Reading lesson · Grade 3

Finding the answer in the passage

Supporting ideas questions ask about facts the passage states. The answer is always written there; the job is to find it and read it carefully.

1 · The answer is in the passage

These questions start with words like According to the passage, The passage says, or simply What, Where, Why. You do not need to guess or use what you already know. Find the sentence that answers and point to it.

If you cannot put your finger on the sentence, you have not found the answer yet.

2 · Key words lead you there

Pick one or two key words from the question and scan the passage for them.

Sea otters sleep floating on their backs. To keep from drifting apart, they hold hands with other otters. A group of otters floating together is called a raft. Mother otters wrap their babies in kelp, a long seaweed, so the babies stay put.

What is a group of floating otters called?

Key words: group and called.

Scan: "A group of otters floating together is called a raft."

Kelp is in the passage too, but kelp is a seaweed, not a group of otters.

3 · Read the question word

The small word at the front of the question tells you what kind of answer you need.

A choice can come from the passage and still be the wrong kind of answer, like a place when the question asks why.

4 · Number traps

Passages with numbers often give two or three of them. The wrong choices use the other numbers.

The school garden has four raised beds. Each bed holds six tomato plants. Last year the class picked ninety tomatoes.

How many beds does the garden have?

The passage has three numbers: four, six, and ninety.

The question asks about beds. The sentence with "beds" says four.

Six is the number of plants in each bed, which is the trap.

5 · "Why" questions: find the because

When the question asks why, look for the signal words because, so, since, or to. The reason is usually right next to them.

The museum keeps the old maps in a dark room because light makes the ink fade.

Why are the old maps kept in a dark room?

The word "because" points to the reason: light makes the ink fade.

A choice like "the room is quiet" might sound sensible, but the passage never says it.

6 · Same meaning, different words

The right answer often says the passage's idea in new words. A choice that copies the passage word for word can still be the trap.

Owen's grandmother gave him a jar of buttons. He sorted them by color, then by size, and finally glued them onto cardboard to make a picture of a lion.

What did Owen make with the buttons?

The passage says "a picture of a lion." A correct choice might say "a lion picture made of buttons."

"He sorted them by color" uses the passage's exact words, but it answers a different question.

7 · Which detail supports the idea?

Harder questions give you an idea and ask which detail supports it, meaning which one proves it. Several choices may be true. Only one is evidence for that idea.

Idea: Sea otters stay close together. Which detail supports it?

"Mother otters wrap their babies in kelp" is true but is about babies staying put.

"They hold hands with other otters" proves the otters stay together. That is the one.

8 · True, but not in the passage

Some wrong choices are true in real life but are not stated in this passage. If the passage does not say it, it is not the answer to an "according to the passage" question.

9 · Your test-day checklist

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