G R A D E 3 A S S E S S M E N T O F R E A D I N G , W R I T I N G A N D M AT H E M AT I C S

LANGUAGE: Grade 3 Samples 2005

Reading 1

Bees Need Plants and Plants Need Bees Busy bees Bees are very useful. They make honey and wax. They help plants grow. Bees live in large groups called colonies. A colony of bees lives in a hive. The bees eat, raise young bees and store extra food inside the hive. Three types of bees live in a colony: the queen bee, worker bees and drones. The different types of bees have different jobs. Older worker bees are called forager bees. Their jobs are to gather food for the colony and defend the hive from enemies.

How bees pollinate The most important job that bees do in nature is to pollinate. Pollination is also a big help to farmers. Many plants cannot make fruits and vegetables without pollination. Apples, watermelons, plums, pears, blueberries, cherries and cucumbers all grow on plants that need to be pollinated.

What is pollination? Pollination happens when the pollen of one flower lands on the stigma of another flower of the same kind. Pollen is a yellow powder that is found on the stamens of flowers. Pollination makes seeds grow. Then fruits and vegetables can grow on some plants.

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

Bees pollinate by accident As a bee crawls around a flower stigma to gather food, its legs and body get covered with pollen. When it lands on another flower, pollen rubs off its body and onto the flower’s stigma. stamen Bees can pollinate many flowers in a with day. pollen

Bees at work Bees make honey to feed themselves. Forager bees collect nectar to make honey. When it is sunny and warm, forager bees spend the day collecting nectar and pollen from flowers. They start when the sun comes up and spend the day going from flower to flower.

This part makes seeds. On some plants, it becomes a fruit or vegetable.

When they find pollen, bees let other bees know where it is by doing special dances called the round dance and wagtail dance. The round dance

The wagtail dance

This dance tells how far away the food is.

This dance shows the direction of the food.

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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Pollen baskets Forager bees collect pollen to feed to the young bees in the hive. Each bee has a pollen basket on its hind legs in which it stores pollen. It collects pollen on its body, moistens it with nectar and then scrapes it into the pollen baskets with its legs. The bee returns to the hive when its pollen baskets are full of pollen and its honey stomach is full of nectar. In nature, bees and plants help each other to grow.

GLOSSARY colony . . . . . . . . .a large group of bees that lives together forager bees . . . . .bees that collect pollen and bring it to the hive hive . . . . . . . . . . .a home for bees moistens . . . . . . .makes slightly wet nectar . . . . . . . . .a sweet liquid found in many flowers pollinate . . . . . . .to carry pollen from one flower to another so that seeds can be made

Written by Bobbie Kalman and illustrated by Allison Larin © 1998. Published by Crabtree Publishing Company.

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

1.

Choose the sentence that is true. ● Nectar is made in the hive. ● Drones do the wagtail dance. ● Queen bees do the round dance. ● Bees make honey to feed themselves.

2.

The text under which heading gives information about the round dance? ● Bees at work ● How bees pollinate ● What is pollination? ● Bees pollinate by accident

3.

On flowers, pollen is found on the ● stem. ● petals. ● stigma. ● stamens.

4.

What is the correct way to divide the word “pollinate” into syllables? ● polli-nate ● po-lli-nate ● pol-li-nate ● po-llin-ate

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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5.

Why does the author use the diagram of the flower on page 3?

6.

Is the text “Bees Need Plants and Plants Need Bees” fact or fiction? Explain your answer, using information from the text.

7.

How does the glossary help the reader?

8.

Explain how bees help farmers. Use information from the text in your answer.

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

9.

Read the following sentences. Older worker bees are called forager bees. Their jobs are to gather food for the colony and defend the hive from enemies. The word “Their” refers to _________________________.

10.

What do forager bees collect to make honey?

11.

How do bees know where to find pollen? Use information from the text in your answer.

12.

Why do plants need bees? Use information from the text in your answer.

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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13.

Explain why forager bees do “the round dance.” Use information from the text in your answer.

14.

Tell what happens next in the pollination process. The bee crawls on a flower. The bee is covered in pollen.

15.

Where in the passage could the reader quickly go to find the meaning of the word “nectar”?

16.

Bees do special dances to let other bees know where to find ____________.

17.

Bees land on flowers to collect nectar ____________ leave pollen that helps plants grow. Which word best completes the sentence? ● by ● but ● since ● because

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

18.

The glossary tells ● the main idea. ● the titles and headings. ● the names of the diagrams. ● the special or difficult words and their meanings.

19.

Which of the following pairs of words follow the same rule as “blueberries” when they are made plural? ● dance, hive ● nectar, cover ● enemy, colony ● cucumber, stigma

20. Which pairs of words follow the same rule as “foraging” when the suffix “ing”

is added? ● raising, scraping ● crawling, landing ● rubbing, growing ● moistening, feeding

STOP

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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Writing 1

February 2004

Your teacher is publishing a children’s magazine. She is looking for interesting ideas for the magazine. What do you think should go into the magazine?

KIDS’ CORNER THE MAGAZINE FOR YOUNG READERS

SPACE TRAVEL Will you fly a rocket ship when you grow up? JUMP ROPE OR TAG? Vote for your favourite game.

QUIZ? Who’s your best friend?

Write a letter to your teacher describing your ideas for the magazine.

Ideas for My Letter

Remember: • Check over your work. • Check your spelling, grammar and punctuation.

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

STOP

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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Reading 2

Venus Flytrap My name is Venus. Come visit my home. I’m hungry and looking for insects who roam. I gather nutrients from gas in the air and some from the soil and insects who dare to land on my leaves with my stiff trigger hairs. Just touch them and bend them, you’ll land in my lair. The lobes of my leaves will snap shut; you’ll be trapped; in less than a second you’ll find yourself wrapped in my nice airtight seal; I’ll digest what I choose, dissolve all the soft parts, the hard parts I’ll lose. When my leaves open up after 5 to 12 days, the tough parts get wind blown or just wash away. If a stone or a nut just by chance falls my way, I’ll spit it right out, not invite it to stay. My name is Venus, the great carnivore. Beware little insects; I’m hungry for more!

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

1.

2.

3.

What is a Venus flytrap?

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a nut

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a bug

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a plant

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a stone

4.

The Venus flytrap’s “airtight seal” means it is

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open.

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stiff.

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loose.

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closed.

What does the Venus flytrap catch to eat?

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seeds

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stones

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leaves

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insects

5.

Read the following line from the poem (line 3).

The poem “Venus Flytrap” describes

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how the plant gathers nuts.

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how the plant traps leaves.

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how the plant catches insects.

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how the plant dissolves nutrients.

6. The poem tells us that the Venus flytrap will digest only

I’m hungry and looking for insects who roam.

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soft parts.

The word “roam” means to

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hard parts.

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tough parts.

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strong parts.

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eat quickly.

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settle down.

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wander about.

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dissolve food.

7.

The poem describes the Venus flytrap as

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nice and smart.

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quick and polite.

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hungry and beautiful.

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hungry and dangerous.

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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8.

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How long does it take for the leaves to open up after trapping an insect?

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5 to 12 days

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8 to 10 days

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5 to 8 seconds

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less than a second

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

9.

Read the last two lines of the poem.

Beware little insects; I’m hungry for more! Why is an exclamation mark (!) used after “more”?

10. When the Venus flytrap eats an insect, what happens to the hard parts of the insect? Use information from the poem in your answer.

STOP

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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Writing 2

A new student arrives in your class today. The teacher picks you to be a special buddy for the new student. You are asked to make the new student feel welcome. You are going to write a story about your day with the new student.

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

On your own, think about

• the name of the new student. • where the new student is from. • important things at the school to show the new student. • how you are going to make the new student feel welcome. • what you will do during recess and lunch with the new student.

Now write a story about your day with the new student.

Remember: • Write on every line. • Check your work very carefully.

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005

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STOP

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Language: Grade 3 Samples, 2005