NYSTP Grade 3 ELA
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Last updated 7 months ago
22 questions
Directions: Read this passage. Then answer questions 1 through 6.
Excerpt from Crazy About Clouds
by Rena Korb
1 Look up at the sky. Do you see any clouds today?
2 Look! There's one shaped like a fluffy, white bunny. A dark gray one floats by like a jellyfish.
Tiny, Floating Drops
3 Clouds look different. But they are all made of the same stuff-water.
4 Clouds form when tiny drops of water gather in the sky. Tiny chunks of ice make up clouds, too.
5 The tiny drops of water come together. They form heavier and heavier drops. Sometimes, the drops get too heavy to float.
6 Splat! Rain pours from the clouds. Or you might see drizzle, mist, or snow.
7 Clouds may look light and fluffy. But even the water in a small cloud weighs more than 500 tons. That's about as heavy as 100 elephants!
Changing Clouds
8 Watch a cloud closely. You will see it change before your very eyes.
9 Clouds can change shapes and sizes. They can look bright white or dark gray. Have you ever seen pink clouds at sunset?
10 Clouds dip and dance as the wind pushes them across the sky.
11 Some clouds travel as fast as race cars!
12 A cloud can speed along at 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
High Clouds, Low Clouds
13 Scientists group clouds by where they are seen in the sky. High clouds sail with the jumbo jets. Birds fly through low clouds.
14 Other clouds float in the middle, and some move up and down.
15 Have you ever walked by a lake on a cool morning? The fog can be very thick. You can barely see the road ahead of you!
16 Fog is actually a cloud that creeps along the ground.
17 Cool weather can bring fog. As the day warms up, fog clears away.
Types of Clouds
18 Scientists also group clouds by how they look. Let's explore a few clouds.
19 Stratus clouds look like a gray blanket over the sky. They often gather in cool weather. These clouds mean rain may soon be falling.
20 Have you ever seen bright cotton balls in the sky? These are cumulus clouds.
21 They mostly drift along on a fine, sunny day.
22 Very high above your head float cirrus clouds. Their long tails curve through the sky.
23 When you see these clouds, the weather might soon change.
24 Run for cover!
25 Dark cumulonimbus clouds are gathering. These clouds cause powerful storms.
26 Cumulonimbus clouds usually only stay in the sky for about an hour. As they break open, they can let out millions of buckets of water.
Study the Clouds
27 Will it rain? Is a snowstorm coming? Clouds give clues about what the weather will be like.
28 Scientists study clouds to tell what kind of day you'll have tomorrow.
29 Cloudy days are usually cooler than clear days. But cloudy nights are a little bit warmer than clear nights.
30 You can study the clouds, too. What types of clouds do you see? Can you guess the weather ahead?
31 No matter what, you are sure to find many wonderful shapes drifting in the sky.
Required
1
The phrase “change before your very eyes” in paragraph 8 suggests that clouds
The phrase “change before your very eyes” in paragraph 8 suggests that clouds
Required
1
What claim does the author make about cumulus clouds?
What claim does the author make about cumulus clouds?
Required
1
In which section of the passage can the reader find information about how clouds are made?
In which section of the passage can the reader find information about how clouds are made?
Required
1
Which sentence from the passage shows a cause-and-effect relationship?
Which sentence from the passage shows a cause-and-effect relationship?
Required
1
Which detail best shows how the author feels about clouds?
Which detail best shows how the author feels about clouds?
Required
1
Which detail would be most important to include in a summary of the passage?
Which detail would be most important to include in a summary of the passage?
Directions: Read this story. Then answer questions 7 through 13.
Lighthouses were once lit by gas. A gas lighthouse on the Hudson River closed and later became a park after the George Washington Bridge was built.
Excerpt from The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward
1 Once upon a time a little lighthouse was built on a sharp point of the shore by the Hudson River. ...
2 Behind it lay New York City where the people lived.
3 Before it sailed the boats on which the people rode. Up and down, up and down, sailed the boats. On and on and on rolled the river. All the way from Lake Tear of the Clouds, high up in the mountains, came the Hudson River. It rolled down the mountains. It rolled and rolled and rolled. It rolled past Albany. It rolled past New York. And it went on forever looking for the sea.
4 Now the boats on the river talked to the little red lighthouse as they passed.
5 "Hoot, hoot, hoot! How are you?" said the big steamer, with its deep, throaty whistle..
6 By day the little red lighthouse did not answer....
7 But every night, just at fall of dark, a man came to tend the little red lighthouse. He took out his jingling keys. He unlocked the small red door in its side. He climbed its steep and winding stairs, up, up, up, to the very top. He took off the thick white cap that let it sleep by day. He turned on the gas with a funny small black key.
8 Up, up, up, flowed the gas from the six red tanks below.
9 Then the little red lighthouse spoke out plainly. Flash! Flash! Flash! ...
10 It felt big and useful and important. What would the boats do without me? it thought.
11 It felt VERY, VERY PROUD.
12 The boats saw the light and were safe. The boats saw it, and they kept to the channel. The boats were grateful to the little red lighthouse.....
13 Why, I am MASTER OF THE RIVER, it thought.
14 Then one day a gang of workmen came and began to dig....
15 Every day it watched the strange new gray thing beside it grow and grow. Huge towers seemed to touch the sky. Strong loops of steel swept across the river. How big it was! How wonderful! How powerful! A great gray bridge, spanning the Hudson River from shore to shore. It made the little red lighthouse feel very, very small.
16 Then one night a great beam of light flashed from the top of the nearest gray tower. ...
17 Now I am needed no longer, thought the little red lighthouse. My light is so little and this one so big!..
18 Then in the middle of the night there came a storm. The wind moaned. The waves beat against the shore....
19 Then the great gray bridge called to the little red lighthouse: "Little brother, where is your light?"
20 "Am I a brother of yours, bridge?" wondered the lighthouse. "Your light was so bright that I thought mine was not needed anymore."
21 "I call to the airplanes" cried the bridge. "I flash to the ships of the air.
But you are still master of the river. Quick, let your light shine again. Each to his own place, little brother!"
22 So the little red lighthouse tried to shine once more, but though it tried and tried and tried, it could not turn itself on..
23 But at last it heard the door opening far below. At last it heard steps rushing up the stairs...
24 Now the little red lighthouse knew that it was needed...
25 It sent a long, bright, flashing ray out into the night...
26 And now beside the great beacon of the bridge, the small beam of the lighthouse still flashes.
27 Beside the towering gray bridge the lighthouse still bravely stands. Though it knows now that it is little, it is still VERY, VERY PROUD.
Required
1
Which event would be most important to include in a summary of the story?
Which event would be most important to include in a summary of the story?
Required
1
How are the details in paragraphs 1 through 6 important to the story?
How are the details in paragraphs 1 through 6 important to the story?
Required
1
How does the building of the great gray bridge affect the little red lighthouse?
How does the building of the great gray bridge affect the little red lighthouse?
Required
1
The great gray bridge believes that the little red lighthouse
The great gray bridge believes that the little red lighthouse
Required
1
Lighthouses are important because they guide boats. They can help keep boats safe when weather is bad or water is dangerous. Which detail best shows how this idea connects to the events in the story?
Lighthouses are important because they guide boats. They can help keep boats safe when weather is bad or water is dangerous. Which detail best shows how this idea connects to the events in the story?
Required
2
This question is worth 2 credits.
What theme is best supported by paragraphs 17 through 25 of “Excerpt from The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge”? Use two details from the story to 27 support your response.
This question is worth 2 credits.
What theme is best supported by paragraphs 17 through 25 of “Excerpt from The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge”? Use two details from the story to 27 support your response.
Required
2
This question is worth 2 credits.
In “Excerpt from The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge,” why does the little red lighthouse feel proud? Use two details from the story to support your response.
This question is worth 2 credits.
In “Excerpt from The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge,” why does the little red lighthouse feel proud? Use two details from the story to support your response.
Directions: Read this story. Then answer questions 14 through 19.
Molly is in the apple orchard picking apples with her dad.
Excerpt from Apple Day
by Kimberly Long Cockroft
1 Sunlight filters through the branches, dappling Molly’s hands as she twists each stem. She is careful to pick only the best apples. Every year, her family’s applesauce is the best in Montana—well, almost the best. Last year, their jar of special McIntosh applesauce won the red ribbon at the state fair.
2 There's just something missing from our sauce, Molly muses as she picks. If only they could figure out what it is, they might win the blue ribbon this year. Molly strains for an apple just out of reach and - CRASH-tumbles, dizzy, to the ground. It feels like a bobcat has wrapped his paws around her legs.
3 But it's not a bobcat. I's Sam, her messy little cousin who lives next door.
4 "Molly, I came to pick apples, too!" He waves an old, battered purse above his head.
5 Sam's mom waves from the edge of the orchard, her hair still in curlers. Dad waves back and calls, "We'll watch him this morning!" ...
6 "Go pick apples over there," Molly snaps. She points to an ancient, twisted apple tree. Nobody knows what kinds of apples it grows, but they are tiny and too tart to eat.
7 Sam doesn't care. He fills his mom's old purse with them, then stuffs his raincoat pockets full, too. ...
8 Then Dad calls, "Time to sauce!"
9 Sam lifts up his bulging purse. "I picked a bunch!"
10 Molly sighs. She hopes Sam will stay out of the way.
11 At home, Dad cinches the iron clamps of the applesauce mill to the table while Molly rinses the apples.
12 "They're beauties," Mom says, and Molly smiles with pride. Then into the big pot on the stove they go.
13 Suddenly, before she can stop him, Sam shakes the purse of tiny, sour apples into the pot, too.
14 "No!" Molly cries, reaching into the pot to pull out Sam's apples.
15 "I's OK," Dad chuckles. "I know a secret about good applesauce." ...
16 Molly isn't so sure.
17 While the apples soften in the pot, filling the kitchen with sweet steam, Sam bangs on the empty bowl with a spoon and belts out a song about Apple Day. ...
18 Molly and Dad take turns cranking the handle, smashing the apples into sauce. Sam tries, too, but it is too hard for him. The sauce slips down into the bowl, golden and smooth. A pile of seeds and skin slip out the back of the mill, and Molly empties them onto the compost heap, a treat for the bees.
19 Finally, all the apples, even Sam's tiny tart ones, have been made into a huge bowl of applesauce. Dad holds a spoon to Molly's lips.
20 Molly screws up her mouth. She sticks out her tongue to taste just a little. Then she gobbles the whole bite. "Wow!"
21 Dad's eyes twinkle. "The secret to really good sauce is making it from different kinds of apples." He ruffles Sam's hair. "We may even have a chance at that blue ribbon this year."
22 "Who would have known that you had the missing ingredient?" Molly
asks her cousin.
23 Sam grins, licking sauce from his fingers. "I love Apple Day!"
24 Molly smiles. "Me, too, Sam."
Required
1
Which sentence best shows a theme of the story?
Which sentence best shows a theme of the story?
Required
1
What does the word “muses” mean as it is used in paragraph 2?
What does the word “muses” mean as it is used in paragraph 2?
Required
1
In paragraph 3 of the story, whose thoughts are being shown?
In paragraph 3 of the story, whose thoughts are being shown?
Required
1
Read these sentences from paragraph 20.
Molly screws up her mouth. She sticks out her tongue to taste just a little.
Which sentence best explains why Molly acts this way?
Read these sentences from paragraph 20.
Molly screws up her mouth. She sticks out her tongue to taste just a little.
Which sentence best explains why Molly acts this way?
Required
1
Which quote from the story best shows that Molly has learned a lesson?
Which quote from the story best shows that Molly has learned a lesson?
Required
1
Which sentence best shows how Molly’s feelings about Sam change in the story?
Which sentence best shows how Molly’s feelings about Sam change in the story?
Directions: Read this story. Then answer questions 20 through 22.
Excerpt from Hide with the Ladybugs
by Karen Latchana Kenney
Lovely Ladybug
1 Crawl, crawl, crawl. A ladybug looks like a colorful, crawling bump. From the side, it's shaped like half a pea. Then it opens its wings. It's gone in a second.
2 More than 5,000 kinds of ladybugs crawl and fly around Earth. Ladybugs gather in gardens and forests. They live almost everywhere except for very cold places.
3 Ladybugs are a kind of beetle. Even males are called ladybugs! Ladybugs are also called lady beetles or ladybird beetles.
Growing Ladybugs
4 In the spring, a female ladybug crawls on the underside of a leaf. She is looking for a safe place to lay eggs. Here, the eggs will be safe from hungry birds or insects flying above.
5 The mother ladybug lays her eggs. Then she flies away. The tiny, yellow eggs look like shiny jellybeans. A mother ladybug doesn't just lay her eggs anywhere. She chooses a place with lots of tiny bugs called aphids. When the eggs hatch, her young will have plenty to eat.
6 A few days later, larvae hatch from the eggs. These tiny creatures have legs but no wings. They are very hungry! They hunt for aphids. A larva can eat 400 aphids before it is three weeks old!
7 The larvae are growing quickly. To grow, a larva breaks out of its old skin. Underneath it has new, bigger skin. This is called molting.
8 Next, a larva finds a safe place and attaches to a leaf. A hard cover surrounds the larva. It becomes a pupa. Inside the cover, the pupa grows and changes. . . .
9 After a few days, an adult ladybug climbs out of the hard casing. Its body is soft and pale. It does not have spots.
10 The ladybug's skin soon hardens into a shell. This shell protects the ladybug. Some ladybugs slowly turn red. Their black spots appear.
11 Ladybugs can be orange, yellow, pink, or black. Some have spots. Some are spotless, and some have stripes.
Flying and Feeling
12 Soon, ladybugs are flying. Each one has two sets of wings. Unlike other insects, beetles have elytra. The elytra are hard, front wings. They cover a pair of thin, see-through back wings.
13 To fly, the ladybug opens its front wings. Then the thin wings flutter. They lift the ladybug into the air.
14 The two elytra are a mirror image of each other. They have the exact same color and spots.
15 Ladybugs cannot see faraway things well. How do they find food?
16 A ladybug uses its two antennae to explore its world. Like wands, they wave in all directions. They can feel, smell, and taste.
Helpful Bugs
17 Ladybugs eat aphids or scale bugs. These tiny creatures are pests. They harm crops. That's why farmers and gardeners love to see ladybugs crawling around. More ladybugs means fewer pests. An adult ladybug can eat 75 aphids a day! A few kinds of ladybugs eat plant parts. Some eat pollen, the sticky dust on flowers.
Staying Safe
18 The air has a chill. Winter is coming. Ladybugs find a dry place away from the wind. It can be in a house or in a dead tree. Sometimes, they form large groups.
19 The ladybugs stay there through winter. They do not eat anything. They could stay like this for nine months.
New Lives
20 When the air is warm again, the ladybugs go back outside. They fly around the garden. They hunt for aphids. The females lay eggs. New ladybugs begin their lives.
Required
2
This question is worth 2 credits.
In “Excerpt from Hide with the Ladybugs,” how does paragraph 5 connect to paragraph 6? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
This question is worth 2 credits.
In “Excerpt from Hide with the Ladybugs,” how does paragraph 5 connect to paragraph 6? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
Required
2
This question is worth 2 credits.
The cold can be dangerous for animals, so they find ways to stay safe in bad weather. How does “Excerpt from Hide with the Ladybugs” develop this idea? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
This question is worth 2 credits.
The cold can be dangerous for animals, so they find ways to stay safe in bad weather. How does “Excerpt from Hide with the Ladybugs” develop this idea? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
Required
2
This question is worth 2 credits.
How does the diagram “A Ladybug’s Body” better help the reader’s understanding of the passage? Use two details from the passage to support your response.
This question is worth 2 credits.
How does the diagram “A Ladybug’s Body” better help the reader’s understanding of the passage? Use two details from the passage to support your response.