, come out and trot like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel; and the Horse went away and told the Man.
Presently the Dog came to him, with a stick in his mouth, and said, “Camel, O Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel; and the Dog went away and told the Man.
Presently the Ox came to him, with the yoke on his neck and said, “Camel, O Camel, come and plough like the rest of us.”
“Humph!” said the Camel; and the Ox went away and told the Man.
At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox together, and said, “Three, O Three, I’m very sorry for you (with the world so new‐and‐all); but that Humph‐thing in the Desert can’t work, or he would have been here by now, so I am going to leave him alone, and you must work double‐ time to make up for it.”
That made the Three very angry (with the world so new‐and‐all), and they held a palaver, and an indaba, and a punchayet, and a pow‐wow on the edge of the Desert; and the Camel came chewing milkweed most ’scruciating idle, and laughed at them. Then he said “Humph!” and went away again.
Presently there came along the Djinn in charge of All Deserts, rolling in a cloud of dust (Djinns always travel that way because it is Magic), and he stopped to palaver and pow‐wow with the Three.
“Djinn of All Deserts,” said the Horse, “is it right for any one to be idle, with the world so new‐and‐all?”
“Certainly not,” said the Djinn.
“Well,” said the Horse, “there’s a thing in the middle of your Howling Desert (and he’s a Howler himself) with a long neck and long legs, and he hasn’t done a stroke of work since Monday morning. He won’t trot.”
“Whew!” said the Djinn, whistling, “that’s my Camel, for all the gold in Arabia! What does he say about it?”
“He says ‘Humph!’” said the Dog; “and he won’t fetch and carry.”
“Does he say anything else?”
“Only ‘Humph!’; and he won’t plough,” said the Ox.
“Very good,” said the Djinn. “I’ll humph him if you will kindly wait a minute.”
"Camel my friend, what's this is hear of your doing no work, the world so new-and-all?", and the Djinn
"Humph!"
"Camel, you've given the Three extra work ever since Monday morning, all on account of your 'scruciating idleness."
"Humph!"
"I shouldn't say that again if I were you. You might say it once too often. Camel, I want you to work."
"Humph!"
No sooner has Camel said it than he sees his back, that he is so proud of, puffing up and puffing up into a great big lolloping human
"Do you see that hump? That's your very own humph that you've brought upon your very own self by not working. Today is Thursday, and you've done no work since Monday, when the work began. Now you are going to work," said Djinn.
"How can I with this humph on my back?" asked Camel.
"That's made a-purpose all because you missed those three days. You will be able to work now for three days without eating, because you can live on your humph; and don't you ever say I never did anything for you. Stay with the Three, and behave."
"Humph! Humph!"
From that day to this the Camel always wears a humph. Now we call is "hump" so that we will not hurt his feelings. However, he has never yet caught up with the three days that he missed at the beginning of the world, and he has never yet learned how to behave.
How is the Camel described throughout most of the story?
Active
Sad
Happy
Lazy
Lazy
The camel won't do any work, which means he is lazy.
Example Question #2 : Reading
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 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. 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.
How is King Archie described in the story?
Sad and lonely
Lonely and happy
Happy and fun
Strict and harsh
Happy and fun
In the first paragraph, we are told that King Archie was a jovial and fun king. Jovial means to be cheerful or happy, so the correct answer is “Happy and fun”.
Example Question #2 : Describe Characters
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 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. 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.
During the first paragraph, we could describe Princess Ali as
happy because she’s found a dog.
lonely and sad without her father.
happy that she and her mother rule the land together.
tired because she doesn’t get much sleep.
lonely and sad without her father.
To answer this question, we are told to only focus on the first paragraph. Later in the story, Princess Ali seems happy because she’s found a dog, but don’t get tricked by this answer option. We want to only look at the first paragraph. During the first paragraph, Princess Ali talks about not growing up with her father and how her life doesn’t feel complete. Based on this information, we can conclude that Princess Ali is long and said without her father.
Example Question #3 : Reading
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 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. 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.
How is the dog described in the story?
Goofy and happy
Mean and aggressive
Goofy and mean
Aggressive and happy
Goofy and happy
Throughout the passage, only positive words are used to describe the dog. In the second paragraph, we are told that the dog looks “goofy”. In the third paragraph we are told that the dog dances around and barks happily. The correct answer is “Goofy and happy”.
Example Question #2 : Reading
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 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. 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.
How is Princess Ali described at the end of the story?
Lonely
Happy
Sad
Angry
Happy
The last paragraph of the story starts by telling us that Princess has laughed more than she ever had that day. Happy people tend to laugh, so the correct answer is “Happy”.
Example Question #2 : Reading
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.
How is Adley described in the first paragraph?
Excited
Happy
Nervous
Sad
Excited
The first paragraph tells us that Adley couldn’t wait for soccer practice that day. Normally, when you can’t wait for something to happen, you are excited. The paragraph describes that it is usually difficult for Adley to get out of bed but on this day it was different.
Example Question #2 : Describe Characters
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.
How is Adley described in the second paragraph?
Happy
Sad
Nervous
Excited
Nervous
In the second paragraph, we are told that Adley was distracted and couldn’t focus because she was thinking about soccer practice. “...her nerves were growing bigger and bigger”. This means she was nervous.
Example Question #1 : Describe Characters
Prince Meanerman
Once upon a time, a mean prince ruled over a farming town called Summersville. The prince was named Prince Sweeterman, but he was known throughout Summersville as Prince Meanerman. The people of Summersville were very poor farmers, as the prince kept most of the wealth and food for himself. The farmers worked day and night trying to grow enough food for themselves, but still, the Prince took more and more. The sight of the hard-working farmers cracked Prince Sweeterman up as he watched from his castle in joy as the farmers struggled day after day. The Prince was warned that he should not treat his people this way, but the warning went in one ear and out the other. He never changed his ways.
One, by one the farmers began to look for other kingdoms to take them in. Eventually, Prince Sweeterman was left with no workers and no kingdom to rule over. With no food to eat for himself, he grew very hungry and meaner and meaner each day. Prince Meanerman never did learn his lesson.
How is Prince Sweeterman described throughout the story?
Greedy
Happy
Generous
Kind
Greedy
The Prince is described in a negative way throughout the story. His people worked very hard and he took all of the money and food for himself. These are characteristics of a greedy person. The correct answer is greedy.
Example Question #1 : Key Ideas And Details
Prince Meanerman
Once upon a time, a mean prince ruled over a farming town called Summersville. The prince was named Prince Sweeterman, but he was known throughout Summersville as Prince Meanerman. The people of Summersville were very poor farmers, as the prince kept most of the wealth and food for himself. The farmers worked day and night trying to grow enough food for themselves, but still, the Prince took more and more. The sight of the hard-working farmers cracked Prince Sweeterman up as he watched from his castle in joy as the farmers struggled day after day. The Prince was warned that he should not treat his people this way, but the warning went in one ear and out the other. He never changed his ways.
One, by one the farmers began to look for other kingdoms to take them in. Eventually, Prince Sweeterman was left with no workers and no kingdom to rule over. With no food to eat for himself, he grew very hungry and meaner and meaner each day. Prince Meanerman never did learn his lesson.
How are the farmers described in the story?
Wealthy
Agreeable
Hard-working
Happy
Hard-working
In the story, we are told that the farmers are poor and hard-working. They are described as working day and night to grow enough food. The correct answer is “Hard-working”.
Example Question #2 : Key Ideas And Details
The Kingdom of Cherry Blossoms
Once upon a time, Prince David and Princess Caroline were fortunate enough to rule over a beautiful kingdom. All over the kingdom, great big cherry blossom trees bloomed year-around, which is how the kingdom received its name. The Prince and Princess were not your average rulers. They were very kind and shared their wealth with all the townspeople. Instead of living in a castle, they lived in a regular home just like everyone else. The parties that they hosted were not just for the wealthy, but for everyone in town. Many days were spent with everyone laughing and dancing under the beautiful pink blooms of the cherry blossom trees.
Based on the story, how would you describe Prince David?
Generous
Harsh
Mean
Selfish
Generous
The story tells us that both Prince David and Princess Caroline are kind rulers and that they share their wealth with everyone in the town. People that share things are known as generous people. “Generous” is the correct answer.
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All Common Core: 3rd Grade English Language Arts Resources
