Reading Comprehension: The Missing Library Book
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Skill: Reading an original short story and answering questions with text evidence
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Free for personal and classroom use. Print at 100% / "Actual size" on US Letter paper.
About this worksheet
This third-grade reading comprehension worksheet features "The Missing Library Book," an original short story about a boy named Theo who cannot find a library book on the day it is due. With help from his older sister, Theo retraces his steps, finds the book, and then has to decide how to tell the librarian that it got wet in the rain. The story is about 200 words long and is followed by four multiple-choice questions and one short written response.
The questions move from finding details in the text to thinking about the character. Students identify the problem in the story, locate where the book was found, explain why the cover was wavy, choose a word that describes Theo, and write about the lesson he learns.
How to use it: have your child read the story once for enjoyment, then reread it before answering. Encourage them to underline the sentence in the story that proves each answer. For the final question, a strong response names the lesson and includes at least one detail from the story, such as Theo's promise that books stay inside.
The answer key gives the correct choice for each multiple-choice question, a supporting quotation from the passage, and a sample written answer. This worksheet supports Common Core standards RL.3.1 (ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text), RL.3.3 (describe characters and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events), and RL.3.2 (determine the central message or lesson).
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