Reading stories: key details, lessons, and characters (grade 3) · lesson

Find the answer in the story

💡 The answer to a story question is in the words, so look back and find the part that tells you.

A detail is one small fact in a story. Who is there? Where are they? What goes wrong? What do they want?

You do not have to guess. Go back to the story. Find the part that talks about your question. Read it again slowly.

Some answers are said right out. Some you put together from two clues. If a boy shivers and grabs his coat, you can tell he is cold.

🧠 Let's work it out

Say the story is: Jin dropped his lunch in the mud. He had nothing to eat. The question asks, What problem does Jin have?

Find the part where things go wrong.
It says he dropped his lunch.
So his problem is that his lunch is ruined.

What do you think comes next?

detail: one small fact or piece of a story
problem: what goes wrong for a character

What happened first, next, and last

💡 Events in a story happen in an order, and each one leads to the next.

A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Things happen in order, one after another.

Words like first, then, next, after, and at last help you keep track.

To put events in order, find each one in the story. The one that comes first in the story usually happened first.

🧠 Let's work it out

Here are four events. A dog digs a hole. The dog finds a bone. The dog runs home. The dog hides the bone under his bed.

Ask: could he find the bone before he dug? No.
Could he hide it at home before he ran home? No.
So the order is dig, find, run, hide.

What do you think comes next?

event: something that happens in a story
order: which thing comes first, next, and last

The lesson of a story

💡 The lesson is what a character learns that you can use in your own life too.

Many stories teach a lesson. The lesson is not what happened. It is the big idea you learn from what happened.

Look at the end. How did the problem get fixed? What does the character say or do now? That often shows the lesson.

A short story with animals that teaches a lesson is called a fable. The lesson in a fable is called the moral.

🧠 Let's work it out

Story: Sam broke a cup and hid the pieces. When Mom found them, she was sad that he hid it. The next time he broke something, he told her right away, and she hugged him.

Ask: what changed at the end?
Sam told the truth.
So the lesson is: tell the truth, even when it is hard.
A lesson fits many people, not just Sam.

What do you think comes next?

lesson: a big idea about how to act or live
fable: a short story, often with animals, that teaches a lesson
moral: the lesson at the end of a fable

Get to know the characters

💡 What a character says and does shows what that character is like.

Characters are the people or animals in a story. Each one has traits. A trait is what someone is like, such as kind, lazy, brave, or greedy.

The story may not say the trait. You figure it out from what the character does and says.

You can compare two characters. Ask how each one acts when the same thing happens.

🧠 Let's work it out

Story: Pip climbed to the top of the tall slide, even though his legs shook. Tam stayed at the bottom and said, No way, I will fall.

Ask: what does each one do?
Pip tries even when he is scared, so Pip is brave.
Tam will not try, so Tam is fearful.
Lines that show feelings work the same way. A character who claps and cheers at a show is having a good time.

What do you think comes next?

character: a person or animal in a story
trait: what a character is like inside