3rd grade text evidence worksheets

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Third grade text evidence worksheets pair a full-length passage with questions that ask which sentence shows something is true. Every option is a real sentence quoted from the passage, so the task is exactly the standard: point to the line that proves it.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RL.3.1.

Each click picks one of the 13 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of passages you'll get

Read the passage. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

Why Rivers Wander

Seen from an airplane, old rivers do something strange. Instead of running straight downhill to the sea, they wander in huge lazy loops, like dropped ribbon. A river can take fifty winding miles to cross a valley twenty miles wide, as if it had nowhere…

  1. Which sentence states what fast water does? Fast water has power, and it gnaws at the outer bank, carrying its soil away bite by bite. · Rule one: on the outside of any bend, water travels faster. · A river can take fifty winding miles to cross a valley twenty miles wide, as if it had nowhere in particular to be. · Given enough time, a loop can curl almost into a circle.

    Answer: Fast water has power, and it gnaws at the outer bank, carrying its soil away bite by bite.

  2. Which sentence explains how the inner bank grows? Slow water is weak, and it drops the sand and soil it was carrying, building the inner bank outward like a growing sandbar. · Rule two: on the inside of the bend, water slows down. · Year after year, the curve grows curvier. A farmer beside such a river can watch a field shrink on one bank while a neighbor's grows across the water. · The stranded loop remains as a moon-shaped pond beside the river, called an oxbow lake, a bend the river outgrew and left behind.

Each print picks one of the 13 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 13 to pick from, a second print can land on one you've used, so check the title before you hand it out.

What's on a 3rd grade sheet

3rd grade sheets draw from 13 passages, 256 to 270 words long. All 13 are on 4th grade sheets too, along with 13 more.

Some of the titles: The Second Sandwich, The Otter's Pocket, The Thaw, Built for the Dry, The Stripes That Bother Flies, The Kernel's Secret.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Teach the point test. After your child picks a sentence, ask: if this were the ONLY sentence you had, would you believe the claim? Strong evidence passes alone. Weak evidence needs its friends.

Watch for: Kids pick the sentence that mentions the same TOPIC as the claim. Evidence must support the claim, not merely be nearby. The wrong options are true lines from the same passage for exactly this reason. The best evidence is often not the most exciting sentence. A quiet line that shows the fact directly beats a dramatic line that only hints.

Common questions about 3rd grade text evidence

Why are the answer choices whole sentences?
They are quoted straight from the passage. Citing evidence means pointing to a real line, so the sheet has your child do exactly that, with the actual sentences.
How can I help without rereading everything?
Ask your child to read you the claim, then their chosen sentence, back to back. If the pair sounds like a question and its answer, the evidence fits.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 13.

Aligned to Common Core RL.3.1. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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